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Charles Dickens, one of England’s greatest authors, was born in Portsmouth in 1812. He is well known for writing the enduring classics such as A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist and many other novels still popular today. The Charles Dickens’ birthplace museum preserves the house where he was born. My film takes you on a full tour around this special house. Charles John Huffam Dickens was born in Portsmouth on 7 February 1812 at 13 Mile End Terrace, Landport. His parents John and Elizabeth Dickens had moved to Portsmouth from London, when John had been transferred to work there at the Naval Docks. Although Charles would only spend the first 3 years of his life in Portsmouth there would be a bond between them that continued throughout his life. He featured the city in a number of his novels and articles and he would return to the city in later life during his reading tours. On one visit whilst writing Nicholas Nickleby he would visited this street in an attempt to locate the house where he was born. Finally nearby Southsea would become the final resting place of two women romantically linked to him during his life, Maria Beadnell and Ellen Ternan. Charles Dickens is considered England’s greatest Victorian novelist. His works include: The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, Old Curiosity Shop, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield and Great Expectations. He was also a social reformer drawing attention to the plight of the poor in Victorian society. He is also regarded by some as the father of Christmas, making popular and establishing many of the festive traditions we know and love today. The 2017 film “The Man Who Invented Christmas“ starring Dan Stevens told the story of Dickens during the period he was writing A Christmas Carol. Today the house where Charles Dickens was born is now his birthplace museum situated at 393 Old Commercial Road. The museum has three furnished rooms: the parlour, the dining room and the bedroom where Charles was born, all authentically furnished in the Regency period. It also features exhibitions and displays which contains a number of items that belonged to Dickens. The most important item in the museum is the couch where he died on 9 June 1870, while at his home at Gad’s Hill in Kent and therefore the museum tells the full story of the whole of Dickens’ life. Check the museum’s website for opening times. There is limited on street parking on the roads around the museum. Charles Dickens’ Birthplace Museum 393 Old Commercial Road Portsmouth PO1 4QL My film also features a statue erected to celebrate Dickens’ birth and links to the city created by sculptor Martin Jennings. The statue can be visited in the Guildhall Square in the city centre of Portsmouth. Great Writers This film is part of a series of occasional films celebrating some of the great writers and showing the places connected to them that you can still visit today. Great Writers Intro If You Close Your Eyes I Am Still With You by Late Night Feeler courtesy of You Tube Audio Library Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Nocturnal Waltz by Johannes Bornlof courtesy of Epidemic Sound Following music courtesy of You Tube: Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 The 49th Street Galleria by Chris Zabriskie Maryandra’s Waltz by Jesse Gallagher Kiss the sky by Aakash Ghandi Thank you for watching my film, if you enjoyed it then please feel free to like it and leave a comment. Why don’t you have a look at some of the other films on my channel. The rights for all trademarks and copyrighted material remains with the owners, no infringement of copyright is intended. Any content used here is with the intention of fair use. Film © MrFord4210
