Lorna Hogg traces the early London life of Charles Dickens who rose from factory skivvy to become the hugely successful Victorian writer
His characters have entered folklore – as well as our everyday lives. Scrooge has become our nickname for misers. We reassure ourselves – and others, by quoting Mr. Micawber’s motto – that ‘something will turn up’. We joke about `sawbones’ – surgeons, or `butterfingers,’ when we drop something. We describe surroundings as `creepy.’ We even use Dickens’s name as an adjective – ` Dickensian’ conjures up images, ranging from slums to Christmas celebrations. Author, journalist, editor, illustrator, speaker and social critic Charles Dickens gave his name to an age – and like any good novelist, his own life contained quite a few surprises and inspirations.
Charles Dickens: He introduced a new style of authorship–instalment publication, which retained reader interest
He was born in February 1812, and will forever be associated with the city which was then the largest in the world. The Industrial Revolution had changed production methods – and trade. Migration to London by impoverished country dwellers and despairing immigrants increased. London’s population soared as new businesses were constantly created. As a baby, the future for the youthful Charles looked promising. His grandfather was Head Butler to an established M.P. and his grandmother was a settled servant in the same house. His father John had a clerkship in the Naval Pay Office, and enjoyed entertaining. However, the family moved regularly – homes included London’s Cleveland St. and Fitzrovia, with spells at Sheerness and Chatham. Some might say that John Dickens, who persisted in his belief that `something will turn up’ – may have enjoyed life too much.
In Victorian times, his £40 of unpaid debts spelt potential ruin for the family. In 1827, they moved swiftly from life in modest homes and garrets – to a slum. Twelve year old Charles had to leave school to start work – but the endgame was inevitable. His father entered the dreaded Marshalsea Prison, where debtors were one group of inmates. One wall of the building still exists, on the southern boundary of the park alongside St. George’s Church garden, near Borough Market/Angel Place. .
A very unusual prison to our current understanding, it had been upgraded in the early 1800s and had a variety of offenders. In Dickensian times, prisons were run privately. Most of the inmates jailed for insolvency had debts of under £50 – and their presence at Marshalsea at least kept their creditors at bay. Essentially, inmates had to stay there until their debts were paid. However, if you could afford the prison fees, you slept there, but could go out during the day, usually to earn money to pay down the debt. Families could visit, eat, and spend time with prisoners. There was even a (very) basic café on the premises. But Marshalsea remained a prison. If you could not afford the fees, you would remain jailed in the small, cramped, overcrowded and unhealthy cells, with death from disease and summer heat stroke rampant.
The infamous Marshalsea Prison where Dickens’ father was sent because he was unable to pay off his debts
The young Charles’s first job was in Warrens Blacking Factory. Every evening he would visit Marshalsea – but his pride would not allow him to discuss his situation with any friends. The situation lasted for several months, until a bequest from a family member paid off the debt, and his father was released. However, astonishingly, the young Charles continued to work for a couple of years at the shoe blacking factory – his mother decided on it. He could not overlook her insistence, and the effects of that decision on his future relationships with women were considerable. Yet the boy’s resilience was remarkable. Having taught himself shorthand, he did some work for the legal profession, which was sited cheek by jowl to the East End. He also started writing as a journalist, becoming a regular newspaper correspondent. Free time was spent in walking miles around the London which would provide his inspiration – and success.
Dickens knew the notorious Pear Tree court – the area which inspired his character the Artful Dodger in Oliver Twist. He knew the opium dens, detailed in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. He came to know Newgate – the infamous jail, at which public executions were watched until the 1850s. The slums in Saffron Hill, and the prisons and workhouses were familiar to him. So were their polar opposites – the Old Bailey, the Bank of England, Temple Bar (the ancient entry to the City of London), Cornhill and St. Paul’s Cathedral.
These days, we think of the East End as a centre of urban cool – helped of course, by the fact that it is just a few tube/rail stops from the City of London. It is now a world financial trade centre, and gentrification has brought in expensive converted loft and old warehouse apartments and Bohemian houseboats. Areas such as Shoreditch and Spitalfields – once dens of crime, are now sought after places to live and visit. Popular restaurants, a wide range of historical pubs, plus good transport services ensure that the area a sought after destination.
In Dickensian times the East End was a sea of squalor and filth. Crime was rampant. Streets were filled with manure, from horses, cattle and oxen
In Dickensian times however, the East End was a different kind of trade centre – complete with squalor and filth. Crime was rampant. Streets were filled with horse manure, from cattle and oxen, en route to Smithfield slaughterhouses. Nearby streets ran with blood from slaughtered animals. The smell – from the ponds filled with effluent and the industrial processes, was indescribable in its horror. Possibly the worst area was Jacob’s Island, which featured as the home of the infamous Bill Sykes in Oliver Twist. Dubbed the ` Capital of Cholera’ and the `Venice of Drains’ by contemporary observers, the smell was overpowering. It was created by lack of proper drainage, plus rotten vegetation and dead fish – and the water here ran red with blood from slaughter houses.
Gas lights provided eerie backdrops, as early morning street traders collected their wares – there were no hygienic supermarket chains then. Costers – street sellers, shouted their wares. Pies, fish fruit, vegetables, flowers all – came daily from the markets. Trade centered around the Pool of London, and the Thames, dubbed the `river of death’, flowed under the then new Westminster Bridge – into the Great Stink.
The East End was then not an area in which to loiter – and it partially inspired the introduction of a new police force, the Peelers, or Bobbies. Part of the Metropolitan Police Force, the first modern police force in England, they were nicknamed after then Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel, who introduced the force in 1829. As well as poverty, illness and death, crime was rife. The area was noted for its prisons – the notorious Fleet, and Newgate Jails were sited here.
To this day, we associate Dickens with London life in the East End. Hence, readers are often surprised to learn that in terms of literary backdrops, the Palace of Westminster – or Houses of Parliament, plus the City, were the most frequently mentioned sites in his writings. Edwin Drood and Great Expectations had backdrops of St. Paul’s Cathedral, The Strand, the Bank of England, Covent Garden and The Old Bailey – plus New Gate prison, feature prominently. Hardly surprising, as the City of London, with its Courts and Fleet Street were, of course cheek by jowl with the East End. This made it possible for the young and ambitious Dickens to develop a career as an author and journalist.
He introduced a new style of authorship. Instalment publication, which retained reader interest, existed. However he was unusual in that he continued to write the story during the publication of instalments. His style was melodramatic, with plenty of comedy and irony, plus satire – he was the man who dubbed London the ` Magic Lantern’. He also staged `readings’, an early form of publicity tours. `Ye Old Cheshire Cheese ‘in Fleet Street was one spot he used, with, of course, suitably dramatic stagecraft.
Dickens was a frequent visitor to Ireland. In Cork he stayed at The Imperial Hotel
He visited Dublin in 1858, staying in a hotel on Nassau Street, and an audience of 3000 heard his reading of Dombey and Son. Belfast came next, and then Cork, where he stayed at the long established Imperial Hotel, and gave a very successful reading at what was then Cork Opera House. Limerick was also successfully included. He was so impressed with Ireland that he returned on further publicity tours in 1867 and 1869.
Dickens worked hard, and enjoyed the advantages of his success – moving financially upwards with his family, eventually to his comfortable home in Gad’s Hill. Yet his personal life was less happy, and led to gossip and speculation to this day. However, his literary success and name were assured – and Dickens is also remembered for his support of social advances and improvements. As well as providing entertainment, his books, articles and campaigning also highlighted the need for solutions to social issues. These, some possibly influenced by his childhood experiences, included workers’ rights, poverty and exploitation, plus women’s status, especially in the areas of divorce, cruelty and injustice.
Dickensian London
Dickensian pubs – Ye Old Cheshire Cheese : The George, Southwark: The Grapes, Limehouse – all are the real Dickensian deal, and visited by the author
Dickens home as Gad’s Hill is now a school, but also has visiting days www.gadshillplace.co.uk
The Dickens Museum is at 48, Doughty Street London www.dickensmuseum.com
There are some excellent Dickensian tours available:
London Walks offers ` Shakespeare and Dickens’ Old City of London’ and tours of Inns of Court.
London Walking Tours also has good guided walks www.london-walkingtours.co.uk
Charles Dickens London Walking Tour www.viator.com
