Charles Dickens
Author (1812–1870)
Introduction
Although he did write several books especially for children, Charles Dickens was so celebrated among the Victorians that children of his day also read his novels and especially his Christmas stories. His works remain immensely popular, although today, young people are perhaps more likely to be familiar with their many stage and screen adaptations. In any case, Charles Dickens is regarded as one of the most significant writers in Britain’s history. He lived all over London, including Twickenham and Petersham, and many of his novels include scenes set in or around this area.
Charles Dickens in Twickenham
In
the summer of 1838 he and his family rented 2 Ailsa Park Villas, Twickenham,
in an area now part of Downes Close, just off St Margarets Road (opposite
the present St Margarets railway station). Of the original ten villas, only
one remains (the others were either demolished for the development of the
railway or damaged by bombing in World War II).
Resources in Richmond’s Local Studies Collection contradict each other as to whether or not the house rented by the Dickens family survived and is the same house (now divided into flats) in St Margarets today.
This
undated black-and-white photo from the collection is labelled “Dickens’ house
in St Margarets”. Coincidentally, another writer featured on this website,
Mary Hooper, is linked to this house through marriage. Mary’s husband, Richard
Tippett, grew up here in the 1960s and 1970s, when it was called Downe House.
His family always understood that the house had indeed once been home to
Charles Dickens, and Richard recalls that the Dickens Society visited them
one summer afternoon in 1966 to see the house and to speak of the novelist’s
time there.
While living at Ailsa Park Villas, Charles wrote parts of Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby. He also entertained friends frequently and formed a balloon club for his children’s amusement.
Inspired by Eel Pie Island and the Thames
Eel Pie Island, or Twickenham Ait, as it was once known, lies in the middle of the Thames, with Twickenham on the Middlesex bank to one side, and Ham on the Surrey bank to the other. In the nineteenth century, the island’s hotel was a popular resort among summertime boating parties. This print shows a view from the Surrey bank as the island would have appeared in Charles’s day, looking across to Eel Pie House (with St Mary’s Church visible to the right, on the Twickenham bank beyond).
The novelist himself dined at least once at Eel Pie House. He also included it in a scene in Nicholas Nickleby (1839):
It had come to pass, that afternoon, that Miss Morleena Kenwigs had received an invitation to repair next day, per steamer from Westminster Bridge, unto the Eel-pie Island at Twickenham: there to make merry upon a cold collation, bottled beer, shrub, and shrimps, and to dance in the open air to the music of a locomotive band …
Today,
Eel Pie Island is a private residential place, with no hotel. It is connected
to the Twickenham bank by a picturesque footbridge.
Parts of Little Dorrit (1857) were also inspired by Twickenham. In the novel, the Meagles live in a cottage by the river, thought to be somewhere between Richmond Bridge and Teddington Lock. “The Ferry”, an illustration by “Phiz” for the book, depicts the Twickenham riverside. (See below for a view of Hammerton’s Ferry, which still runs between Ham House and Twickenham.)
The
good life in Petersham
Charles Dickens’ association with Petersham began in 1836, when he was on holiday here, probably at the Dysart Arms.
In the summer of 1839 (and for the next few summers) he rented Elm Cottage in Petersham.
Charles enjoyed hearty outdoor games in the cottage’s large garden and went swimming in the Thames. He boasted in a letter to a friend:
swimming feats from Petersham to Richmond Bridge have been achieved before breakfast, I myself have risen at 6 and plunged head foremost into the water to the astonishment and admiration of all beholders …
He
was continuing to write instalments of Nicholas Nickleby at this
time, including a scene where two characters visit the Hampton races (which
he himself had seen in June), and then quarrel on the way home through the
meadows near Ham House, agreeing to duel in a field at Petersham.
Elm Cottage was later greatly enlarged and renamed Elm Lodge. It still exists as a private residence, at 230 Petersham Road, but much of the original grounds have been redeveloped as a residential area. The former cottage is no longer visible from Sudbrook Lane, and the only testimony to the novelist’s time there is the name of the new road that leads to the lodge’s entrance.
Celebrating
in style in Richmond
For many years, Charles Dickens was a regular guest at the historic Star & Garter Hotel on Richmond Hill, near the entrance to Richmond Park. Even when he was living locally he would occasionally stay overnight. He also liked to mark special events with friends and family there: the birth of a son, his own birthday or the completion of a new book. He and his wife spent their anniversary at the hotel every year for about twenty years (except for one year, when they were abroad).
In 1850, the writers W.M. Thackeray and Alfred Tennyson were among Charles Dickens’ guests at a party to celebrate the publication of David Copperfield. These prints show how the hotel would have appeared at that time, viewed from the main entrance, and from Petersham Meadows.
The hotel was destroyed by fire in 1870 and then rebuilt several times. The present building, the Star and Garter Home, was built on the same site in 1924 to house disabled ex-servicemen.
(There is also another Star & Garter Hotel in Richmond, with no connection to the historic hotel.)
More information
The Local Studies Collection in Richmond provided much of the background information for this article, including many of the images. If you are interested in learning more, you can visit the collection in person. Or go to the bibliography for a link to their website and details of other sources.
Comments or suggestions? email me
Copyright © Terri McCargar 2005
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Page last updated:
04-Nov-2005
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