THE GAD’S HILL COUNTRY.
About midway between Gravesend and Rochester, on the old Dover Road, and
in the parish of Higham, is Gad’s Hill, immortalized both by Shakespeare
and Dickens. With regard to the derivation of the name there seems to be
a little doubt, some regarding it as a corruption of “God’s Hill,” while
others incline to the belief that it must be traced to the word “gad”
(_i.e._, rogue), for, even prior to Shakespeare’s time, unwary
travellers were here waylaid by highwaymen, and for such audacious
thefts from the person this particular spot became notorious.
In 1558 a ballad was published entitled “The Robbery at Gad’s Hill,” and
in 1590 Sir Roger Manwood, Chief Baron of the Exchequer, wrote: “Many
robberies were done in the bye-ways at Gadeshill, on the west part of
Rochester and at Chatham, down on the east part of Rochester, by
horse-thieves, with such fat and lusty horses as were not like hackney
horses, nor far-journeying horses, and one of them sometimes wearing a
vizard grey beard ... and no man durst travel that way without great
company.” In the first part of Shakespeare’s “King Henry the Fourth”
(Act I., Scene 2) Poins thus addresses Prince Henry: “But, my lads, my
lads, to-morrow morning, by four o’clock, early at Gadshill! there are
pilgrims going to Canterbury with rich offerings, and traders riding to
London with fat purses: I have visors for you all; you have horses for
yourselves.”[113]
To present-day pedestrians, who have no need to fear unwelcome
attentions from “knights of the road,” the chief attraction of this
locality is the house which stands upon the brow of the hill, reposing
in delightful grounds, and commanding magnificent views of the
surrounding landscape. This is Gad’s Hill Place, the home of Charles
Dickens, where he resided from 1856 until his death on “that fateful
day” in June, 1870. One of the most remarkable incidents of the
novelist’s life was the realization of his boyhood’s ambition to live
there, in the very house which he so often admired when, during his
early years at Chatham, he accompanied his father on walking expeditions
thence to Strood and beyond, and which, as his parent foretold, might
really become his home if he worked hard, and were to be very
persevering. The desire to own the property never left him; indeed, it
may be said that, as time passed, his craving to possess it increased,
and we may imagine his delight when, in 1855, he learned from his trusty
henchman, W. H. Wills, that the place was available for purchase.
Having spent the final years of his active career at Gad’s Hill Place,
it is natural that Gad’s Hill Place and its environment should be
regarded as the very heart of Dickens land, so replete is it with
Dickensian memories and associations.
Gad’s Hill Place is a red brick building, with bay windows and a porch
in the principal front, a slated roof with dormers, surmounted by a
cupola or bell-turret, the latter a conspicuous and familiar object to
all accustomed to travel by road between Gravesend and Rochester. The
house was erected in 1779 by a then well-known character in those parts,
one Thomas Stevens, an illiterate man who had been an hostler, and who,
after marrying his employer’s widow, adopted the brewing business,
amassed wealth, and eventually became Mayor of Rochester. On
relinquishing the business he retired to his country seat at Gad’s Hill,
and at his death the house was purchased by the Rev. James Lynn (father
of the late Mrs. Lynn Linton, the authoress), who, like Dickens, had
fallen in love with the house when a youth, and resolved to buy it as
soon as the opportunity offered. It was not until 1831 that he was
enabled to take up his residence there, and Mrs. Lynn Linton, in
recording her impressions of her home at that date, recalled the
liveliness of the road: “Between seventy and eighty coaches, ‘vans,’ and
mail-carts passed our house during the day, besides private carriages,
specially those of travellers posting to or from Dover. Regiments, too,
often passed on their way to Gravesend, where they embarked for India;
and ships’ companies, paid off, rowdy, and half-tipsy, made the road
really dangerous for the time being. We used to lock the two gates when
we heard them coming, shouting and singing, up the hill, and we had to
stand many a mimic siege from the bluejackets trying to force their way
in.”[114] To counteract these obvious drawbacks there were natural
advantages—the luxuriant gardens, orchard, and shrubberies, while the
trees near the house offered a veritable sanctuary for song-birds. The
worthy clergyman occupied Gad’s Hill Place until his decease in 1855,
when, for want of an heir, the property had to be sold. Shortly
afterwards his daughter and W. H. Wills met at a dinner-party, and in
the course of conversation it transpired that the estate would presently
be in the market. On learning this, Dickens immediately entered into
negotiations for acquiring it, with the result that before many months
had elapsed he became the owner. “I have always in passing looked to see
if it was to be sold or let,” he wrote to his friend M. de Cerjat, “and
it has never been to me like any other house, and it has never changed
at all.”
[Illustration: RESTORATION HOUSE, ROCHESTER. (_Page 217._)
The “Satis House” of “Great Expectations.” Charles II. slept here on
the eve of the Restoration, May, 1660.]
After drawing a cheque (on March 14, 1856) for the amount of the
purchase-money, £1,790, he discovered that, by an extraordinary
coincidence, it was a Friday, the day of the week on which (as he
frequently remarked) all the important events of his life had happened,
so that he and his family had come to regard that day of the week as his
lucky day.
Dickens did not, however, obtain possession of the coveted house until
February of the following year, after which, for a brief period, he made
it merely a summer abode, Tavistock House being his town residence
during the rest of the year. In April, 1857, he stayed with his wife and
sister-in-law at Waite’s Hotel, Gravesend, to be at hand to superintend
the beginning of a scheme of alterations and improvements in his new
home, which were carried on for the space of several months. The winter
of 1859-1860 was the last spent at Tavistock House, and he and his
family then settled down at Gad’s Hill. “I am on my little Kentish
freehold,” he observed to M. de Cerjat, “looking on as pretty a view out
of my study window as you will find in a long day’s English ride. My
little place is a grave red-brick house, which I have added to and stuck
bits upon in all manner of ways, so that it is as pleasantly irregular,
and as violently opposed to all architectural ideas, as the most hopeful
man could possibly desire. The robbery was committed before the door, on
the man with the treasure, and Falstaff ran away from the identical spot
of ground now covered by the room in which I write. A little rustic
alehouse, called the Sir John Falstaff, is over the way, has been over
the way ever since, in honour of the event. Cobham Woods and Park are
behind the house, the distant Thames in front, the Medway, with
Rochester and its old castle and cathedral, on one side. The whole
stupendous property is on the old Dover Road.”
Continued ownership brought increased liking, and he was never tired of
devising and superintending improvements, such as the addition of a new
drawing-room and conservatory, the construction of a well (a process
“like putting Oxford Street endwise”), and the engineering of a tunnel
under the road, connecting the front-garden with the shrubbery, with its
noble cedars, where, in the midst of foliage, was erected the Swiss
châlet presented to him in 1865 by Fechter, the actor, and which now
stands in Cobham Park. Concerning this châlet—in an upper compartment of
which he was fond of working, remote from disturbing sounds—he sent a
charming account of his environment to his American friend James T.
Fields: “Divers birds sing here all day, and the nightingales all night.
The place is lovely and in perfect order.... I have put five mirrors in
the chalet where I write, and they reflect and refract, in all kinds of
ways, the leaves that are quivering at the windows, and the great fields
of waving corn, and the sail-dotted river. My room is up among the
branches of the trees, and the birds and the butterflies fly in and out,
and the green branches shoot in at the open windows, and the lights and
shadows of the clouds come and go with the rest of the company. The
scent of the flowers, and, indeed, of everything that is growing for
miles and miles, is most delicious.”
[Illustration: THE BULL HOTEL, ROCHESTER. (_Page 219._)
“Good house—nice beds” (“Pickwick”).]
Externally, the main building of Gad’s Hill Place underwent but little
alteration, presenting throughout the period of the owner’s occupation
much the same appearance as when he knew it in the days of his
childhood, the back of the building becoming gradually hidden from view
by clustering masses of ivy and Virginia creeper. One of the bedrooms
was transformed into a study, which he lined with books and occasionally
wrote in; but the study proper (called by him the library) was the front
room on the ground-floor, on the right of the entrance-hall, rendered
familiar by the large engraving published in the _Graphic_ at the time
of the novelist’s death. With regard to this study, or library, it may
be mentioned that it was his delight to be surrounded by a variety of
objects for his eye to rest upon in the intervals of actual writing,
prominent among them being a bronze group representing a couple of frogs
in the act of fighting a duel with swords, and a statuette of a French
dog-fancier, with his living stock-in-trade tucked under his arms and in
his pockets, while a vase of flowers invariably graced his
writing-table. A noteworthy feature of his sanctum was the door, the
inner side of which he disguised by means of imitation book-backs,
transferred thither from Tavistock House; these are still preserved as a
“fixture.” These book-backs, with their humorous titles, create
considerable interest and amusement for such as are privileged to enter
the apartment so intimately associated with “Boz.”
Among those invited to his attractive “Kentish freehold,” as Dickens
frequently termed it, “where cigars and lemons grew on all the trees,”
was Sir Joseph Paxton, the famous landscape gardener and designer of the
Crystal Palace. Hans Andersen, another honoured guest, received most
agreeable impressions of Gad’s Hill Place. He described the
breakfast-room as “a model of comfort and holiday brightness. The
windows were overhung, outside, with a profusion of blooming roses, and
one looked out over the garden to green fields and the hills beyond
Rochester.” Dickens’s happiest hours in his Gad’s Hill home were those
when it was filled with cherished friends, both English and American, to
whom he played the part of an ideal host, devoting the greater portion
of each day to their comfort and amusement, and accompanying them on
pedestrian excursions to Rochester and other favourite localities in the
neighbourhood, or driving with them to more remote places, such as
Maidstone and Canterbury. But what seemed to afford him the utmost
delight were the walks with friends to the charming village of Cobham,
there to refresh at the famous Leather Bottle, the quaint roadside
alehouse where, as every reader of “Pickwick” remembers, the
disconsolate Mr. Tupman was discovered at the parlour table having just
enjoyed a hearty meal of “roast fowl, bacon, ale, and etceteras, and
looking as unlike a man who had taken his leave of the world as
possible.” The Pickwickian traditions of this popular house of
refreshment are maintained by the enthusiastic landlord, who realizes
the importance of preserving the Dickensian associations. The room in
which Mr. Tupman drowned his sorrows in the comfort afforded by a
substantial meal remains practically the same to-day, with this
difference, that the walls are covered with portraits, engravings,
autograph letters, and other interesting items relating to the novelist
and his writings—a veritable Dickens museum. Cobham Hall, the
Elizabethan mansion of Lord Darnley, with its magnificent park, where
the Fechter châlet was re-erected after Dickens’s death, and especially
Cobham Woods, always proved irresistible attractions to the “Master,”
and he and his dogs enjoying their constitutional were a familiar sight
to his neighbours.
The villages of Shorne and Chalk, with their ancient churches and
peaceful churchyards, he frequently visited with “a strange recurring
fondness.” Mr. E. Laman Blanchard has recorded that he often met, and
exchanged salutations with, Dickens during his pedestrian excursions on
the highroad leading from Rochester to Gravesend, and generally they
passed each other at about the same spot—at the outskirts of the village
of Chalk, where a picturesque lane branched off towards Shorne and
Cobham. “Here,” says Mr. Blanchard, “the brisk walk of Charles Dickens
was always slackened, and he never failed to glance meditatively for a
few moments at the windows of a corner house on the southern side of the
road, advantageously situated for commanding views of the river and the
far-stretching landscape beyond. It was in that house he lived
immediately after his marriage, and there many of the earlier chapters
of ‘Pickwick’ were written.”
The village of Cooling, standing so bleak and solitary in the Kentish
fenland bordering the southern banks of the Thames, possessed a weird
fascination for “Boz.” Here, in the midst of those dreary marshes, much
of the local colouring of “Great Expectations” was obtained. Indeed, the
story opens with the night scene between Pip and the escaped convict in
Cooling churchyard, and in the same chapter we have Pip’s early
impressions of the strange and desolate neighbourhood in which he lived
with Mr. and Mrs. Joe Gargery. “Ours was the marsh country, down by the
river, within, as the river wound, twenty miles from the sea. My first
most vivid and broad impression of the identity of things seems to me to
have been gained on a memorable raw afternoon towards evening. At such a
time I found out for certain that this bleak place overgrown with
nettles was the churchyard, and that Philip Pirrip, late of this parish,
and also Georgina, wife of the above, were dead and buried; and that
Alexander, Bartholomew, Abraham, Tobias, and Roger, infant children of
the aforesaid, were also dead and buried; and that the dark, flat
wilderness beyond the churchyard, intersected with dykes, and mounds,
and gates, with scattered cattle feeding on it, was the marshes; and
that the low leaden line beyond was the river; and that the distant
savage lair, from which the wind was rushing, was the sea; and that the
small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all, and beginning to cry,
was Pip.”
“The marshes,” Pip continues, “were just a long black horizontal line
then, ... and the river was just another horizontal line, not nearly so
broad nor yet so black; and the sky was just a row of long angry red
lines and dense black lines intermixed. On the edge of the river I could
faintly make out the only two black things in all the prospect that
seemed to be standing upright. One of these was the beacon by which the
sailors steered—like an unhooped cask upon a pole—an ugly thing when you
were near it; the other, a gibbet, with some chains hanging to it which
had once held a pirate.” Then, in a later chapter, he refers to the old
battery out on the marshes. “It was pleasant and quiet out there,” he
says, “with the sails on the river passing beyond the earthwork, and
sometimes, when the tide was low, looking as if they belonged to sunken
ships that were still sailing on at the bottom of the water.”
Visitors to Cooling cannot fail to notice in the churchyard a long row
of curious gravestones which mark the resting-place of members of the
Comport family of Cowling Court (Cooling was originally called Cowling),
these memorials dating from 1771, the year recorded on a large headstone
standing in close proximity. These suggested to Dickens, of course, the
idea of the “five little stone lozenges” under which the five little
brothers of Pip lay buried. Within a short distance from the churchyard
we may identify, in a short row of cottages, the original of Joe’s
forge, while an old-fashioned inn with a weather-board exterior, and
bearing the sign of the Horseshoe and Castle, is regarded as the
prototype of the Three Jolly Bargemen, a favourite resort of Joe Gargery
after his day’s work at the forge.
The ancient and picturesque city of Rochester, so beloved by Dickens and
so replete with memories of the “Master,” deserves a chapter to itself.
With the exception of London, no town figures so frequently or so
prominently in his books as Rochester, from “The Pickwick Papers” to the
unfinished romance of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” where it is thinly
disguised as “Cloisterham.” Dickens’s acquaintance with Rochester began
in the days of his boyhood, when he lived with his father at Chatham,
and, as a natural result of his unusual powers of observation, he even
then stored up his youthful impressions of the quaint old houses, the
Cathedral, and its neighbour, the rugged ruins of the Norman Castle
overlooking the Medway. How those juvenile impressions received
something of a shock in after-years we are informed by Forster, for
childhood exaggerates what it sees, and Rochester High Street he
remembered as a thoroughfare at least as wide as Regent Street, whereas
it proved to his maturer judgment to be “little better than a lane,”
while the public clock in it, once supposed by him to be the finest
clock in the world, proved eventually to be “as moon-faced and weak a
clock as a man’s eyes ever saw.” Even the grave-looking Town Hall,
“which had appeared to him once so glorious a structure” that he
associated it in his mind with Aladdin’s palace, he reluctantly realized
as being, in reality, nothing more than “a mere mean little heap of
bricks, like a chapel gone demented.” “Ah! who was I,” he observes on
reflection, “that I should quarrel with the town for being changed to
me, when I myself had come back, so changed, to it? All my early
readings and early imaginations dated from this place, and I took them
away so full of innocent construction and guileless belief, and I
brought them back so worn and torn, so much the wiser and so much the
worse!”
Rochester has undergone many topographical changes (not necessarily for
the better) since that memorable morning in 1827 when Mr. Pickwick
leaned over the balustrades of the old stone bridge “contemplating
nature and waiting for breakfast.” To begin with, the bridge itself has
been demolished, and an elliptical iron structure takes its place. The
view, too, which Mr. Pickwick admired of the banks of the Medway, with
the cornfields, pastures, and windmills, is more obscured to-day by that
discomforting symbol of commercialism, smoke, so constantly pouring from
the ever-increasing number of lofty shafts appertaining to the various
cement works which flourish here. From the other side of the bridge Mr.
Pickwick could obtain a pleasant glimpse of the river, with its numerous
sailing-barges, in the direction of Chatham; but the prospect, alas! is
now completely blotted out by hideous railway viaducts. Happily, in
spite of modern innovations, those who appreciate the old-world air of
our English cities will find much to charm them in the precincts of the
Cathedral, sufficiently remote from the bustle and noise of the High
Street to enable it to preserve the quiet serenity which invariably
encompasses our venerable minsters. Besides the picturesque stone
gateways here, much remains in the High Street and elsewhere to remind
us of what Rochester looked like in days of old; as Dickens writes in
“The Seven Poor Travellers”: “The silent High Street of Rochester is
full of gables, with old beams and timbers carved into strange faces.”
Of these surviving specimens of ancient domestic architecture, many will
regard Eastgate House as the most interesting from an archæological
point of view, while to the Dickens student there is an additional
attraction in the fact that it is the original of the Nuns’ House in
“Edwin Drood,” the boarding-school for young ladies over which Miss
Twinkleton presided, and where Rosa Bud received her education.
For many years during the last century Eastgate House was actually in
use as a ladies’ school, and eventually became the headquarters of the
Rochester Men’s Institute. Quite recently the civic authorities, with
commendable good sense, availed themselves of the opportunity of
acquiring the property, which they have thoroughly and tastefully
reinstated and converted into a public museum; and I must add to this
statement the significant fact that a room has been permanently set
apart for an exhibition of mementoes of Charles Dickens—both gifts and
loans—thus, in a sense, stultifying the old proverb, that “a prophet is
not without honour save in his own country.” On one of the inside beams
of Eastgate House is carved the date “1591,” and the rooms are adorned
with carved mantelpieces and plaster enrichments.
[Illustration: CHARLES DICKENS IN 1868.
_From a Photograph by Mason. Reproduced by kind permission of
Messrs. Chapman and Hall._]
Nearly opposite Eastgate House is another picturesque half-timbered
building, which, with its three gables and its projecting bay-windows
supported by carved brackets, is a veritable ornament to this portion of
the High Street. We recognise it as the one-time residence of two of
Dickens’s characters, viz., of Mr. Sapsea, the auctioneer in “Edwin
Drood”—“Mr. Sapsea’s premises are in the High Street over against the
Nuns’ House”—and of Mr. Pumblechook, the seed merchant in “Great
Expectations.” But there exists in Rochester a specimen of domestic
architecture of even greater interest than those just described. This is
Restoration House, pleasantly situated facing an open space called “The
Vines”—the Monks’ Vineyard of “Edwin Drood.” Restoration House is the
Satis House of “Great Expectations,” where lived that strange creature
Miss Havisham; as a matter of fact, there exists in Rochester an actual
Satis House, the name being transferred by Dickens to the old
manor-house associated with Pip and Estella, and with that “immensely
rich and grim lady” the aforesaid Miss Havisham. Restoration House,
which dates from Elizabeth’s reign, afforded temporary lodging to
Charles II. in 1660, who subsequently honoured his host, Sir Francis
Clarke, with a series of large tapestries of English workmanship, which
are still preserved.
In Rochester High Street the visitor cannot fail to observe, on the
north side, a stone-fronted building with three gables, having over the
entrance-gate a curiously inscribed tablet, which reads thus:
Richard Watts, Esquire,
by his Will dated 22nd August, 1579,
founded this Charity
for Six Poor Travellers,
who, not being Rogues or Proctors,
May receive gratis for one Night
Lodging, Entertainment,
and Fourpence each.
This quaint institution, founded by Master Richard Watts, Rochester’s
sixteenth-century philanthropist, still flourishes, and it is an
exceptional thing for a night to pass without its full complement of
applicants for temporary board and lodging, according to the terms
formulated by the charitable founder, by whom also were established
several almshouses situated on the Maidstone Road, endowed for the
support and maintenance of impoverished Rochester townsfolk. Watts’s
Charity, in the High Street, is immortalized by Dickens in the Christmas
number of _Household Words_, 1854, entitled “The Seven Poor Travellers,”
in which the story of Richard Doubledick is one of the most touching
things the novelist ever penned. Dickens, doubtless, frequently visited
the Charity during his Gad’s Hill days, for he delighted in escorting
his American friends and others around the old city, and pointing out to
them its more striking features. In one of the visitors’ books, in which
many distinguished names are recorded, will be found (under date May 11,
1854, the year of publication of the above-mentioned Christmas number)
the bold autographs of Charles Dickens and his friend Mark Lemon.
An account of Dickensian Rochester which omitted to mention the Bull Inn
would be unpardonably incomplete. The Bull, the historic Bull of “The
Pickwick Papers,” which the imperturbable Mr. Jingle averred to Mr.
Pickwick was a “good house” with “nice beds,” is naturally one of the
principal sights of Rochester from the point of view of the Dickens
admirer and student, and Dickens pilgrims from all parts of the world
immediately direct their steps thither on their arrival in the city.
Situated on the south side of the High Street, within a short distance
of Rochester Bridge, the Bull and Victoria Hotel (to give its full
designation) has an exceedingly unprepossessing brick frontage, its only
decorative feature being the Royal Arms over the entrance. Why does the
famous coaching-inn bear the double sign of the Bull and _Victoria_? It
originated in this way: One stormy day at the end of November, 1836, the
late Queen Victoria (then Princess), with her mother the Duchess of
Kent, stopped at the Bull; they were travelling to London from Dover,
and the royal party, warned of the possibility of their carriage being
upset in crossing the bridge, stayed at the hostelry all night, the
apartment in which England’s future Sovereign slept being the identical
room previously allocated to Mr. Tupman in “Pickwick.” Naturally, in
order to commemorate the royal visit, the inn was called by its present
designation, although popularly known simply as the Bull. Some portions
of the establishment still retain their old-world characteristics,
although it must be confessed that the appearance of the majority of the
dormitories and living-rooms partakes more of the early Victorian period
than of an earlier date; one might conjecture, too, that the house had
been refronted during the beginning of the nineteenth century. The place
is replete with Pickwickian associations; here we may see the veritable
staircase where the stormy interview occurred between the irate Dr.
Slammer and Alfred Jingle; here, too, is the actual ball-room, which,
with its glass chandeliers and “elevated den” for the musicians, has
remained unaltered since the description of it appeared in “Pickwick.”
The sleeping apartments of Messrs. Tupman and Winkle (“Winkle’s bedroom
is inside mine,” said Mr. Tupman) may be identified in those numbered 13
and 19 respectively, while Mr. Pickwick’s room is distinguished as “No.
17,” which tradition declares was occupied on at least one occasion by
Dickens himself, and now contains some pieces of furniture formerly in
use at Gad’s Hill Place. Although much less prominently than in
“Pickwick,” the Bull is introduced in other works of Dickens. It
appears, for example, in one of the “Sketches by Boz,” entitled “The
great Winglebury Duel” (written before “Pickwick”), where “the little
town of Great Winglebury” and “the Winglebury Arms” are undoubtedly
intended for Rochester and its principal hostelry. In “Great
Expectations” the Bull is again introduced as the Blue Boar, where it
will be remembered that, in honour of the important event of Pip being
bound apprentice to Joe Gargery (the premium having been paid by Miss
Havisham), arrangements were made for a dinner at the Blue Boar,
attended by the servile Pumblechook, the Hubbles, and Mr. Wopsle. “Among
the festivities indulged in rather late in the evening,” observes Pip,
who did not particularly enjoy himself on the occasion, “Mr. Wopsle gave
us Collins’s Ode, and ‘threw his blood-stain’d sword in thunder down,’
with such effect that a waiter came in and said, ‘The commercials
underneath sent up their compliments, and it wasn’t the Tumblers’
Arms!’”
It was recently rumoured that the Bull, not proving satisfactorily
remunerative, stood in danger of demolition, and that a new hotel,
possessing those improvements which present-day travellers regard as
indispensable, would be erected on the site. Needless to say, all
Dickens lovers would deplore the realization of such a proposal.
* * * * * * * *
I venture to conclude with a few supplementary remarks concerning Gad’s
Hill Place, the bourne to which all devout Dickens worshippers make a
pilgrimage, among whom our American cousins are undoubtedly the most
ardent enthusiasts.
Dickens paid the purchase-money for Gad’s Hill Place on March 14, 1856;
it was a Friday, and handing the cheque for £1,790 to Wills, he
observed: “Now, isn’t it an extraordinary thing—look at the day—Friday!
I have been nearly drawing it half a dozen times, when the lawyers have
not been ready, and here it comes round upon a Friday as a matter of
course.” He frequently remarked that all the important events of his
life happened to him on a Friday. Referring to this transaction, Mrs.
Lynn Linton, in “My Literary Life,” says: “We sold it cheap, £1,700, and
we asked £40 for the ornamental timber. To this Dickens and his agent
made an objection; so we had an arbitrator, who awarded us £70, which
was in the nature of a triumph.” The house contains fourteen rooms and
the usual offices; there are greenhouses, stables, a kitchen-garden, a
farmyard, etc., the property comprising eleven acres of land, a
considerable portion of which Dickens subsequently acquired through
private negotiations with the respective owners.
At Gad’s Hill Dickens produced some of his best work. During the period
of his residence here (1857-1870), he wrote the concluding chapters of
“Little Dorrit,” “A Tale of Two Cities,” “Great Expectations,” “Our
Mutual Friend,” and the fragment of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,”
concerning which Longfellow entertained a very high opinion, believing
that it promised to be one of the finest of his stories; he also
contributed to _All The Year Round_ those remarkable papers published
under the general title of “The Uncommercial Traveller,” perhaps the
most delightful of his minor writings.
It was on June 8, 1870, that Dickens, while at dinner, suddenly became
very ill and almost immediately lost consciousness, from which he never
recovered. On the following day his spirit fled, and it is no
exaggeration to say that never has the death of a distinguished man
caused greater consternation throughout the civilized world than did the
unexpected passing of the great novelist.
Not many weeks had elapsed after this sad event when Gad’s Hill Place
and its contents were disposed of by public auction. The house, with
eight acres of meadow-land, was virtually bought in by Charles Dickens
the younger at the much enhanced price of £7,500. For a time the
novelist’s eldest son made it his home; but, as he informed the present
writer, the increasing needs of his large and growing young family could
not be sufficiently accommodated, and this determined him to sell the
place—a decision which naturally caused those interested in its fate to
fear the possibility of its falling into the hands of an unsympathetic
proprietor, who would fail to appreciate or to cherish the unique
associations. After being a considerable time on the market, the
property was purchased in 1879 by Captain (now Major) Austin F. Budden,
then of the 12th Kent Artillery Volunteers, and Mayor of Rochester from
that year until 1881.
It was during Major Budden’s occupancy of Gad’s Hill Place, in the late
summer of 1888, that I accompanied my friend the late Mr. W. R. Hughes
(author of “A Week’s Tramp in Dickens Land”) on a memorable visit to
this famous residence. We met with a most friendly reception from the
genial host and his wife, and were privileged to inspect every point of
interest within and without—the library with its curious dummy
book-backs, the dining-room where “the Master” succumbed to the fatal
seizure, the conservatory (his “last improvement”), the well (with the
Major’s mare, Tell-tale, busily drawing water), the grave of the pet
canary, the tunnel under the Dover road, etc. Perhaps the most
unexpected treat was the view from the roof of the building, whence it
is easy to realize the charming environment. Looking northward from this
high elevation, we may view the marshes, which flat and dreary expanse
is relieved by a glimpse of the Thames, widening as it approaches
seaward, and bearing upon its silvery bosom a number of vessels, both
steamships and sailing ships, the ruddy brown sails of the barges giving
colour to the scene. To the east is the valley of the Medway, the
prospect including a distant view of Rochester, crowned by the rugged
keep of the old Castle and by the Cathedral tower.[115] To the south the
beautifully undulating greensward of Cobham Park and the umbrageous
Cobham Woods complete this wonderful panorama of Nature.
In 1889 (the year following that of our visit) Gad’s Hill Place narrowly
escaped destruction by fire. It is the old story—a leakage of gas, a
naked light, and an explosion; happily, Major Budden’s supply of
hand-grenades did their duty and saved the building. Shortly afterwards
the house and accompanying land were again in the market, and in 1890 a
purchaser was found in the Hon. Francis Law Latham, Advocate-General at
Bombay. This gentleman, however, could not enter into possession until
his return to England a few months later. Meanwhile Major Budden took up
his residence elsewhere, so that during a part of the year 1891 Gad’s
Hill Place was empty and deserted, pathetically contrasting with those
ever-to-be-remembered days when Charles Dickens and his hosts of friends
enlivened the neighbourhood with cricket matches, athletic sports, etc.
Mr. Latham is still the tenant-owner of Gad’s Hill Place, and, needless
to say, thoroughly appreciates the unique associations of his attractive
home, where he hopes to spend in quiet and secluded retirement the
remaining years of a busy life.
FOOTNOTES
[1]Almost the whole of the Isle of Portsea, with the old parishes of
Portsmouth and Portsea, is now included in the Borough of
Portsmouth, Landport being one of the divisions of the ancient
parish of Portsea; while the old Portsmouth parish still remains but
a small one, that of Portsea is of considerable dimensions, and
divided into several parishes. One of the streets east of Commercial
Road is called “Dickens Street,” in honour of the novelist.
[2]“The Mudfog Papers.”
[3]Christmas Number of _Household Words_, 1854.
[4]“David Copperfield,” chap. xiii.
[5]“One Man in a Dockyard” (_Household Words_, September 6, 1851).
[6]“One Man in a Dockyard” (_Household Words_, September 6, 1851).
[7]“The Wreck of the Golden Mary” (Christmas Number of _Household
Words_, 1856).
[8]See “The Guest” in the Christmas Number of _Household Words_, 1855.
[9]See “The Guest” in the Christmas Number of _Household Words_, 1855;
Langton’s “Childhood and Youth of Charles Dickens,” 1883.
[10]“David Copperfield,” chap. ii.
[11]_Household Words_, April 6, 1850.
[12]_Household Words_, Christmas Number, 1852.
[13]“David Copperfield,” chap. iv.
[14]_Ibid._
[15]“Great Expectations,” chap. xix.
[16]_All the Year Round_, June 30, 1860.
[17]_Vide_ “St. Pancras, Past and Present,” by Frederick Muller, 1874.
[18]To Mr. R. B. Prosser (editor of _St. Pancras Notes and Queries_) I
am indebted for much useful information respecting the early London
homes of Charles Dickens. He has discovered that in the parish
rate-book for October 8, 1823, the name of John Dickens appears as
the tenant of No. 16, Bayham Street, and also at No. 18; in the next
rate-book (January 21, 1824) No. 16 is marked “empty.” In 1866 the
Metropolitan Board of Works renumbered Bayham Street (then
consisting of about a hundred and fifty houses), incorporating
therewith Bayham Street South and Fleming Place.
[19]The Fox-under-the-Hill stood at the foot of Ivy Bridge Lane, which
formed a boundary between Westminster City and the Liberty of the
Duchy of Lancaster (Savoy). Between Salisbury Stairs (adjoining the
little tavern) and London Bridge there plied three halfpenny
steamboats, named respectively the _Ant_, the _Bee_, and the
_Cricket_, whereof the latter two came to an untimely end. The
building of the Hotel Cecil has wiped out Cecil and Salisbury
Streets, and entirely transformed this locality, including the
destruction of the quaint ale-house itself.
[20]Possibly a mistake of the rate-collector. The name Roylance is not
uncommon in the district.
[21]In 1820 Seymour Street, with the site of Euston Square Station, was
a huge brick-field, with a solitary “wine vaults” stuck in the
middle of it.
[22]A writer in Hone’s “Year-Book,” 1826, says: “Somers Town is full of
artists, as a reference to the Royal Academy Catalogue will evince.
In Clarendon Square still lives, I believe, Scriven, the engraver,
an artist of great ability and, in his day, of much consideration.
In the same neighbourhood dwells the venerable Dr. Wilde, who may be
justly termed the best engraver of his age for upwards of half a
century.”
W. H. Wills (assistant editor on _All the Year Round_), in recalling
Somers Town of this period, refers to its “aristocracy,” and to the
Polygon as its “Court centre,” situated in the middle of Clarendon
Square. “In and around it,” he says, “Art and Literature nestled in
cosy coteries, with half-pay officers (including one Peninsular
Colonel), city merchants, and stockbrokers.... The most eminent
historical engravers of that day dated their works, ‘as the Act
directs,’ from Somers Town.” Theodore Hook lived in Clarendon
Square, and Peter Pindar, Sir Francis Burdett, with other
notabilities, in close proximity thereto.
The houses which comprised the Polygon prior to 1890 were demolished
by the Midland Railway Company in the following year, and the
buildings now occupying the site were erected by the Company for
habitation by persons of the labouring class who were displaced by
the acquisition of the property.
[23]Another popular novelist, William Black, also lived in this house,
and, it is believed, in the selfsame rooms.
[24]The office of the _Morning Chronicle_ was at No. 332, Strand,
opposite Somerset House, the building having been recently
demolished for improvements in widening the thoroughfare.
[25]Reprinted as “Mr. Minns and his Cousin” in “Sketches by Boz.”
[26]A writer in _Middlesex and Hertfordshire Notes and Queries_, July,
1895, states that Dickens also occupied for some months a suite of
rooms in Wood’s Hotel (Furnival’s Inn) on the first-floor,
south-east corner of the main building.
[27]The date of Edmund Yates’s residence here was 1854 _et seq._ The
rent of his house (he says) was £70 a year, “on a repairing lease”
(which means an annual outlay of from £25 to £30 to keep the bricks
and mortar and timbers together), and the accommodation consisted of
a narrow dining-room, a little back bedroom, two big drawing-rooms,
two good bedrooms, three attics, with kitchen and cellar in the
basement. This description conveys an idea of the character and
rental value of Dickens’s home, five doors distant.
[28]The property hereabouts is owned by the Doughty family, and belongs
to the notorious Tichborne estate.
[29]I am indebted for many of these particulars to Mr. E. J. Line,
author of an illustrated article entitled “The Thames Valley of
Charles Dickens,” printed in the _Richmond and Twickenham Times_,
December 24, 1903.
[30]“Jack Straw’s Castle, also known as the Castle Hotel, which stands
on elevated ground near the large pond and the flagstaff, has been
somewhat modernized of late years. It has been generally supposed
that the name of this hostelry is derived from the well-known
peasant leader in the terrible rising of Richard II.’s time; but
Professor Hales assures us there is no sufficient authority for the
tradition, for the present designation is perhaps not older than the
middle of the eighteenth century, the original sign being most
likely The Castle, without any preceding genitive, Richardson, for
example, thus referring to it in ‘Clarissa Harlowe,’ 1748. For the
connection of Jack Straw with Hampstead there is apparently no
historic defence.”—_The Home Counties Magazine_, April, 1899.
[31]Serjeant (afterwards Justice) Talfourd, to whom “Pickwick” was
dedicated. He composed a sonnet “To Charles Dickens, on his ‘Oliver
Twist,’” and declared that this story was the most delightful he had
ever read.
[32]“Some Recollections of Mortality,” first printed in _All the Year
Round_, May 16, 1863.
[33]This church figures prominently in Hogarth’s paintings of “The
Rake’s Progress.” It was the scene also of Byron’s baptism and of
the marriage of the Brownings.
Apropos, it may be mentioned that in 1843, during Dickens’s
residence in the parish of St. Marylebone, he took sittings for a
year or two in the Little Portland Street Unitarian Chapel, for
whose officiating minister, Edward Tagart, he had a warm regard,
which continued long after he had ceased to be a member of the
congregation.
[34]“A Week’s Tramp in Dickens Land,” by W. R. Hughes, 1891.
[35]The Euston and Victoria Hotel no longer exists. It stood in Euston
Grove, at No. 14, Euston Square (north side).
[36]No. 1, Devonshire Terrace was at one time the home of George du
Maurier, the well-known _Punch_ artist. It is now partly utilized as
solicitors’ offices.
[37]The artist removed to another residence in the Square, not more than
a couple of houses from that of Dickens.
[38]_I.e._, no workmen.
[39]First printed in “The Letters of Charles Dickens.”
[40]First printed in “The Letters of Charles Dickens.”
[41]Tavistock House was for many years the residence of James Perry
(editor of Dickens’s old paper, the _Morning Chronicle_, in its best
days), and was then noted for its reunions of men of political and
literary distinction. Eliza Cook, the poetess, also lived in
Tavistock House when she left Greenhithe, Kent, and Mary Russell
Mitford (authoress of “Our Village”) became an honoured guest there
in 1818. The house was afterwards divided, and the moiety, which
still retained the name of Tavistock, became the home of Frank
Stone.
From the front windows of Tavistock House, which stood immediately
on the right on entering the railed-in garden or square, the spire
of St. Pancras Church was plainly visible, being but a short
distance away. The pillars of the gateway leading to the enclosure
were (and are) surmounted by quaint lamps with iron supports.
Dickens held the lease from the Duke of Bedford at a “peppercorn”
ground-rent.
[42]The portrait-bust was probably that executed in marble by Dickens’s
beloved friend Angus Fletcher (“Poor Kindheart,” as the novelist
called him), whose mother was an English beauty and heiress. He died
in 1862. At the sale of Dickens’s effects in 1870, the bust realized
fifty-one guineas, and it would be interesting to know its present
destination. The pair of reliefs after Thorwaldsen were disposed of
on the same occasion for eight and a half guineas.
[43]“Mary Boyle—Her Book,” 1901.
[44]I quote the opening lines of this eccentric effusion:
“‘Great men,’ no doubt, have a great deal to answer for. No one will
deny that. Their ‘genius,’ which brings them to the front, and which
causes men, women, and children to worship them for the pleasure
their beautiful gifts procure to eyes, ears, and senses, brings them
all much responsibility.
“But who would ever have imagined that their dwellings may bring
grave responsibility and grave trouble to those who take up their
abode in a house which the presence of their genius has hallowed? I
live in Tavistock House, Tavistock Square, London—a dear house, in a
nice, quiet, shady garden, where grow fine large old plantains (out
of the Square proper), and where in summer, from every window of the
house, you may imagine yourself in the country—the real country!
That sounds very grand and luxurious in London; and though the mere
fact of living in the house has very nearly brought upon me the most
terrible fate which can befall a human being nowadays—namely, _that
of a sane person shut up in a lunatic asylum, put there for the
purpose of being slowly or ‘accidentally’ murdered_—I cling to the
spot because I have spent the happiest, the most interesting, and
the most illumined part of my life there; also days of the most
bitter anguish, the most heart-crushing despair, when I was obliged
to leave the dear home and husband for some time, because I could
not stop crying. The thought of my loss and the shipwreck of my life
was too vivid, too much for me. I went away and returned when I had
got calm enough to restrain my tears, but with the sun set for ever
on what remained to me of the summer of middle life. I love the dear
home, too, because my darling puggies are buried in the garden under
the mulberry-tree, without a tombstone, alas! because ever since
they died I have been planning to have a pretty monument made to
mark the spot where they lay, and that when I have thought I could
afford myself that pleasure somebody has generally stolen my money
... and I have to put off ordering the intended _work of art_, which
I mean it to be, till I feel ‘flush’ again. I was a slave to my dear
Dan for nearly thirteen years, and I think I must have loved that
dog as much as anybody ever loved anything in this world.
“I must not let you wonder too long what I am driving at, my
readers, by telling you that, through the mere fact of living in
what had been a house where a great man had lived, I nearly got
locked up in a lunatic asylum. You must think me insane, I fancy, to
say such a thing, and I must confess that you might guess every
mortal and immortal thing under the sun, but you would never guess
how this most frightful occurrence took place.
“Those who have read Charles Dickens’s ‘Life,’ by Mr. Forster, will
know that he is the ‘great man’ who had lived at Tavistock House for
twelve [ten] years. People from all parts of the world have come to
look at the house Charles Dickens lived in, and see the interior of
the house, a request which I have frequently complied with.”
On another page Mrs. Weldon says: “Although three keepers got into
Tavistock House and actually laid hold of me, I escaped their
delicate intentions, as I consider, by a merciful interposition of
Providence....”
At the Dickens Birthday Celebration, the dancers were attired in the
costumes of Dickens characters, and Mrs. Weldon appeared in wig and
gown—a very fascinating Serjeant Buzfuz.
[45]The neuralgic pain in his foot, originating, he believed, in a
prolonged walk in the snow, continued to cause acute suffering, and
completely prostrated him at intervals.
[46]At Sotheby’s, on December 4, 1902, were sold the office table, two
chairs, and a looking-glass, which for many years were in daily
requisition by Dickens at the office of _All the Year Round_.
[47]Mr. Percy Fitzgerald, in the _St. James’s Gazette_, March 6, 1899.
[48]These interesting conjectures are culled from the _Wiltshire
Advertiser_, February 4, 1904.
[49]“The Real Dickens Land,” by H. Snowden Ward, 1903.
[50]“Bleak House,” chap. lvi.
[51]Letter to Forster, January 27, 1869.
[52]“The Pickwick Papers,” chap. xxxiv.
[53]“The Letters of Charles Dickens.”
[54]“... A strong place perched upon the top of a high rock, around
which, when the tide is in, the sea flows, leaving no road to the
mainland.”—“A Child’s History of England,” chap. ix.
[55]In the early part of the last century the Logan, or Rocking, Stone
could be easily swayed to and fro, its poise being so accurate that
a hand-push would set it in motion and cause it to rock. In April,
1824, this huge rock was overthrown by a party of sailors, and,
filled with remorse for this foolish act, the leader of the party
(Lieutenant Goldsmith, nephew of the poet) determined to replace it
at his own expense, the stone being swung back with pulleys to its
original resting-place in November of the same year, amid great
local rejoicing. But its rocking propensities were sadly diminished,
and at the present time have ceased altogether.
[56]“The Letters of Charles Dickens.”
[57]Forster’s “Life of Dickens.”
[58]“The Letters of Charles Dickens.”
[59]Thackeray wrote some of the early numbers of “Vanity Fair” at the
Old Ship Inn, and caused George Osborne and his bride to spend the
first few days of their married life there.
[60]“The Letters of Charles Dickens.” This passage reminds us of the
following contemporary reference in “Vanity Fair,” chap. xxii.: “But
have we any leisure for a description of Brighton?—for Brighton, a
clean Naples, with genteel lazzaroni; for Brighton, that always
looks brisk, gay, and gaudy, like a harlequin’s jacket....”
[61]_Vide_ “Mary Boyle—Her Book,” 1901. Miss Boyle, an intimate friend
of Dickens, pleasingly records her recollections of Dr. Everard’s
school, where, as a girl, she was very popular among his pupils, and
much in request at the dances. Her partners included the late and
the present Lords Northampton, Mr. Frederick Leveson-Gower, and her
cousins, the sons of Sir Augustus Clifford.
[62]“The Letters of Charles Dickens.”
[63]See _Punch_, August 25, 1849. In the background of the drawing are
represented the ruins of Cook’s Castle.
[64]In March, 1902, the Great White Horse was sold by public auction,
and purchased by the lessee for £14,500.
[65]“The Letters of Charles Dickens.”
[66]For this information I am indebted to Dr. John Bately, of Gorleston,
who has made a careful study of the subject, and to whom I am
similarly obliged for useful suggestions respecting “Blunderstone
Rookery,” the original of which (he is convinced) is the Rectory,
not the Hall. Is it not probable that Dickens combined the features
of both places, and so produced a composite portrait?
[67]The Morrit Arms is now the only establishment of the kind in Greta
Bridge.
[68]“Letters of Charles Dickens.”
[69]The King’s Head, in the Market Place, Barnard Castle, has been
enlarged since 1838, but the older portion remains much as it was
then.
[70]See “The Speeches of Charles Dickens.”
[71]“Poor Mercantile Jack,” in _All the Year Round_, March 10, 1860.
[72]Elsewhere in the book the author tells us that the great factories
looked like Fairy palaces when illumined at night.
[73]The late Mr. Robert Langton, author of “The Childhood and Youth of
Charles Dickens,” states that Dickens, in “Hard Times,” is
unsuccessful in his attempt to render the Lancashire dialect—that
the utterances put into the mouths of Stephen Blackpool and others
in the book “are very far from being correct,” a matter upon which,
from his long residence in Manchester, that critic is qualified to
speak. Mr. Langton points out that the inscription on the sign of
the Pegasus’ Arms, at which inn Sleary’s circus company put up,
“Good malt makes good beer,” etc., was taken from an old sign, the
Malt Shovel, existing until 1882 at the foot of Cheetham Hill.
[74]See the _Manchester Evening Chronicle_, January 7, 1904. In this
paper were published during 1903-1904 a series of interesting
articles on “Dickens and Manchester,” whence some of these details
are culled.
[75]“The County of the Cheerybles,” by the Rev. Hume Elliot.
[76]Many of these details are quoted from the _Manchester Evening News_,
October 27, 1903.
[77]“The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices.”
[78]“The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices.”
[79]“The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices.”
[80]“The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices.”
[81]“The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices.”
[82]“The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices.”
[83]“The Letters of Charles Dickens.” It is now rumoured that, in the
thinning-out process adopted by the Wigton magistrates, some of the
oldest established licensed houses in the county are threatened with
extinction, all of those in Hesket-New-Market being objected to.
Happily, the house immortalized by Dickens will escape, being no
longer an inn.
[84]“The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices.” We are told that “a portion
of the lazy notes from which these lazy sheets are taken” was
written at the King’s Arms Hotel.
[85]“The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices.”
[86]_Ibid._
[87]“The Letters of Charles Dickens.”
[88]The successful horses on this day were Impérieuse (St. Leger),
Blanche of Middlebec (Municipal Stakes), Skirmisher (Her Majesty’s
Plate), and Meta (Portland Plate).
[89]“The Letters of Charles Dickens.”
[90]“The Letters of Charles Dickens.”
[91]“The Letters of Charles Dickens.”
[92]In 1898 the Birthplace Visitors’ Books for May, 1821, to September,
1848, in which are preserved the autographs of Sir Walter Scott,
Dickens, Washington Irving, and a host of celebrities, were sold at
Sotheby’s auction-rooms, the four volumes realizing £56.
[93]“The Letters of Charles Dickens.”
[94]“The Letters of Charles Dickens.”
[95]_I.e._, an infant phenomenon, _à la_ Crummles in “Nicholas
Nickleby.”
[96]“The Letters of Charles Dickens.” The reference to “the Miss
Snevellicci business” is an allusion to the theatrical incident in
“Nicholas Nickleby,” chap. xxiv.
[97]The diary records, under date October 29, 1838: “Hatfield expenses
on Saturday, £1 12s.”
[98]Christmas number of _All the Year Round_, 1863.
[99]“The Poor Man and his Beer” in _All the Year Round_, April 30, 1859.
[100]The Christmas number of _All the Year Round_, 1861.
[101]“Travelling Abroad.”
[102]Probably that portion descriptive of Cobham village and park was
penned here. His landlord, Thomas White, was still living in 1883.
[103]Miller’s “Jottings of Kent,” 1871.
[104]It would seem, from the published correspondence of 1859, that the
house (No. 40, Albion Street) occupied by him twenty years
previously had been absorbed by the hotel.
[105]“The Letters of Charles Dickens.”
[106]“The Letters of Charles Dickens.”
[107]“Our Watering-Place,” first published in _Household Words_ August
2, 1851, was reprinted as “Our English Watering-Place.”
[108]See the letter to Mrs. Charles Dickens, September 3, 1850.
[109]_Ibid._
[110]“A Week’s Tramp in Dickens Land,” by W. R. Hughes, F.L.S.
[111]“Out of Town,” first printed in _Household Words_, September 29,
1855.
[112]“Out of Town.”
[113]In the same play, curiously enough, one of the minor characters is
named “Gadshill.”
[114]“A Week’s Tramp in Dickens Land,” by W. R. Hughes, 1891.
[115]It is generally admitted that the tower of Rochester Cathedral is
altogether out of harmony with the rest of this Norman edifice. It
was designed by Cottingham, and erected in 1825 to replace the
earlier tower, which was surmounted by a thick stunted spire. A fund
has been raised to which the late Dean, Dr. Reynolds Hole, so
generously contributed, for the purpose of substituting a tower
approximating in character the older structure.
At the time of publication (December, 1904) the lowering and
re-casing of the tower and the addition of a 66 ft. spire are
completed.
INDEX
_The titles of the writings of Dickens are printed in italics._
A
Adelaide Street, Strand, 32.
Adelphi, 30.
Ainsworth, H., 54.
Alamode beef-houses, 31.
Alderbury, 100.
Aldwych, 80.
Allonby, 144.
“All the Year Round,” 78, 79, 222.
Amesbury, 100.
Anderson, Hans Christian, 70, 210.
“Animal Magnetism,” 172.
Athenæum Club, 80.
Austin, Henry, 49;
and Tavistock House, 66.
B
Bagstock, Major, and Brighton, 106.
Bangor, 169.
_Barnaby Rudge_, 60, 103.
Barnard Castle, 125.
Barnet, 55, 173.
Bath, 85, 87-93.
_Battle of Life_, 63.
Beard, Thomas, 82.
Beckhampton, 87.
Birkenhead, 169.
Birmingham, 163-166.
Black Country, the, 163.
Blackfriars Bridge, 35.
Blanchard, E. Laman, 211.
_Bleak House_, 27, 42, 56, 69, 71, 82, 103, 172, 176, 195.
Blimber’s, Dr., establishment at Brighton, 106.
Blimber, Dr., original of, 106.
Blunderstone, original of, 16, 117, 120.
Blundeston, original of Blunderstone, 16, 117, 120.
Bonchurch, Isle of Wight, 107-111.
Bowes, 126.
Boyle, Mary, 72, 107.
Bridgnorth, 163.
Brighton, 63, 103-107.
Bristol, 83.
Broadstairs, 54, 64, 188-197.
Brompton, New, 8.
Browdie, John, original of, 126.
Budden, James, original of Fat Boy, 12.
Burnett, Henry, 137.
Bury St. Edmunds, 114, 115.
C
Canterbury, 190, 202, 203, 205, 210
Capel Curig, 169.
Carlisle, 146.
Carlyle, Thomas, 72.
Carracross, a village of Peggotty Huts, 119.
Carrock Fell, 142.
Cassell and Co., 28.
Chalk, 186, 187, 211.
Chandos Street, Covent Garden, 37, 39.
Charing Cross Hospital, 38.
Charing Cross railway-bridge, 30.
Charlotte Street, Blackfriars, 35.
Chatham, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14, 17, 18, 25, 26, 183, 185, 186, 204,
205, 214, 215.
Cheadle, 169.
Cheeryble Brothers, originals of, 138.
Chelmsford, 49.
Chertsey, 55.
Chesney Wold, 172, 173.
Chester, 163.
_Child’s Dream of a Star_, 17.
_Child’s Story_, 18.
_Chimes, The_, 62, 82.
Cholmeley, original of Tony Weller, 22.
_Christmas Carol_, 60, 73, 171.
Clare Market, 80.
Clatford, 86.
Clifton, 84.
Cloisterham (Rochester), 214.
Coaches:
“Brighton Era,” 103.
“Commodore,” 20, 22.
Cooper Company’s, Bristol, 85.
“Glasgow Mail,” 124.
Timpson’s “Blue-eyed Maid,” 21.
Cobham, 20, 186, 208, 210.
Cobham Hall, 211.
Cob-Tree Hall, Aylesford, 201.
Coketown, original of, 133.
Collins, Wilkie, 72, 141.
Conway, 169.
Cook, Eliza, 69.
Cooling, 212-214.
Cornwall, trip into, with Stanfield, Maclise, and Forster, 95.
Covent Garden, 30.
Coventry, 170.
_Cricket on the Hearth_, 60.
Cumberland, 141.
D
“Daily News,” 81.
_David Copperfield_, 3, 8, 9, 12, 16, 19, 29, 30, 31, 36, 37, 40,
42, 44, 45, 50, 60, 63, 103, 108, 110, 117-122, 193, 195,
199, 200, 202.
Dawson, Dr., at school with Dickens, 40.
Debtors’ prison, Southwark, 28.
Dedlock Arms, original of, 173.
Dibabses, home of, 95.
Dickens, Alfred Tennyson, 61.
Dickens, Charles:
Birth, 1;
baptism, 3;
childhood days, 6, 7;
at school in Chatham, 11, 14;
Chatham days, 18-20;
leaves Chatham for London, 20;
boyhood and youth in London, 23-48;
first employment, 29;
school again, 39;
clerk at a solicitor’s and then at attorneys’, 41;
takes to journalism, 44;
studies shorthand, 44;
reporter on the “True Sun,” “Mirror of Parliament,” and
“Morning Chronicle,” 46;
first attempt at authorship, 47;
commences _Pickwick_, 50;
marriage, 51;
birth of his son Charles, 51;
of his daughters, Mary and Kate, 54;
of his sons, Walter Landor, Francis Jeffrey, Alfred Tennyson,
Henry Fielding, and daughter, Dora Annie, 61;
and of Sidney Smith Haldemand, 63;
birth of son, Edward Bulwer Lytton, 71;
takes Gad’s Hill Place, 73;
return from America, 95;
death, June 9, 1870, 222.
Dickens, Mrs. Charles, 88, 166.
Dickens, Charles Culliford Boz, 51, 64.
Dickens, Dora Annie, 61.
Dickens, Edward Bulwer Lytton, 71.
Dickens, Elizabeth, mother of Charles, 3, 26, 33, 38.
Dickens Fellowship, 17.
Dickens, Francis Elizabeth, 3.
Dickens, Francis Jeffrey, 61.
Dickens, Henry Fielding, 61.
Dickens, John, 2, 5-20, 23, 26, 28, 33, 37, 39, 41, 43, 94.
Dickens, Kate, 54.
Dickens, Mary, 54, 59.
Dickens Road, 193.
Dickens, Sidney Smith Haldemand, 63.
Dickens Street, Portsmouth, 2.
Dickens, Walter Landor, 61.
Dingley Dell, 201.
_Dinner at Poplar Walk_, 47.
Doctors’ Commons, 44.
_Dombey and Son_, 33, 60, 63, 106, 162.
Dombey, burial of, 61.
Dombey, Mr., and Brighton, 106.
Dombey, Mr., marriage of, 61.
Dombey, original of, 138.
Dombey, Paul, at school in Brighton, 106.
Doncaster, 149, 153-5.
Dorrit, Fanny, original of, 138.
Dotheboys Hall, 126.
Dover, 8, 197, 198-199, 206, 219.
Drury Lane, 31, 80.
“Dullborough” (Chatham), 21, 185, 186.
E
Eastgate House, Rochester, 216.
“Eatanswill,” 114.
Edinburgh, 155-157, 159.
Egg, Augustus, 110.
Ellis and Blackmore, attorneys who employed Dickens, 41, 43.
Empty chair, 209.
Engelhart, 25.
Essex, 1, 49.
Everard, Dr., original of Dr. Blimber, 106.
Exeter, 93.
F
Fielding’s “Tom Thumb,” 71.
Fields, James T., 77.
Fildes, Luke, 78.
Fitzgerald, Percy, 81, 114.
Fleet Prison, 28.
Folkestone, 198, 199-200.
Folkestone, original of Pavilionstone, 199.
Frith, W. P., R.A., 73.
_Frozen Deep, The_, 72.
G
Gad’s Hill, 184, 201, 204-212, 218, 220, 221-224.
Gaiety Theatre, 80.
Garland Family, 35.
Genoa, 61, 62, 110.
_George Silverman’s Explanation_, 136.
Giles, William, 15, 21.
Glasgow, 158, 159.
Glencoe, 157.
“Golden dog licking a golden pot,” 35.
“Golden Lucy,” original of, 12.
Gounod, 74.
Grant, William and Daniel, Originals of the Cheeryble Brothers,
138.
Grantham, 124.
Gravesend, 184, 204, 206, 211.
Gray’s Inn, 50.
_Great Expectations_, 21, 71, 212, 220, 222.
Great North Road, 173.
Great Winglebury, 220.
Greta Bridge, 123.
Grewgious’s chambers in Staple Inn, 51.
Grip the raven, 60.
_Guest, The_, 13.
Guild of Literature and Art, 177.
Guy’s Hospital, 35.
H
Hackney churchyard, 179.
Hampshire, 1.
Hampstead, 39, 55.
_Hard Times_, 71, 132-136.
Hatfield, 174.
_Haunted Man_, 60, 104.
Hertford, 173.
Hesket-New-Market, 148.
Higham, 204.
Hogarth, Catherine Thomson, 51.
Hogarth, George, 51.
Hogarth, Mary, 51.
Hogarth, Miss, 51, 63.
Holl, Frank, 25.
_Holly Tree Inn_, 13.
Horne, R. H., 9.
Hotels: _see_ _Inns_.
“Household Words,” 79, 104, 141.
House of Commons Reporters, Gallery, 46.
Huffam, Christopher, 4.
Humphrey, Master, original of 126.
Hungerford Market, 30, 39.
Hungerford Stairs, Strand, 29 35, 39.
Hungerford Street, 32, 160.
Hungerford Suspension Bridge, 30.
Hunt, Leigh, 128, 137.
I
Inns and Hotels:
Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool, 129.
Adelphi Hotel, Manchester, 169.
Albion Hotel, Broadstairs, 188.
Angel Inn, Bury St. Edmunds, 114.
Angel, Doncaster, 153.
Beaufort Arms, Bath, 93.
Bedford Hotel, Brighton, 104, 105, 106.
Black Prince, Chandos Street, 38.
Blue Boar, Rochester, 220.
Bull Hotel, Preston, 136.
Bull Hotel, Rochester, 218.
Bull Inn, Whitechapel, 113.
Bush Inn, Bristol, 84.
Castle Hotel, Coventry, 170.
Catherine Wheel, Beckhampton, 87.
Clarence Hotel, Chatham, 12.
Copp’s Royal Hotel, Leamington, 160.
County Inn, Canterbury, 202.
Cross Keys, London, 21.
Crozier Inn, Chatham, 13.
Down Hotel, Clifton, 85.
Fountain Hotel, Canterbury, 202.
Fox-under-the-Hill, Adelphi, 30.
George Hotel, Grantham, 124.
George Inn, Greta Bridge, 124.
Golden Cross, London, 22.
Great White Horse, Ipswich, 112.
Green Dragon, Alderbury, 100.
Hen and Chickens Inn, Birmingham, 164.
Horseshoe and Castle, Cooling, 212.
Hotel Cecil, London, 31.
Jack Straw’s Castle, Hampstead, 56.
Kennedy’s Hotel, Edinburgh, 156.
Kennett Inn, Beckhampton, 87.
King’s Arms, Lancaster, 149.
King’s Head, Barnard Castle, 126.
Leather Bottle, Cobham, 210.
Lion Hotel, Shrewsbury, 167.
Lord Warden Hotel, Dover, 199.
Malt Shovel, Cheetham Hill, 136.
Marquis of Ailesbury’s Arms, Clatford, 86.
Mitre Inn, Chatham, 12.
New Inn, Greta Bridge, 124.
New London Inn, Exeter, 94.
Old Coach and Horses, Isleworth, 55.
Old Royal Hotel, Birmingham, 165.
Old Ship Hotel, Brighton, 103.
Pavilion Hotel, Folkestone, 199.
Plough, Blundeston, 117.
Queen’s Head, Hesket-New-Market, 149.
Queen’s Hotel, Manchester, 131.
Queen’s Hotel, St. Albans, 176.
Radley’s Hotel, Liverpool, 129.
Red Lion Inn, Chatham, 12.
Red Lion, High Barnet, 173.
Red Lion, Parliament Street, 37.
Royal Hotel, Bath, 93.
Royal Hotel, Edinburgh, 157.
Royal Hotel, Glasgow, 159.
Royal Hotel, Norwich, 115.
Royal Hotel, Yarmouth, 120.
St. James’s (now Berkeley) Hotel, 78.
Salisbury Arms, Hatfield, 174, 175.
Saracen’s Head, Bath, 87.
Shepherd’s Shord Inn, 87.
Ship Inn, Allonby, 136.
Sondes Arms, Rockingham, 173.
Star and Garter, Richmond, 55.
Sun Hotel, Canterbury, 202.
Three Jolly Bargemen, Cooling, 214.
Unicorn, Bowes, 126.
Victoria Hotel, Euston, 63.
Waite’s Hotel, Gravesend, 207.
Waterloo Hotel, Edinburgh, 156.
West Hoe Hotel, Plymouth, 103.
White Hart, Bath, 89.
White Hart, Stevenage, 182.
White Lion, Wolverhampton, 167.
Wood’s Hotel (Furnival’s Inn), 52.
York House Hotel, Bath, 93.
Ipswich, 49, 112, 115.
Isle of Wight, 107.
Italy, Dickens sojourn in, 62.
J
Jerrold, Douglas, 141, 176.
Joe the Fat Boy, original of, 12.
Johnson’s Court, Fleet Street, 48.
Jones, William, schoolmaster, 39.
Jonson’s “Every Man in His Humour,” 128.
K
Kean, Charles, 94.
Kenilworth, 160, 162.
Kent, 1, 183.
King’s Bench Prison, 28, 29.
King’s College School, 63.
Kingsgate Street, Holborn, 80.
Kingsway, 80.
Kit’s Coty House, 201.
Knebworth, 177, 179.
L
Lamert, Dr., original of Dr. Slammer, 16.
Lamert, James, 29, 39.
Lancaster, 149-153.
Landor, Walter Savage, 88.
Landseer, Sir E., 54, 61.
Land’s End, 95.
Lankester, Mrs. and Dr., 108.
Lausanne, 63.
_Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices_, 141-155.
Leamington, 160.
Leather Bottle, Cobham, 210.
Leech, John, 105, 108, 109, 110, 120.
Leeds, 140, 153.
“Leg o’ mutton swarry” located, 93.
Lemon, Mark, 71, 109, 120.
_Lighthouse, The_, 72.
Limehouse Hole, 4.
Lincoln’s Inn Fields (Forster’s residence and Tulkinghorn’s
chambers), 62, 82, 190.
Linton, Mrs. Lynn, 206, 221.
_Little Dorrit_, 21, 29, 71, 72, 199, 222.
Little Nell, original of, 88.
Liverpool, 128.
Llangollen, 169.
London, 1, 20, 23.
Longfellow, H. W., 60, 222.
“Love Chase,” The, 169.
Lowestoft, 117.
Lowther Arcade, 33.
Lupin, Mrs., original of her “establishment,” 100.
Lynn, Rev. J., 206.
Lytton, Lord, 177.
M
Maclise, D., 54, 88.
Macready, 47, 61, 109.
“Mad Lucas,” 179.
Maidstone, 200, 201, 210.
Maidstone, original of Muggleton, 201.
Manchester, 131-140, 169.
Manchester, original of Coketown, 133.
Margate, 197.
Marlborough Downs, 85, 99.
Marshalsea Prison, 28, 29, 33, 35, 36.
_Martin Chuzzlewit_, 50, 60, 95, 98, 129.
Marylebone Church, 61.
Maryport, 147.
_Master Humphreys Clock_, 126.
Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street, 28.
Micawber, Mrs., 27.
Micawber, Mr., 28.
Millais, Sir John, 78.
Mitford, Mary Russell, 69.
Molloy, Mr., solicitor who employed Dickens, 41.
“Monthly Magazine,” 47.
Mopes, original of, 180.
“Morning Chronicle,” 46, 49, 51, 155.
Mount St. Michael, 96.
_Mrs. Lirriper’s Lodgings_, 174.
_Mudfog Papers_, 8.
Muggleton, original of, 201.
Murdstone and Grinby’s, 8, 30.
_Mystery of Edwin Drood_, 13, 51, 78, 201, 214, 216, 217.
N
Naples, 110.
New Inn, 80.
Newnham, Mrs., 12.
Newspaper Press Fund, 93.
New York, 110.
_Nicholas Nickleby_, 54, 57, 95, 123-127, 162, 168, 169.
Norfolk, 1.
North Foreland, 189, 191.
Norwich, 114, 115, 116.
_No Thoroughfare_, 103.
O
_Old Curiosity Shop_, 35, 60, 88, 163, 168, 169, 170, 188.
_Oliver Twist_, 51, 54, 57, 103, 167, 173.
_One Man in a Dockyard_, 9.
_Our Mutual Friend_, 4, 27, 77, 179, 222.
_Our School_, 39.
_Our Watering-Place_, 191, 197.
_Out of Town_, 199.
P
Parliament Street, 36.
Paris, 110.
Pavilionstone, original of, 199.
Paxton, Sir Joseph, 210.
Pearce, Mrs. Sarah, 3.
Peggotty, Dame, original of, 16.
Peggotty’s hut at Yarmouth, 119.
Petersham, 54.
“Phiz,” 120, 123, 124, 125, 160, 167, 168, 169, 174.
Pickwick, Mr., original of, 89.
_Pickwick Papers_, 8, 10, 22, 28, 34, 42, 50 51, 54, 84, 86, 89,
112, 156, 164, 186, 188, 201, 210, 214, 215, 218-221.
Pipchin, Mrs., original of, 33.
Pipchin, Mrs., at Brighton, 106.
Plymouth, 94, 103.
_Poor Man and his Beer_, 175.
Portsea, 2.
Portsmouth, 2, 3, 5, 101, 102.
Portugal Street, 80.
Preston, 136.
Proctor (“Barry Cornwall”), 61.
Prudential Insurance Company, 52.
“Punch,” 109.
Q
Queen Victoria, 219.
R
Ramsgate, 110.
Readings in London, 78.
“Red Lions” Club, 109.
“Reporting” experiences, 83.
_Reprinted Pieces_, 199.
Residences of Dickens:
Bonchurch: Winterbourne, 107.
Brighton: Bedford Hotel, 104.
Junction House, 104.
Junction Parade, 104.
King’s Road, 104.
Broadstairs: 40, Albion Street, 188.
Fort House, 193.
12, High Street, 188.
Lawn House, 193.
Chatham: Ordnance Terrace, 7, 11, 14, 17.
St. Mary’s Place, The Brook, 14-17.
Dover: 10, Camden Crescent, 199.
Lord Warden Hotel, 199.
Edinburgh: Royal Hotel, 157.
Folkestone: 3, Albion Villas, 199.
Gad’s Hill, 73, 184, 201, 204-212, 221-224.
Gravesend: Waite’s Hotel, 207.
London: Bayham Street, Camden Town, 23.
Bentinck Street, Manchester Square, 43, 49.
Buckingham Street, Strand, 45, 49.
Cecil Street, Strand, 45.
Chester Place, Regent’s Park, 63.
Devonshire Terrace, 36, 58.
Doughty Street, W.C., 51, 53, 57, 61.
Fitzroy Street, W., 43.
Furnival’s Inn, 45, 49, 52.
Gloucester Place, Hyde Park, 77.
Gower Street, N., 26, 29, 33.
Hampstead, 39.
Hanover Terrace, Regent’s Park, 76.
Highgate, 43.
Hyde Park Place, 77.
Johnson Street, Somers Town, 39, 42.
Lant Street, Borough, 33.
Little College Street, N.W., 33, 38.
Norfolk Street, Fitzroy Square, 7, 45.
North End, 43.
Osnaburgh Terrace, Euston, 62.
Polygon, Somers Town, 42.
Somers Place, Hyde Park, 77.
Southwick Place, Hyde Park, 77.
Tavistock House, Tavistock Square, 64-76, 207.
Victoria Hotel, Euston, 63.
Wylde’s Farm, Hampstead, 56.
Lowestoft: Somerleyton Hall, 117.
Petersham: Elm Cottage, 54.
Portsmouth: Commercial Road, 2.
Hawke Street, 5.
Twickenham: Ailsa Park Villas, 54.
Restoration House, Rochester, 217.
Richmond, 54, 56.
Rochester, 1, 8, 20, 123, 184, 201, 202, 204, 208, 210, 211,
214-221.
Rockingham Castle, 171, 172, 173.
Rogers, Samuel, 61.
Rokeby, 124.
“Roland for an Oliver,” 168.
Rolls, Charles, 25.
Rothamsted, 175.
Rowland Hill’s Chapel, 35.
Roylance, Mrs., original of Mrs. Pipchin, 33, 38.
S
St. Albans, 176.
St. George’s Church, Borough, 29, 35.
St. Luke’s Church, Chelsea, 51.
St. Martin’s Lane, 31.
St. Martin’s Church, 32, 33.
St. Mary’s Church, Somers Town, 40.
St. Wighton waterfall, 96.
Salem House, 40.
Salisbury, 99.
Sardinia Street, 80.
Satis House, Rochester, 217.
“Sea-Serpents” Club, 109
Selous, Angelo, 25.
Selous, Henry, 25.
_Seven Poor Travellers_, 7, 200, 216, 218.
Shanklin, Isle of Wight, 107.
Shaw, William, original of Squeers, 126.
Sheerness, 10.
Sheffield, 140.
Shepherd’s Shord, 87.
Shorne, 187, 211.
Shrewsbury, 163, 167-169.
_Sketches by Boz_, 42, 44, 220.
Skimpole’s, Harold, residence, 42.
Slammer, Dr., original of, 16.
Smith, Sydney, 61.
Smithson, Mrs., 125.
Somerset House, 5, 37.
Squeers, original of, 126.
Stanfield, Clarkson, 61, 72.
Stanfield Hall, 116.
Staple Inn, 51.
Steerforth, James, original of, 12.
Stevenage, 177-182.
Stone, Frank, 64, 110.
Stone, Marcus, R.A., 64.
Stonehenge, 99.
Stonehouse, Devonport, 103.
Strand, 30.
Stratford-on-Avon, 161.
Strood, 8, 205.
Strougill, Lucy, original of Golden Lucy, 12, 16.
Suffolk, 1, 49.
“Suffolk Chronicle,” 112.
“Suffolk Times and Mercury,” 112.
Surrey, 1.
Sussex, 1.
Swiss châlet, 208.
T
Tagart, Edward, 58.
_Tale of Two Cities_, 71, 198, 222.
Talfourd, 54, 57, 61, 110.
Temple, The, 81.
Thackeray and Dickens, the reconciliation, 81.
Theatricals at Tavistock House, 71.
Tintagel, 96.
_Tom Tiddler’s Ground_, 180-182.
Tong, 169-170.
Traddles’s apartments in Gray’s Inn, 50.
Trotwood, Betsy, original of, 193.
Tulkinghorn’s chambers in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, 62.
Twickenham, 54.
U
_Uncommercial Traveller_, 21, 58, 115, 130, 184, 185, 198, 222.
“Used Up,” 172.
W
Ward, E. M., R.A., 73.
Warren’s Blacking Manufactory, 29, 33, 39.
Warwick, 1, 161, 162.
Washington, 110.
Watson, Hon. Richard and Mrs., 171.
Watts’s (Richard) Charity, Rochester, 217.
Waugh, Rev. F. G., 80.
Weldon, Mrs. Georgina, 74;
as Serjeant Buzfuz, 76.
Weller, Mary, original of Dame Peggotty, 16.
Weller, Tony, original of, 22.
Wellington House Academy, 39.
Westgate House, original of, 115.
Westlock’s (John) apartments in Furnival’s Inn, 50, 51.
Westminster Bridge, 36.
White, Rev. James, 107.
Whitechapel, 113.
Wigton, 143.
Wilkie, Sir David, 61.
Wills, W. H., 205, 207, 221.
“Wiltshire Advertiser,” 87.
Winkle, Mr., the elder’s abode, 165.
Wolverhampton, 163, 167.
_Wreck of the “Golden Mary_,” 12.
Y
Yarmouth, 117, 119-122.
THE
THACKERAY COUNTRY
By LEWIS MELVILLE
Large Crown 8vo. 3/6 cloth
Containing 32 full-page Illustrations and a Map
“THE THACKERAY COUNTRY” treats of those localities which are of primary
interest to those who are acquainted with the life and writings of the
great novelist. Mr. Melville deals with Thackeray’s London homes and the
salient features and associations of their neighbourhood. He goes with
Thackeray to Paris, and follows the course of his travels on the
Continent and in America, giving special attention to those places that
are made the background of well-known scenes in the novels. He is
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The volume is illustrated with thirty-two full-page plates reproduced
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CONTENTS
CHAP.
Preface
Introductory
I. Thackeray’s Early Homes
II. Thackeray and the Charterhouse
III. Pendennis-land, Cambridge, and the Temple
IV. The Neighbourhood of Thackeray’s London Homes—1. Tyburnia; 2.
Bloomsbury
V. The Neighbourhood of Thackeray’s London Homes—3. St. James’s and
Mayfair
VI. Thackeray’s Clubs and some Bohemian Resorts
VII. The Neighbourhood of Thackeray’s London Homes—4. Kensington; 5.
Brompton
VIII. Thackeray in Paris
IX. Thackeray on the Continent
X. Thackeray in America
Index
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Transcriber’s Notes
—Retained copyright information from the printed edition: this eBook is
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—Silently corrected a few palpable typos.
—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by
_underscores_.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Dickens Country, by Frederic G. Kitton