09 Jun 2023
On This Day
9 June 2023 Cheryl

9 June 1870: Charles Dickens dies

Death of Charles Dickens

There was a secret door in the form of a fake bookcase in his study at his home at Gad’s Hill. These fake books had titles such as The Life of a Cat in 9 volumes and 47 volumes of the History of a Short Chancery Suit, Socrates on Wedlock, King Henry the Eighth’s Evidence of Christianity, and the series The Wisdom of Our Ancestors: I Ignorance, II Superstition, III The Block, IV The Stake, V The Rack, VI Dirt, and VII Disease. [1]

Charles Dickens, who is often considered England’s greatest novelist of the Victorian era, died on Thursday 9 June 1870 at his home in Gads Hill in Kent. He was 58.

Dickens created some of the world’s best-known fictional characters. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime and, by the 20th century, critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories are still widely read today.

Dickens and his wife Catherine had ten children, many of whom were named for famous people and who had to live up to the very high expectations of their demanding father. Dickens could be huge fun, especially when his children were small, but as they grew older he expected success, neatness, and a display of the same drive and energy he himself possessed. Most of his children disappointed him, several inherited the ineptitude with money that Dickens’s own father had shown (he was the original for the immortal Mr Micawber) and Dickens was left paying the debts.

In 1865 Dickens was involved in a horrific train accident, suffering injuries that never totally left him and his health began to decline. In 1869, as his health was making travel difficult, Dickens set out on his “farewell readings” tour of England, Scotland, and Ireland. During it, he suffered a mild stroke and was forced to return home. He recovered sufficiently for a final series of readings to partially make up to his sponsors for their losses due to his illness. He made his last public appearance at a Royal Academy Banquet in the presence of the Prince and Princess of Wales On 2 May 1870. On 8 June 1870, Dickens suffered another stroke. He never regained consciousness and, the next day, he died at Gads Hill Place. Against his wishes, he is interned in Poets’ Corner, in Westminster Abbey.

When he died, Dickens had spectacular fame, great wealth, and an adoring public. But his personal life was complex. Separated from his wife and living in a huge country mansion in Kent, the novelist was in the thrall of his young mistress, Ellen Ternan.

Today Dickens societies around the world honour his life and works, he has appeared on bank notes and postage stamps, Dickens Festivals and conferences are held regularly and his manuscripts are prized in libraries and museums.