48 Doughty Street

Who is she?

Today we woke up early, so we could change two trains, follow several signs, and reach her modest home tucked away in Doughty street. This is Catherine Hogarth, more popularly, Mrs Charles Dickens.

Home to Charles Dickens for two years, this building now bears the remnants of his once glorious life.
We were buzzed in as soon as we rang the bell. We bought our tickets, and began exploring. We started with the dining room, where Dickens did a lot of his entertaining. Displayed in the room were the cutlery he once used and some of his personal belongings (like an ancient perfume bottle and a walking stick.) As you entered, you were faced with a painting of the great writer himself.
Inside, you also got to see his spanish mahogany sideboard and an exquisite grandfather clock.
Beside the dining room is the morning room that now contains portraits of the Dickens family. In addition to pictures of his children, there are some portraits of Catherine Hogarth Dickens in this room. The turquoise in gold engagement ring (that Dickens gave her) and a lace hanky are displayed beneath her portrait. In addition to two lounge chairs, and a cupboard filled with Dickens masterpieces, a huge family tree is displayed on the wall. (I managed to find an all time favorite Monica Dickens on the tree).

Then we moved upstairs. The two rooms on the first floor were his tacky (check out the color schemes) living room and his study (my favorite room in the house).
Dickens, we were told, loved mirrors, which is why his house had quite a few of them. His living room had two, and his favorite plum colored chair. He even posed in it, for a painting by Cruikshank.
His study was more interesting for me, because it was here that he finished The Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist. Most of his novels were serialized at that time, and only later were they put together as books. A lot of those journals filled the room, and on one corner lay his desk, where he spent many hours churning out his masterpieces.




Also displayed in the room, were some of his manuscripts, in his own handwriting.



As he often didn't have the time to rewrite fresh copies, these manuscripts had the changes he made. So you got to see his thought process while writing Oliver Twist, or Nicholas Nickleby.


Outside this study is displayed the little wooden midshipman, that was immortalized in his Dombey and Son.

This image, was a trade sign of Messrs Norie and Wilson, the nautical instrument makers in Leadenhall Street. In the Dickens novel, the wooden shipman virtually became a significant character.

Barely noticing the creaking floors, we then moved to the second floor. Here we got to see the reading desk, that Dickens used during the latter years of his life. His books were so popular, he used to read them out and make a lot of money. Given his humble beginings, he'd become considerably wealthy, and yet he believed he deserved a lot more. On this floor was his bedroom (now transformed into a gallery with news clippings and pictures). The room had pictures of Nelly, an actress with whom he had an affair, causing a huge scandal at that time.


Beside his bedroom is the bedroom that belonged to Mary Hogarth, Catherine's sister. She lived with the family and once, after a picnic, she came back, got very ill and died. Charles who was very fond of her was affected by her death immensely. He even wore her ring for the rest of his life, and said he wanted to be buried beside her eventually.

In this room we also saw the Dickens's Court suit (fancy dress as he called it), one that he wore at Royal functions.

After some more exploring, we went downstairs to the kitchen and washing area, and also got a peek at his wine cellar. In the kitchen area we finished off the tour with a film of the life of Dickens. Luckily, we got back with a few pictures of the house. We were happy, and we thought we were satisfied. However, it was too late by the time we realized we'd missed photographing the Dickens loo! Well..maybe another time.