From a photo by Ellis & Wallery
No. 1. DEVONSHIRE TERRACE
Dickens’s residence from 1839 to 1850, where much of his best work was done
(Reproduced from The Windsor Magazine by kind permission of the Editor)
After a short residence in Bayham Street, the family removed their belongings to Gower Street North (the identical house was demolished a few years ago), and an effort was made to bring grist to the mill by an attempt on the part of Mrs. Dickens to start a school for young ladies; but the venture proved abortive, notwithstanding the fact that Charles did his utmost to aid the project by leaving “at a great many doors, a great many circulars,” calling attention to the advantages of the establishment. John Dickens’s financial difficulties increased, tradesmen became pertinacious in their claims for a settlement of long-standing debts, which could not be met, until at last the father was arrested, and lodged in a debtors prison—events
After the painting by W. P. Frith, A.R.A., in the Forster Collection at the South Kensington Museum