A new exhibition celebrating Charles Dickens’ relationship with Islington has opened at the Local History Centre.
The centre, situated in Finsbury Library on St John Street, has created a series of story boards documenting the author’s links with the area.
Dickens knew Islington well and also drew rich influence from its people and places, says Islington’s local history manager, Mark Aston.
“We wanted to document how Islington influenced him, and how he influenced Islington. Although Dickens was never a resident he spent a lot of time here.
“He used to go for these long night walks through the city, taking in the sights, sounds and scenes and then later turning them into fiction.”
Dickens was particularly drawn to Clerkenwell and used it as the backdrop to many of his novels and works, most famously Oliver Twist. He also had personal connections, as he was a customer at the Finsbury Bank for Savings on Sekforde Street.
“Clerkenwell was a microcosm of London life,” added Mr Aston. “It had a highly dense population, there were large employers in the area like Whitbreads on Chiswell Street, there was Smithfield market, lots of inns and Sadler’s Wells was nearby. The whole world seemed to be on his doorstep here.”
The people of Islington also impacted on Dickens’ career. His long-term collaborator, the illustrator of Oliver Twist, George Cruikshank lived on Amwell Street.
“Cruikshank was the illustrator of one of Dickens’ earliest anthologies, Sketches by Boz. This was the first time that Islington got into Dickens’ work.”
Countless Dickens characters live and work in the borough, including Jarvis Lorry in A Tale of Two Cities, Wilkins Micawber in David Copperfield, William Guppy in Bleak House and Samuel Pickwick in The Pickwick Papers.
“A lot of his characters lodged in Pentonville,” explains Aston. “He liked this area of Islington. After his first visit, to meet Cruikshank, he wrote a letter to his then fiancé to say it was a nice place but he didn’t think they could afford the rent.”
The dark side of Islington also fuelled Dickens’ activism and social campaigning in later life.
“On Boxing Day 1851, he visited St Luke’s Hospital for the Insane, which was close to where Old Street roundabout is now, and was very upset about what he saw. He described the visit in an article called A Curious Dance Round a Curious Tree and later spoke out against the maltreatment of the mentally ill. He also campaigned to get Smithfield shut in the 1850s, which was successful.”
The display also features a handful of artefacts including a copy of Bentley’s Miscellany, the literary magazine Dickens edited and the script of an early version of Oliver Twist, which was performed at Sadler’s Wells in 1838.
“Through Dickens’ work, Victorian Islington is immortalised. He came back to this area time and time again, so it must have had a profound effect on him.”
Islington Library and Heritage Services, in conjunction with Cityread London, are running a series of events throughout March and April to celebrate Dickens’ 200th birthday. Talks, walks, quizzes and even a performance of the original Sadler’s Wells script of Oliver Twist, are being held around the borough.
A Twist in the Tale: Charles Dickens and Islington runs until 31 May at the Local History Centre.
Check out our interactive map for details of further Dickens events and to learn more about the author’s Islington connections.
