1812/02/07 |
Elizabeth Dickens, wife of John Dickens, gives birth to a son, Charles John Huffam Dickens, at home on Mile End Terrace. Three furnished rooms: the parlour, the dining room and the bedroom where Charles was born are on exhibit. |
Born |
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Charles Dickens Birthplace Museum |
Portsmouth, Eng |
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1815/00/00 |
The Dickens family move from Portsmouth to a second-floor, one bedroom flat at 22 Cleveland Street in Bloomsbury, London. Altered, an original Georgian fireplace remains in the main room. |
Home |
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Charles Dickens First London Home |
London |
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1825/04/00 |
Charles Dickens attends Wellington House Academy (razed) on Hampstead Road (near Granby Ter) in Camden, London, from April 1825 to March 1827. |
Education |
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1828/00/00 |
The Dickens family move back to their flat at 22 Cleveland Street. They will quit the residence in 1831. |
Life |
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Charles Dickens First London Home |
London |
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1830/00/00 |
After the Dickens family returned to their flat at 22 Cleveland Street, not far from the Cleveland Street Workhouse, teenage Charles is afforded many opportunities to watch the desperate people entering the institution. |
Life |
Oliver Twist (book) |
Strand Union Workhouse, London |
London |
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1830/00/00 |
After the Dickens family returned to their flat at 22 Cleveland Street, not far from the Cleveland Street Workhouse, teenage Charles is afforded many opportunities to watch the desperate people entering the institution. |
Life |
Oliver Twist (book) |
Charles Dickens First London Home |
London |
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1834/04/00 |
St George's is the fictional setting for Charles Dickens' "The Bloomsbury Christening", published in "The Monthly Magazine" |
Author |
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Church Of St George, Bloomsbury |
London |
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1836/03/31 |
Typically issued on the last day of its given month, Chapman and Hall publishes the first installment Charles Dickens's "The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club". |
Author |
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club |
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1837/02/00 |
"Oliver Twist" is serilized in Bentley's Miscellany from February 1837 to April 1839 and published in book form in 1838. "Oliver Twist" was written at 48 Doughty St. |
Author |
Oliver Twist (book) |
Charles Dickens House |
London |
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1837/03/25 |
The Dickens family move to Doughty St. |
Home |
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Charles Dickens House |
London |
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1837/05/07 |
After returning from a performance of "Is She His Wife?" at the St James's Theatre (lost) with the Dickens couple, Mary Hogarth, Charles' sister-in-law, dies at the Dickens family home. |
Life |
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Charles Dickens House |
London |
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1837/05/31 |
The May issue of the "Pickwick Papers" does not arrive. In mourning for his sister-in-law Mary Hogarth, Dickens missed the deadline. "lost a very dear young relative ... whose society has been, for a long time, the chief solace of his labours". CD |
Author |
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club |
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1840/07/06 |
Henry Burnett, Charles Dickens, Fred Dickens and Daniel MacLise arrive outside of Newgate prison (razed) in anticipation of the hanging of Francois Courvoisier. |
Witness |
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St Sepulchre-without-Newgate |
London |
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1841/00/00 |
Charles Dickens stays at the Ship Hotel. |
Visitor |
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Old Ship Assembly Rooms |
Brighton |
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1842/00/00 |
Returning to Lebanon that night, we lay at the little inn at which we had halted in the afternoon. In point of cleanliness and comfort it would have suffered by no comparison with any English alehouse, of a homely kind, in England. - CD |
Visitor |
American Notes |
Mermaid House Hotel |
Lebanon, IL |
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Charles Dickens' 1842 Tour of America |
1842/00/00 |
Charles Dickens spends a night the Exchange Hotel |
Visitor |
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Exchange Hotel |
Sandusky |
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Charles Dickens' 1842 Tour of America |
1842/00/00 |
Charles Dickens visits Perkins during a lecture tour of America and writes about Dr Howe's work with deaf-blind student Laura Bridgman. |
Visitor |
American Notes |
Perkins School for the Blind |
Watertown |
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Charles Dickens' 1842 Tour of America |
1842/00/00 |
We halted once more at a village called Lebanon to inflate the horses again, and give them some corn besides: of which they stood much in need. Pending this ceremony, I walked into the village, - CD |
Visitor |
American Notes |
Lebanon, Illinois, Historic District |
Lebanon, IL |
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1842/00/00 |
Charles Dickens visits the Fairmount Water Works |
Visitor |
American Notes |
Fairmount Water Works |
Philadelphia, PA |
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Charles Dickens' 1842 Tour of America |
1842/00/00 |
Mr Dickens visits the Eastern State Penitentiary |
Visitor |
American Notes |
Eastern State Penitentiary |
Philadelphia, PA |
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Charles Dickens' 1842 Tour of America |
1842/03/06 |
Poe meets Dickens at the United States Hotel, Philadelphia (423 Chestnut St, demolished 1856). Dickens agrees to consider writing for Graham's and to try to find an English publisher for Poe's Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, nothing came of these. |
Visitor |
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Second Bank of the United States |
Philadelphia, PA |
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Charles Dickens' 1842 Tour of America |
1842/03/12 |
Charles Dickens writes an epitaph for Charles Irving Thornton |
Author |
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Charles Irving Thornton Tombstone |
Cumberland |
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Charles Dickens' 1842 Tour of America |
1842/10/19 |
American Notes is published |
Author |
American Notes |
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Charles Dickens' 1842 Tour of America |
1843/12/17 |
Charles Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" is published by Chapman and Hall. Priced at 5 shillings (23 pounds in 2018), the first run of 6,000 copies sells out by Christmas Eve. |
Author |
A Christmas Carol (book) |
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Old English Punch |
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1850/00/00 |
David Copperfield - published |
Author |
David Copperfield (book) |
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1852/03/00 |
Charles Dickens's "Bleak House" first of 20 monthly instalments is published, each containing 32 pages of text and two illustrations by Phiz. |
Author |
Bleak House (book) |
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1857/07/00 |
Hans Christian Andersen visits Dickens at Gads Hill Place, invited for two weeks, Anderson left after five. Dickens wrote on the mirror in the guestroom: "Hans Andersen slept in this room for five weeks - which seemed to the family AGES!" |
Host |
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Gadshill Place |
Higham |
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1857/09/07 |
Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins depart London by train for Carlisle, travel another 14 miles to the village of Hesketh Newmarket, and stay at the Queen's Head (private residence called Dickens House). |
Visitor |
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Caldbeck |
Cumbria |
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The Lazy Tour of Two Authors |
1857/09/08 |
Despite bad weather, Dickens persuades a reluctant Collins to climb Carrock Fell, 8 mi (13 km) NE of Keswick. Carrying a broken compass, the lazy authors become lost in heavy mist on the descent where Wilkie badly sprains his ankle. |
Visitor |
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Lake District |
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The Lazy Tour of Two Authors |
1857/09/09 |
Dickens and Collins make it to Allonby in time for lunch. They stay for two nights at The Ship, described by Dickens as 'a capital little homely inn looking out upon the sea ... a clean nice place in a rough wild country'. |
Visitor |
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Ship Hotel |
Allonby |
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The Lazy Tour of Two Authors |
1859/00/00 |
St Mary's becomes Charles Dickens' parish church when he moves into Gads' Hill Place, on the Gravesend-Rochester road. |
Faith |
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Church Of St Mary, Higham |
Higham |
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1859/00/00 |
"A Tale of Two Cities", a novel by Charles Dickens, is published. |
Author |
A Tale of Two Cities (book) |
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1860/00/00 |
With Dickens as a consultant, Tom Taylor's adaptation of "A Tale of Two Cities" runs at Lyceum Theatre, London. |
Work |
A Tale of Two Cities (book) |
Lyceum Theatre |
London |
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1860/00/00 |
Catherine Dickens marries artist and author Charles Allston Collins, younger brother of Wilkie Collins, at St Mary's in Higham. |
Father of the Bride |
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Church Of St Mary, Higham |
Higham |
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Marriage of Kate Dickens and Charles Allston Collins |
1861/00/00 |
Great Expectations - published |
Author |
Great Expectations (book) |
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1865/00/00 |
A gift from Charles Fetcher, the actor, Dickens Chalet is erected on the grounds of Gadshill Place. |
Life |
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Dickens Chalet |
Rochester, Kent |
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1866/12/00 |
"Mugby Junction" by Charles Dickens, Charles Collins, Amelia Edwards, Andrew Halliday and Hesba Stretton is published as a Christmas extra from All the year round. |
Author |
Mugby Junction (short story collection) |
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1866/12/10 |
"The Signal-Man" by Charles Dickens appears in Mugby Junction, a short story collection published by All the Year Round as a Christmas extra. |
Author |
The Signal-Man (short story) |
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1866/12/10 |
"The Boy at Mugby" by Charles Dickens appears in 'Mugby Junction', a short story collection published by 'All the Year Round' as a Christmas extra. |
Author |
The Boy at Mugby (short story) |
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1867/12/02 |
Charles Dickens begins the first of four sold out readings with a performance of "A Christmas Carol". Parker House has the door to Dickens' room and the mirror used by him for rehearsals. |
Performer |
A Christmas Carol (book) |
Parker House |
Boston |
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Charles Dickens' 1867 Tour of America |
1867/12/26 |
"No Thoroughfare: A Drama: In Five Acts" by Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins opens at the Adelphi Theatre starring Benjamin Webster, Mrs Alfred Mellon, Henry G Neville, Charles Albert Fechter, Carlotta Leclercq, John Billington and George G Belmore. |
Playwright |
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The Adelphi Theatre |
London |
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1868/00/00 |
The Magic Fishbone - published |
Author |
The Magic Fishbone |
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1870/04/00 |
Illustrated by Luke Fildes, the first installment of "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" is serialized in Dickens own weekly "All the Year Round" at a purchase price of one shilling. In it, Rosa goes to a Lumps-of-Delight shop. |
Author |
The Mystery of Edwin Drood |
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Turkish Delight |
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1870/06/08 |
Charles Dickens dies of a stroke on a couch in the dining room of Gad's Hill Place, Higham, Kent. |
Died |
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Gadshill Place |
Higham |
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1870/06/14 |
Charles Dickens is laid to rest in the Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey |
Memorium |
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Westminster Abbey, London |
London |
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