June 9 is also the 155th anniversary of the author’s death and to celebrate the twin milestones, visitors to the Charles Dickens Museum were shown around by his descendants.
As well as chatting to visitors and sharing stories about the novelist, there were readings from Dickens’ work – and even a cake.
Charles Dickens’ descendants cut a cake marking 100 years of the Dickens Museum. L-R Jo Baldwin, Marion Dickens-Lloyd, Mark Dickens, Eddie Dickens, Elliott Dickens,, Gerald Dickens, Frankie Kubicki (director of the Dickens Museum), Lucinder Dickens-Hawksley and Oliver Dickens. (Image: Ash Knotek) Great-great-great grandson Ollie Dickens read from Oliver Twist, great-great-grandson Ian Dickens shared an extract from David Copperfield, and Gerald Dickens (another great-great) discussed the Staplehurst train crash, on the 160th anniversary of the train derailment, which Dickens survived. and which inspired him to write his ghost story The Signalman.
Museum patron Lucinda Dickens Hawskley talked about Dickens’ international travels, while Mark Dickens, another patron and great-great-grandson read from A Christmas Carol.
The Dickens Museum in Doughty Street, Bloomsbury, was the writer’s first proper marital home with wife Catherine. After moving in in 1837, he wrote The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby, which made him a literary star.
The growing family moved to a larger property after two and a half years, but unlike the rest of their London homes, the Doughty Street property survived intact.
It was under threat of demolition when it was rescued and opened to the public, and now houses a treasure trove of books, paintings, furniture and letters belonging to the famous author.
The Museum’s birthday exhibition, Dickens in Doughty Street: 100 Years of the Charles Dickens Museum, celebrates his life and the world’s most comprehensive collection of material related to the great author. It runs until June 29.
Museum director Frankie Kubicki said: “Today is a significant occasion for the museum and for everyone who admires Charles Dickens. On our 100th birthday, there is every chance that you will hear the words of Oliver Twist in the room in which it was written, read to you by Dickens’s great-great-great grandson, or take a seat in the Dickens family drawing room alongside his great-great-great granddaughter.
“Our centenary exhibition is stuffed full of the museum’s greatest hits, as well as recent acquisitions so as we celebrate our 100th birthday, the museum is as impressive as it has ever been.”
