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The Homes Of Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens was born in a modest house in Portsmouth in 1812.Today, the property has been preserved as a museum furnished in the style of 1809 - the year John and Elizabeth Dickens first moved to the town.
John Dickens came to Portsmouth when his job in the Navy Pay Office was transferred from London.
Young Charles was born on 7 February 1812 in the bedroom of their home.
The couple remained in Portsmouth until 1815 when before they - and a 3-year-old Charles - moved back to London.
As an adult Charles returned to the town on a number of occasions.
He visited while doing research for his novel 'Nicholas Nickleby', and on two occasions later in life to give public readings of his work.
On his last visit in 1866 he even tried - unsuccessfully - to find his birthplace.
Today, the property where he was born has been turned into a museum furnished with Regency style furniture, ceramics, glass, household objects.
There are three furnished rooms: the parlour, the dining room and the bedroom where Charles was born.
The exhibition room features a display on Dickens and Portsmouth, as well as a small collection of memorabilia, including the couch on which he died.
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On March 25, 1837, Dickens moved with his family into No. 48 (on which he had a three year lease at £80 a year) where he would remain until December 1839. The Charles Dickens Museum (a grade I listed building) is located at No. 48.
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Broadstairs, on the far north east tip of Kent adjoining Margate, is where Dickens stayed with his family for a minimum of one month every summer, from 1839, when he was becoming established as a successful writer, until 1851.
Fort House, high on top of the cliff on Fort Road, is now named after the novel whose title it inspired (although that house is in Hertfordshire) and was a favourite holiday retreat of his from the mid 1840s until 1852. Bleak House was once open to the public as a museum, but is now in private ownership.
