Tavistock House
Encyclopedia
Tavistock House was the London home of the noted British
author Charles Dickens
and his family
from 1851 to 1860. At Tavistock House Dickens wrote Bleak House
, Hard Times
, Little Dorrit
and A Tale of Two Cities
. He also put on amateur theatricals there which are described in John Forster's Life of Charles Dickens. Later, it was the home of William and Georgina Weldon
, whose lodger was the French
composer Charles Gounod
, who composed part of his opera Polyeucte
at the house.
, who probably lived in Tavistock House while he developed the surrounding area. The house is shown on Davies' Map of Marylebone
, printed in 1834. From Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford
, Burton acquired the leases for two plots of land, one northern and one southern, on the east side of Tavistock Square
. It was on the northern plot, and part of the southern plot, that Burton built Tavistock House. Burton sold the lease for Tavistock House to Thomas Murdock in 1805. Murdock lived there for six years before he in turn sold the lease to Benjamin Oakley in 1811. In 1812 Oakley transferred the lease to journalist
James Perry
, who was the first editor of The European Magazine
, and who also edited the Morning Chronicle
.
Stock broker
Charles Williams later lived in Tavistock House, renting it from his friend James Perry. From Tavistock House Williams published a volume of private letters and portraits of his family. In his will Perry left the house to his nephew Thomas Bentley, from whom it was later purchased by auction
eer George Henry Robins of Covent Garden
, who probably divided it into three separate residences.
His tenancy of No. 1 Devonshire Terrace having expired in the autumn of 1851, Charles Dickens
obtained the lease on Tavistock House from his friend and fellow Shakespeare Society member, the artist Frank Stone
. In 1851 Dickens, with his young family, moved into the western section of the by now divided Tavistock House. His first published story, A Dinner at Poplar Walk (1833) (later re-titled Mr. Minns and His Cousin) is set in Tavistock House. Dickens wrote Bleak House
(1852-3), Hard Times
(1854), Little Dorrit
(1855-7), and A Tale of Two Cities
(1859) at Tavistock House. He also put on amateur theatricals there which are described in John Forster's Life of Charles Dickens. These performances included Wilkie Collins
's The Lighthouse in which Charles Dickens also acted along with Collins
, Augustus Egg
, Mark Lemon
Kate
and Mary Dickens
and Georgina Hogarth
, and The Frozen Deep
(1856), also written by Wilkie Collins, with the guidance of Dickens. The Frozen Deep was first performed at Tavistock House at a dress rehearsal on January 5, 1857 for an audience of servants and local tradespeople. Other performances were held on January 6, 8, 12, and 14 for audiences of about 90 people at each performance. These audiences were made up of friends of Dickens and Collins, including members of Parliament
, judges, and government ministers. Dickens had Tavistock House's large schoolroom converted into what he billed as "The Smallest Theatre in the World". The first performance at this improvised theatre was the burlesque
Guy Fawkes
by Alfred Smith, held to celebrate Twelfth Night
.
In 1858, while living at Tavistock House Dickens separated from his wife, Catherine Dickens
. In 1856 Dickens bought Gads Hill Place
in Kent
, but he did not sell the lease for Tavistock House until August 1860, after his daughter Kate Dickens
' marriage. Dickens sold the lease to William Spencer Johnson and William Bush for two thousand guinea
s.
The celebrated litigant and soprano
Mrs. Georgina Weldon
and her husband William Henry Weldon later lived in Tavistock House, and she held classes for the cultivation of the voice in the house. Charles Gounod
later lodged with the Weldons in Tavistock House, and the Gounod Choir met there weekly. It has been suggested that Georgina Weldon and Gounod were lovers, and that he had promised her the title role in his opera
Polyeucte
when it opened in Paris
.. However, Gounod became increasingly disturbed by the gossip about the ‘Weldon Affair’, and in June 1874 he returned to his wife in Paris. Feeling slighted by Gounod's departure, Georgina Weldon
refused to send on his personal belongings, including the draft of his opera Polyeucte, forcing him to rewrite it.
Tavistock House was demolished in 1901, and its former location is covered today by the headquarters of the British Medical Association
in Tavistock Square
. A blue plaque
commemorates Charles Dickens
and Tavistock House.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
author Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
and his family
Dickens family
The Dickens family are the descendants of John Dickens, the father of the English novelist Charles Dickens. The descendants of Charles Dickens include the novelist Monica Dickens, the writer Lucinda Dickens Hawksley and the actors Harry Lloyd and Brian Forster....
from 1851 to 1860. At Tavistock House Dickens wrote Bleak House
Bleak House
Bleak House is the ninth novel by Charles Dickens, published in twenty monthly installments between March 1852 and September 1853. It is held to be one of Dickens's finest novels, containing one of the most vast, complex and engaging arrays of minor characters and sub-plots in his entire canon...
, Hard Times
Hard Times
Hard Times - For These Times is the tenth novel by Charles Dickens, first published in 1854. The book appraises English society and is aimed at highlighting the social and economic pressures of the times....
, Little Dorrit
Little Dorrit
Little Dorrit is a serial novel by Charles Dickens published originally between 1855 and 1857. It is a work of satire on the shortcomings of the government and society of the period....
and A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature....
. He also put on amateur theatricals there which are described in John Forster's Life of Charles Dickens. Later, it was the home of William and Georgina Weldon
Georgina Weldon
Georgina Weldon was a British campaigner against the lunacy laws, a celebrated litigant and noted amateur soprano of the Victorian era.-Early years:...
, whose lodger was the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
composer Charles Gounod
Charles Gounod
Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
, who composed part of his opera Polyeucte
Polyeucte (opera)
Polyeucte is an opéra by Charles Gounod based on the play about Saint Polyeuctus by Pierre Corneille. The libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré is more faithful to its source than Les martyrs, Scribe's adaptation for Donizetti, and Gounod hoped to express "the unknown and irresistable...
at the house.
History
Tavistock House was built by builder and developer James BurtonJames Burton (1761–1837)
James Burton was a builder and developer, responsible for large areas of Bloomsbury and the houses around Regent's Park in London. He later founded the new town of St Leonards-on-Sea, which is now part of the built-up area of Hastings...
, who probably lived in Tavistock House while he developed the surrounding area. The house is shown on Davies' Map of Marylebone
Marylebone
Marylebone is an affluent inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. It is sometimes written as St. Marylebone or Mary-le-bone....
, printed in 1834. From Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford
Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford
Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford was an English aristocrat and Whig politician, responsible for much of the development of central Bloomsbury.-Life:...
, Burton acquired the leases for two plots of land, one northern and one southern, on the east side of Tavistock Square
Tavistock Square
Tavistock Square is a public square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden with a fine garden.-Public art:The centre-piece of the gardens is a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, which was installed in 1968....
. It was on the northern plot, and part of the southern plot, that Burton built Tavistock House. Burton sold the lease for Tavistock House to Thomas Murdock in 1805. Murdock lived there for six years before he in turn sold the lease to Benjamin Oakley in 1811. In 1812 Oakley transferred the lease to journalist
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
James Perry
James Perry (journalist)
James Perry, born James Pirie was a British journalist and newspaper editor.Admitted to Marischal College, Aberdeen in 1771, he began studying for the Scottish bar. Forced to abandon his studies after his father's building business failed in 1774, he moved to London in 1777...
, who was the first editor of The European Magazine
The European Magazine
European Magazine, published in London, ran from 1782 until 1826, publishing eighty-nine volumes. As the European Magazine, and London Review it was launched in January 1782, promising to offer "the Literature, History, Politics, Arts, Manners, and Amusements of the Age." It was in direct...
, and who also edited the Morning Chronicle
Morning Chronicle
The Morning Chronicle was a newspaper founded in 1769 in London, England, and published under various owners until 1862. It was most notable for having been the first employer of Charles Dickens, and for publishing the articles by Henry Mayhew which were collected and published in book format in...
.
Stock broker
Stock broker
A stock broker or stockbroker is a regulated professional broker who buys and sells shares and other securities through market makers or Agency Only Firms on behalf of investors...
Charles Williams later lived in Tavistock House, renting it from his friend James Perry. From Tavistock House Williams published a volume of private letters and portraits of his family. In his will Perry left the house to his nephew Thomas Bentley, from whom it was later purchased by auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
eer George Henry Robins of Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, who probably divided it into three separate residences.
His tenancy of No. 1 Devonshire Terrace having expired in the autumn of 1851, Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
obtained the lease on Tavistock House from his friend and fellow Shakespeare Society member, the artist Frank Stone
Frank Stone
Frank Stone , was an English painter. He was born in Manchester, and was entirely self-taught.He was elected an associate of the Society of Painters in Water Colours in 1833 and member in 1843; and an associate of the Royal Academy in 1851.The works he first exhibited at the Academy were portraits,...
. In 1851 Dickens, with his young family, moved into the western section of the by now divided Tavistock House. His first published story, A Dinner at Poplar Walk (1833) (later re-titled Mr. Minns and His Cousin) is set in Tavistock House. Dickens wrote Bleak House
Bleak House
Bleak House is the ninth novel by Charles Dickens, published in twenty monthly installments between March 1852 and September 1853. It is held to be one of Dickens's finest novels, containing one of the most vast, complex and engaging arrays of minor characters and sub-plots in his entire canon...
(1852-3), Hard Times
Hard Times
Hard Times - For These Times is the tenth novel by Charles Dickens, first published in 1854. The book appraises English society and is aimed at highlighting the social and economic pressures of the times....
(1854), Little Dorrit
Little Dorrit
Little Dorrit is a serial novel by Charles Dickens published originally between 1855 and 1857. It is a work of satire on the shortcomings of the government and society of the period....
(1855-7), and A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature....
(1859) at Tavistock House. He also put on amateur theatricals there which are described in John Forster's Life of Charles Dickens. These performances included Wilkie Collins
Wilkie Collins
William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. He was very popular during the Victorian era and wrote 30 novels, more than 60 short stories, 14 plays, and over 100 non-fiction pieces...
's The Lighthouse in which Charles Dickens also acted along with Collins
Wilkie Collins
William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. He was very popular during the Victorian era and wrote 30 novels, more than 60 short stories, 14 plays, and over 100 non-fiction pieces...
, Augustus Egg
Augustus Egg
Augustus Leopold Egg 2 May 1816 in London, England – 26 March 1863) was a Victorian artist best known for his modern triptych Past and Present , which depicts the breakup of a middle-class Victorian family.-Biography:...
, Mark Lemon
Mark Lemon
Mark Lemon was founding editor of both Punch and The Field.-Biography:Lemon was born in London on the 30 November 1809. He was the son of Martin Lemon, a hop merchant, and Alice Collis. His parents married on 26 December 1808 at St Mary, Marylebone, London...
Kate
Kate Perugini
Kate Perugini was an English painter of the Victorian era and the daughter of Charles Dickens.-Biography:...
and Mary Dickens
Mary Dickens
Mary 'Mamie' Angela Dickens was the oldest daughter of English novelist Charles Dickens and his wife Catherine...
and Georgina Hogarth
Georgina Hogarth
Georgina Hogarth was the sister-in-law, housekeeper and adviser of English novelist Charles Dickens and the editor of two volumes of his collected letters after his death.-Biography:...
, and The Frozen Deep
The Frozen Deep
The Frozen Deep was a play, originally staged as an amateur theatrical, written by Wilkie Collins along with the substantial guidance of Charles Dickens in 1856...
(1856), also written by Wilkie Collins, with the guidance of Dickens. The Frozen Deep was first performed at Tavistock House at a dress rehearsal on January 5, 1857 for an audience of servants and local tradespeople. Other performances were held on January 6, 8, 12, and 14 for audiences of about 90 people at each performance. These audiences were made up of friends of Dickens and Collins, including members of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
, judges, and government ministers. Dickens had Tavistock House's large schoolroom converted into what he billed as "The Smallest Theatre in the World". The first performance at this improvised theatre was the burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
Guy Fawkes
Guy Fawkes
Guy Fawkes , also known as Guido Fawkes, the name he adopted while fighting for the Spanish in the Low Countries, belonged to a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.Fawkes was born and educated in York...
by Alfred Smith, held to celebrate Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night (holiday)
Twelfth Night is a festival in some branches of Christianity marking the coming of the Epiphany and concluding the Twelve Days of Christmas.It is defined by the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary as "the evening of the fifth of January, preceding Twelfth Day, the eve of the Epiphany, formerly the...
.
In 1858, while living at Tavistock House Dickens separated from his wife, Catherine Dickens
Catherine Dickens
Catherine 'Kate' Thomson Dickens was the wife of English novelist Charles Dickens, with whom he fathered 10 children.-Marriage:...
. In 1856 Dickens bought Gads Hill Place
Gads Hill Place
Gads Hill Place in Higham, Kent, sometimes spelt Gadshill Place and Gad's Hill Place, was the country home of Charles Dickens, the most successful British author of the Victorian era....
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, but he did not sell the lease for Tavistock House until August 1860, after his daughter Kate Dickens
Kate Perugini
Kate Perugini was an English painter of the Victorian era and the daughter of Charles Dickens.-Biography:...
' marriage. Dickens sold the lease to William Spencer Johnson and William Bush for two thousand guinea
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...
s.
The celebrated litigant and soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
Mrs. Georgina Weldon
Georgina Weldon
Georgina Weldon was a British campaigner against the lunacy laws, a celebrated litigant and noted amateur soprano of the Victorian era.-Early years:...
and her husband William Henry Weldon later lived in Tavistock House, and she held classes for the cultivation of the voice in the house. Charles Gounod
Charles Gounod
Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
later lodged with the Weldons in Tavistock House, and the Gounod Choir met there weekly. It has been suggested that Georgina Weldon and Gounod were lovers, and that he had promised her the title role in his opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
Polyeucte
Polyeucte (opera)
Polyeucte is an opéra by Charles Gounod based on the play about Saint Polyeuctus by Pierre Corneille. The libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré is more faithful to its source than Les martyrs, Scribe's adaptation for Donizetti, and Gounod hoped to express "the unknown and irresistable...
when it opened in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.. However, Gounod became increasingly disturbed by the gossip about the ‘Weldon Affair’, and in June 1874 he returned to his wife in Paris. Feeling slighted by Gounod's departure, Georgina Weldon
Georgina Weldon
Georgina Weldon was a British campaigner against the lunacy laws, a celebrated litigant and noted amateur soprano of the Victorian era.-Early years:...
refused to send on his personal belongings, including the draft of his opera Polyeucte, forcing him to rewrite it.
Tavistock House was demolished in 1901, and its former location is covered today by the headquarters of the British Medical Association
British Medical Association
The British Medical Association is the professional association and registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association’s headquarters are located in BMA House,...
in Tavistock Square
Tavistock Square
Tavistock Square is a public square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden with a fine garden.-Public art:The centre-piece of the gardens is a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, which was installed in 1968....
. A blue plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
commemorates Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
and Tavistock House.
Notable residents
- James BurtonJames Burton (1761–1837)James Burton was a builder and developer, responsible for large areas of Bloomsbury and the houses around Regent's Park in London. He later founded the new town of St Leonards-on-Sea, which is now part of the built-up area of Hastings...
, builder - James PerryJames Perry (journalist)James Perry, born James Pirie was a British journalist and newspaper editor.Admitted to Marischal College, Aberdeen in 1771, he began studying for the Scottish bar. Forced to abandon his studies after his father's building business failed in 1774, he moved to London in 1777...
, journalist - Charles DickensCharles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, novelist - Georgina WeldonGeorgina WeldonGeorgina Weldon was a British campaigner against the lunacy laws, a celebrated litigant and noted amateur soprano of the Victorian era.-Early years:...
, soprano and celebrated litigant - William Weldon, Officer of ArmsOfficer of armsAn officer of arms is a person appointed by a sovereign or state with authority to perform one or more of the following functions:*to control and initiate armorial matters*to arrange and participate in ceremonies of state...
- Charles GounodCharles GounodCharles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
, composer