brass plate on the door announced Mrs. Dickens’s establishment; and
the result I can give in the exact words of the then small actor in
the comedy, whose hopes it had raised so high: ‘I left at a great
many other doors a great many circulars, calling attention to the
merits of the establishment. Yet nobody ever came to school, nor do
I recollect that anybody ever proposed to come, or that the least
preparation was made to receive anybody. But, I know that we got on
very badly with the butcher and baker; that very often we had not too
much for dinner; and that at last my father was arrested.’ . . .
Almost everything by degrees was pawned or sold, little Charles being
the principal agent in these sorrowful transactions . . . until at
last, even of the furniture of Gower Street, number four, there was
nothing left except a few chairs, a kitchen table, and some beds.
Then they encamped, as it were, in the two parlours of the emptied
house, and lived there night and day.”
Gower Street has been rearranged since that time (there is now no Gower
Street North), and the houses are renumbered. No. 145, near _Gower
Street Chapel_, and other houses adjoining, are now in the occupation of
Messrs. Maple & Co.; and this No. 145 was the house then enumerated as
No. 4 Gower Street North. Mrs. Dickens’s experience, it will be
remembered, has been pleasantly referred to in the pages of “Our Mutual
Friend;” the stately _Mrs. Wilfer_ therein making a similar experiment,
with the same result. In chapter 4 we read of _Rumpty’s_ return home
from business: when
“Something had gone wrong with the house door, for R. Wilfer stopped
on the steps, staring at it, and cried ‘Hal-loa?’ ‘Yes,’ said Mrs.
Wilfer, ‘the man came himself with a pair of pincers and took it off,
and took it away. He said that as he had no expectation of ever
being paid for it, and as he had an order for another _Ladies’
School_ door-plate, it was better (burnished up) for the interests of
all parties.’”
On the opposite corner of the street is the _Gower Street Station_ of the
Metropolitan Railway, at which train may be taken to _Baker Street_. On
arrival, we turn to the right, by _Marylebone Road_, to Devonshire
Terrace, consisting of three houses at the northern end of _High
Street_,_ Marylebone_. No. 1, now occupied by a legal firm, was for
twelve years the residence of Charles Dickens (when in town). It is
described by Forster as
“A handsome house with a garden of considerable size, shut out from
the New Road by a brick wall, facing the York Gate into Regent’s
Park.”
To quote the ironical dictum of its future tenant when the choice was
made, it was “a house of great promise (and great premium), undeniable
situation, and excessive splendour.” During the period of the author’s
residence here several of his best-known books were given to the
world—“Master Humphrey’s Clock,” CHRISTMAS BOOKS, and “David Copperfield”
included. Proceeding forwards and eastward past _Devonshire Place_, we
may take our way, turning on the right down Harley Street, of which we
read in “Little Dorrit” that,
“Like unexceptionable society, the opposing rows of houses in Harley
Street were very grim with one another. Indeed, the mansions and
their inhabitants were so much alike in that respect that the people
were often to be found drawn up on opposite sides of dinner tables,
in the shade of their own loftiness, staring at the other side of the
way with the dulness of the houses. Everybody knows how like the
street the two dinner-rows of people who take their stand by the
street will be. The expressionless uniform twenty houses, all to be
knocked at and rung at in the same form, all approachable by the same
dull steps, all fended off by the same pattern of railing, all with
the same impracticable fire-escapes, the same inconvenient fixtures
in their heads, and everything, without exception, to be taken at a
high valuation—who has not dined with these?”
In this street lived that great financier and swindler _Mr. Merdle_, who
had his residence in one of the handsomest of these handsome houses; but
it would be, perhaps, invidious to point out any particular location for
the same, Dickens himself having purposely omitted an exact address.
Following the course of Harley Street, we come in due time to QUEEN ANNE
STREET, running east and west. Adopting the leftward turning (east), we
may find at the next corner—_Mansfield Street_—on the north side, Mr.
Dombey’s House, as described in chapter 3 of “Dombey and Son”—
“Mr. Dombey’s house was a large one, on the shady side of a tall,
dark, dreadfully genteel street in the region between Portland Place
and Bryanston Square. It was a corner house, with great wide areas
containing cellars, frowned upon by barred windows, and leered at by
crooked-eyed doors leading to dust-bins. It was a house of dismal
state, with a circular back to it, containing a whole suite of
drawing-rooms looking upon a gravelled yard.”
It will be observed that the position and character of this mansion
exactly correspond to the above description, being in its general style
noteworthy and unique. This, then, was the private establishment and
“home department” of the Dombey family, where died the gentle Paul; the
lonely house in which the neglected Florence grew to lovely womanhood;
what time the second wife—the stately Edith—held temporary sway.
Hence a short distance southward leads to _Cavendish Square_. In this
neighbourhood we read that Madame Mantalini’s fashionable dressmaking
establishment was situated, at which Kate Nickleby was for some few weeks
engaged, on the recommendation of her uncle. The house intended was
probably in _Wigmore Street_, No. 11. In the days of the Mantalini
_régime_ the business was advertised
“To the nobility and gentry by the casual exhibition, near the
handsomely-curtained windows, of two or three elegant bonnets of the
newest fashion, and some costly garments in the most approved taste.”
By the next turning (right) on the north side we come into WIMPOLE
STREET; on the east of which, at the corner of the third block, stands
The West End Residence—No. 43—aforetime occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Boffin;
which became, later on, the property of Mr. John Harmon and his wife. It
is described as “a corner house, not far from Cavendish Square.” Near
this house _Silas Wegg_—assuming some knowledge of its affairs—kept his
street-stall. He was accustomed to refer to it as “Our House,” its
(imaginary) inmates being Miss Elizabeth, Master George, Aunt Jane, and
Uncle Parker.
Returning to Wigmore Street, we arrive by the next block at Welbeck
Street, running transversely thereto. In this street was the London
residence of _Lord George Gordon_, as referred to in the pages of
“Barnaby Rudge.” The house is No. 64, the second from Wigmore Street on
the left side. It is within the recollection of the present landlord
that the old balcony—from which Lord George was wont to harangue the
public—was many years since superseded by the present continuous railing.
We now come south into the West-end artery of _Oxford Street_, crossing
same to _Davies Street_, by which we may soon reach BROOK STREET,
GROSVENOR SQUARE, running east and west. On the south-eastern angle of
its intersection stands Claridge’s Hotel. It will be remembered that on
_Mr. Dorrit’s_ return from the Continent, after the marriage of his
daughter Fanny, “the Courier had not approved of his staying at the house
of a friend, and had preferred to take him to an hotel in Brook Street,
Grosvenor Square.” This was doubtless the establishment favoured by the
Courier’s preference on that occasion; and where Mr. Merdle paid a state
visit to Mr. Dorrit at breakfast-time the next morning; taking him
afterwards in his carriage to the City.
Readers of “Dombey and Son” may be reminded that the Feenix Town House
was situated in this same BROOK STREET; but no clue is afforded of its
exact whereabouts. It is described as an aristocratic mansion of a dull
and gloomy sort; and was borrowed by the _Honourable Mrs. Skewton_ from a
stately relative, on the occasion of her daughter’s marriage. Here also,
in aftertime, the final interview between _Florence_ and _Edith_ took
place.
[Picture: The Drawing-Room, Devonshire House]
Keeping on through _Davies Street_ across _Berkeley Square_, we come
through _Berkeley Street_ to Piccadilly, in the close vicinity of
Devonshire House, a mansion of fashionable and political repute,
belonging to the _Duke of Devonshire_. Here, on the 27th of May 1851, in
the great drawing-room and library, Dickens and his _confrères_ of “The
Guild of Literature and Art” performed, for the first time, Sir Bulwer
Lytton’s comedy (written for the occasion) “Not so Bad as We Seem,” in
the presence of the Queen, Prince Albert and a brilliant audience. The
Duke not only afforded the necessary accommodation, but (as Mr. Forster
writes), in his princely way, discharged all attendant expenses. Many
distinguished authors and artists assisted at this performance, including
Douglas Jerrold, Maclise, and John Leech.
Near at hand, on the eastern corner of the next turning down Piccadilly
(_Dover Street_), is HATCHETT’S HOTEL, adjoining The White Horse Cellars,
once a well-known coaching establishment. On the opposite side of the
way stood in days of yore the old “White Horse Cellars,” of which Hazlitt
writes:—
“The finest sight in the Metropolis is the setting out of the
mail-coaches from Piccadilly. The horses paw the ground and are
impatient to be gone, as if conscious of the precious burden they
convey. There is a peculiar secrecy and despatch, significant and
full of meaning, in all the proceedings concerning them. Even the
outside passengers have an erect and supercilious air, as if proof
against the accidents of the journey; in fact, it seems indifferent
whether they are to encounter the summer’s heat or the winter’s cold,
since they are borne through the air on a winged chariot.”
From this well-known Booking Office, _Mr. Pickwick_ and his
friends—accompanied by the fierce _Dowler_ and his fascinating
wife—started for Bath, one “muggy, damp, and drizzly morning, by the mail
coach; on the door of which was displayed, in gilt letters of a goodly
size, the magic name of ‘Pickwick’; a circumstance which seems to have
occasioned some confusion of ideas in the mind of the faithful Sam, as
evidenced by his indignant inquiry—‘An’t nobody to be whopped for takin’
this here liberty?’”
Readers of “Bleak House” will remember this locality as the destination
of the Reading Coach; so indicated by _Messrs. Kenge and Carboy_ in their
first communication to _Esther Summerson_. Here she was met, one foggy
November afternoon, on her arrival in London, by the susceptible _Mr.
Guppy_, and by him conducted to Old Square, Lincoln’s Inn. The incident
was afterwards feelingly referred to by that young gentleman, on the
occasion of his offer of heart, hand, and income to Esther:—
“I think you must have seen that I was struck with those charms on
the day when I waited at the Whytorseller. I think you must have
remarked that I could not forbear a tribute to those charms when I
put up the steps of the ’ackney coach.”
For the full narrative, see “Bleak House,” chapter 9.
The Rambler can now take an eastward course up PICCADILLY, and may
casually observe, on the left, past Burlington House, THE ALBANY, where
_Mr. Fledgby_ had chambers. The next turning on the same side is
SACKVILLE STREET, in which it may be recollected that _Mr. and Mrs.
Lammles_ resided during the short term of their social prosperity.
Mention of these localities in such connection will be found in the pages
of “Our Mutual Friend.” Passing onwards on the same side, we arrive at
No. 28, St. James’s Hall. It was at this well-known place of assembly
that several of those popular Readings were given by Charles Dickens,
which always commanded the attention and sympathetic interest of his
audience. On these occasions he invariably adopted the extreme of
fashionable evening attire, being dressed in irreproachable style, with,
perhaps, more of shirt-front than waistcoat; and so “got up” as to
present a staginess and juvenility of appearance, possibly somewhat out
of keeping with his time of life. Some of his hearers may have desired a
more natural and less conventional mode; but they knew that beneath the
big shirt and fashionable coat, there throbbed the genial heart of the
man they loved, as he read of the sorrows of “Little Emily,” or stood
with them in spirit at the bedside of “Paul Dombey.” On the occasion of
his final Reading, given here in March 1870, he tendered his last public
farewell to his London audience in the following words:
“It would be worse than idle, it would be hypocritical and unfeeling,
if I were to disguise that I close this episode of my life with
feelings of very considerable pain. For some fifteen years, in this
hall and many kindred places, I have had the honour of presenting my
own cherished ideas before you for your recognition; and, in closely
observing your reception of them, have enjoyed an amount of artistic
delight and enjoyment, which perhaps it is given few men to know. In
this task and every other, I have ever undertaken as a faithful
servant of the public—always imbued with a sense of duty to them, and
always striving to do his best—I have been uniformly cheered by the
readiest response, the most generous sympathy and the most
stimulating support. Nevertheless, I have thought it well, at the
full flood-tide of your favour, to retire upon those older
associations between us, which date from much further back than
these; and henceforth to devote myself exclusively to the art that
first brought us together. Ladies and gentlemen, in but two short
weeks from this time, I hope that you may enter, in your own homes,
on a new series of Readings, at which my assistance will be
indispensable; but from these garish lights I vanish now for ever,
with one heartfelt, grateful, respectful, and affectionate farewell.”
On the right-hand side of Piccadilly, adjacent to the _Prince’s Hall and
Institute of Painters_, there may be noted, _en passant_, the premises
No. 193, now occupied by the Boys’ Messenger Co. This, for many years,
was the address of Messrs. Chapman and Hall, the publishers of the works
of Dickens. Previous to 1850, the earlier books—“Pickwick” to “Martin
Chuzzlewit” inclusive—together with the first issue of their cheaper
edition, were published by this well-known house at 186 _Strand_, the
site now occupied by the premises of W. H. Smith and Son. The firm have,
for many years past, removed their offices to _No._ 11 _Henrietta
Street_, _Covent Garden_.
Passing on to _Piccadilly Circus_, and crossing northward from the same,
we turn (left) into _Sherwood Street_, which leads, by a short walk, to
_Brewer Street_, in the neighbourhood of GOLDEN SQUARE. Continuing by
_Lower James Street_, opposite, we reach the square itself, in which was
formerly situated the Office of Ralph Nickleby. Readers of Dickens will
remember that it was a large house, with an attic storey, in which Ralph
committed suicide. The house No. 6, on the east side, was probably the
one assigned by the author as the usurer’s residence. It is now let off
in various suites of offices, professional and otherwise. The
neighbourhood has somewhat changed since the time when the “Adventures of
Nicholas Nickleby” was first issued, and the following description, given
by Dickens, became public property:—
“It is one of the squares that have been—a quarter of the town that
has gone down in the world, and taken to letting lodgings. Many of
its first and second floors are let, furnished, to single gentlemen,
and it takes boarders besides. It is a great resort of foreigners.
The dark-complexioned men who wear large rings and heavy
watch-guards, and bushy whiskers, and who congregate under the Opera
Colonnade, and about the box-office in the season between four and
five in the afternoon, when they give away the orders—all live in
Golden Square, or within a street of it. Two or three violins and a
wind instrument from the opera-band reside within its precincts.”
We read in the same book of the whereabouts of _Mr. Kenwigs_ as being in
this neighbourhood—
“A bygone, faded, tumble-down street, with two irregular rows of tall
meagre houses, which seem to have stared each other out of
countenance years ago; the very chimneys appear to have grown dismal
and melancholy from having had nothing better to look at than the
chimneys over the way.”
There are many streets in the district of Soho, in this vicinity, which
will in some respects correspond with the description given; but much
alteration has taken place during the last sixty years. Recollecting
that _Newman Noggs_ lodged in the upper part of the same house, it must
have been conveniently near Golden Square. In Carnaby Street
(immediately north of the Square) there may be remarked a white-fronted,
old-fashioned house (No. 48), which, being in proximity to Ralph
Nickleby’s Office, may be assigned as aforetime comprising the apartments
of the Kenwigs Family.
At the corner of _Beak Street_ and _Upper James Street_ is still existent
“The Crown Inn,” well known to Newman Noggs; though, since his time, it
must have undergone considerable alteration. In his first letter to
Nicholas Nickleby, Newman writes:—
“If you ever want a shelter in London, . . . they know where I live at
the sign of the Crown, Golden Square. It is at the corner of Silver
Street” [now Beak Street] “and James Street, with a bar door both ways.”
In this neighbourhood, also, Martha’s Lodgings were situated, in the days
of David Copperfield, who says:—
“She laid her hand on my arm, and hurried me on to one of the sombre
streets of which there are several in that part, where the houses
were once fair dwellings, in the occupation of single families, but
have, and had, long degenerated into poor lodgings let off in rooms.”
Such a house may be found in _Marshall Street_, No. 53, close at hand.
But at this distance of time it is difficult to assign the exact locality
intended by Dickens. We are all familiar with the welcome episode in
David’s history when Martha rescued _Little Emily_, bringing her to these
lodgings, and _Mr. Peggotty’s_ dream came true.—See chapter 50.
Proceeding half-way up _Marshall Street_, we turn (right) through _Broad
Street_, to (left) _Poland Street_, by which we again attain the main
thoroughfare of Oxford Street. Turning eastward, on the north side, we
come at a short distance (by No. 90) to Newman Street, in which was
situated _Mr. Turveydrop’s Dancing Academy_, “established in a
sufficiently dingy house, at the corner of an archway” (Newman Passage),
with Mr. Turveydrop’s great room built out into a mews at the back. The
house intended is No. 26, on the east side of the street. Here _Caddy
Jellyby_ resided with her husband, _Prince Turveydrop_, in the upper
rooms of the establishment, leaving the better part of the house at the
disposal of Mr. Turveydrop, senior; that “perfect model” of parental and
social “deportment.” Returning to Oxford Street and passing onwards on
the south side, we shortly arrive at _Dean Street_, leading southward.
At a short distance, running east and west, is Carlisle Street, at the
further end of which, to the right, is an old house (by name Carlisle
House) which stands facing the observer. It is now occupied by _Messrs.
Edwards and Roberts_, dealers in antique furniture. Readers of “The Tale
of Two Cities” will recollect the lodgings of Doctor Manette and daughter
Lucie, as described in the 6th chapter (Book the Second) of the Tale,
being situated in a quiet street-corner, not far from Soho Square:—
“A quainter corner than the corner where the Doctor lived was not to
be found in London. There was no way through it, and the front
windows of the Doctor’s lodgings commanded a pleasant little vista of
street that had a congenial air of retirement on it. There were few
buildings then, north of the Oxford Road, and forest-trees
flourished, and wild flowers grew, and the hawthorn blossomed, in the
now vanished fields.”
The garden behind the house, referred to in the above-mentioned book, has
been converted to the uses of a warehouse, a glass roof having been long
ago built over the same. A paved court now exists at the side for the
convenience of foot-passengers, giving egress at the end of Carlisle
Street, so that the “wonderful echoes” which once resounded in this
“curious corner” are now no longer to be heard.
It may be interesting to note that a thoroughfare leading from _No._ 119
_Charing Cross Road_ to _No._ 6 _Greek Street_, _Soho_, is now named
_Manette Street_; in remembrance of the worthy Doctor, whose London
residence in Carlisle Street, as indicated, was near at hand.
We may return to Oxford Street through Soho Square, conveniently
terminating the ramble at Tottenham Court Road, just beyond. From this
central point there is omnibus communication to all parts of London; and
a commodious resting-place may be here recommended to those disposed for
dinner, at THE HORSESHOE RESTAURANT; which stands in a prominent position
near at hand, on the east side of the street.
RAMBLE V
_Bank of England to Her Majesty’s Theatre_
The Bank; Dombey and Son, Tom Pinch—George and Vulture Inn; Mr.
Pickwick’s Hotel—“The Green Dragon,” _alias_ “The Blue Boar,” Leadenhall
Market; Tony Weller’s Headquarters—Newman’s Court (_alias_ Freeman’s
Court), Cornhill; The Offices of Messrs. Dodson and Fogg—House of Sol
Gills, Leadenhall Street; The Wooden Midshipman—St. Mary Axe; Pubsey and
Co.—House of Sampson Brass in Bevis Marks—“The Red Lion;” Mr. Dick
Swiveller’s recommendation—Bull Inn, Aldgate; Starting-place of the
Ipswich Coach—The Minories—Aldgate Pump; Mr. Toots’s Excursions—Mincing
Lane; Messrs. Chicksey, Veneering, and Stobbles—Boarding House of Mrs.
Todgers, King’s Head Court—London Bridge; Meeting-place of Rose Maylie
and Nancy—“The White Hart Inn”; its Pickwickian Associations—The
Marshalsea Prison; The Dorrit Family—St. George’s Church; Little Dorrit’s
Night Refuge and Marriage—Lant Street; Dickens and Bob Sawyer’s
Lodging—King’s Bench Prison—Horsemonger Lane Gaol—Mr. Chivery’s Shop—St.
George’s Obelisk; “the long-legged young man”—The Surrey Theatre; Fanny
Dorrit and Uncle—Bethlehem Hospital; “Uncommercial Traveller”—Astley’s
Theatre; visit of the Nubbles Family—Millbank; Poor “Martha”—Church
Street, Smith Square; the Dolls’ Dressmaker—Julius Handford—Westminster
Abbey—The Red Lion, Parliament Street; the “Genuine Stunning”—The Horse
Guards’ Clock—St. James’s Park; Meeting between Martin and Mary—Her
Majesty’s Theatre.
Our starting-point is now the BANK OF ENGLAND, Dombey and Son’s
“Magnificent neighbour; with its vaults of gold and silver, ‘all
among the dead men, underground.’”
_Tom Pinch_, diffident of requesting information in London, resolved
that, in the event of finding himself near the Bank of England,
“He would step in, and ask a civil question or two, confiding in the
perfect respectability of the concern.”
Adopting the route _viâ Lombard Street_, we come, on the left (No. 56),
to GEORGE YARD, traversing which, there will be found, at the corner of
Castle Court (No. 3), the George and Vulture Inn, at which Mr. Pickwick
resided when in London, subsequent to his removal from Goswell Street;
and which has honourable mention in the history of the Pickwickians.
Through _Lombard Street_, and turning left into _Gracechurch Street_, we
shortly arrive, on the right, at _Bull’s Head Passage_ (turning by the
Branch Post Office, No. 82), in which, at No. 4, is the GREEN DRAGON
TAVERN, in close proximity to Leadenhall Market. This is, in all
probability, the house mentioned in “Pickwick” as “The Blue Boar,”
_Leadenhall Market_, a favourite house of call with the elder Weller, and
the place where Sam indited his “Valentine” to _Mary_, the pretty
housemaid, afterwards Mrs. Sam. But the neighbourhood of the Market has
undergone considerable renovation since the old coaching-days, and it is
difficult to fix the _locale_ of the tavern with certainty.