Alfred D'Orsay Tennyson Dickens
Encyclopedia
Alfred D'Orsay Tennyson Dickens (28 October 1845 – 2 January 1912) was the sixth child and fourth son of British
novelist Charles Dickens
and his wife Catherine
. He made lecture
tours in Australia
, Europe
and the United States
on his father's life and work.
, and was baptized
at the church of St. Mary Marylebone in London on 21 April 1846. He was named after his godfather
s, Alfred, Lord Tennyson
and Count Alfred D'Orsay
. Because of this choice of godfathers Alfred's christening
became a popular topic among literary people. Father Prout
wrote:
Edward Fitzgerald
wrote to his friend Edward Barton that Tennyson and Count D'Orsay had stood as godparents to one of Dickens's children, and that the unfortunate child had been named 'Alfred D'Orsay Tennyson', which he believed proved that 'Dickens was a snob
... For what is Snobbishness and Cockneyism, but all such pretensions and parade? It is one thing to worship heroes and another to lick their spittle.' Robert Browning
wrote to Elizabeth Barrett
, who shortly after married him in the same church in which Alfred Dickens had been baptized, wondering if she knows why Alfred Tennyson
has been dining with Dickens to meet celebrities.
Alfred Dickens was educated at a private school in Boulogne-sur-Mer
with his brothers Frank and Sydney
. He attended Brackenbury's Military School
at Wimbledon
. Alfred Dickens considered a career in the Army
, in medicine, and in business, but after failing the entrance examination into the Army, instead he spent two years working in a China House in London. Persuaded by his father, he migrated to Australia
in June 1865 aged 19, leaving behind many unpaid bills. His father came to see him off at Paddington Station
.
Charles Dickens
sent him with some money and letters of introduction, hoping that he would make a career there and that he would cease to be a financial drain upon his father. According to various letters, Charles Dickens sent his son to Australia "to seek his fortune"; although he saw Alfred as "steady and working, though not in the least brilliant," he had been anxious to get him "far away from home," being concerned about the negative influence of his brothers and the "idleness" of London. He was followed shortly afterwards by his younger brother Edward Dickens
. Alfred Dickens remained in Australia for 45 years.
Alfred Dickens settled in Australia quickly, finding work on a property at Corona on the borders of New South Wales
and South Australia
. He remained in Australia for 45 years. Charles Dickens having died in 1870, Alfred purchased Wangagong station, near Forbes with his share of his father's estate. In 1874 he moved to Hamilton, Victoria
, to take up a position as a station agent.
Dickens married Augusta Jessie Devlin (1849 – 1878), known as 'The Belle of Melbourne", in a fashionable wedding in Toorak, Victoria
, and with whom he had two daughters, Kathleen Mary (1874 – 1951) and Violet Georgina (1875 – 1952). Jessie Dickens died from her injuries on 14 December 1878 after having been thrown out of her carriage when a pony bolted. Alfred Dickens then moved to Melbourne
, where he was persuaded by his younger brother Edward Dickens
to start up their own stock and station agency, 'EBL Dickens and Partners'.
In Melbourne on 22 June 1888 Alfred married again, his new wife, Emily Riley (1863–1913), being 17 years his junior. The marriage was not a happy one, and there were no children. Severely hit financially when depression hit Victoria in the early 1890s, Alfred began to tour Australia
giving lectures about his father's life and work. From 1910 he gave the lectures in Europe
and America
. Alfred Dickens was the Vice President of the Dickens Fellowship
. While touring America in 1912 as a guest of honour during the Dickens Centennial celebrations, Dickens was taken ill at noon while strolling in the lobby of his hotel, the Astor Hotel
in New York
. Taking to his bed, he slept for a while and then awoke and dictated a letter to one of his daughters in Australia
explaining that his sudden illness had required him to cancel one of his speaking engagements. He died at 5.15 p.m. in his suite at the Astor Hotel of acute indigestion after a few hours illness.
He was buried in Trinity Church Cemetery
in Manhattan
on 14 April 1912 in a plot donated by the Trinity Corporation after his sister, Kate Perugini
, had been contacted in London
concerning the funeral arrangements. It had originally been thought that his body would be returned to England for burial. The funeral was attended by members of the American Dickens League, the Dickens Centenary Committee and other groups. In 1935 a permanent headstone of Barre, Vermont granite was placed at the grave, the funds for which were collected by the children of the Church School of the Chapel of the Intercession. The lettering on the headstone is believed to be the same as that on Charles Dickens
's grave in Westminster Abbey
in London
.
Every year at Christmas
the congregation from the Episcopal Church
across the street process to Dickens's grave, with the children carrying a lit candle. Gathering around the grave, the congregation sing several Christmas carol
s, led by the church choir. The tradition continues to this day.
His name appears with those of his nine siblings on the monument next to his mother's grave in Highgate Cemetery
in London
.
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...
novelist 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 wife Catherine
Catherine Dickens
Catherine 'Kate' Thomson Dickens was the wife of English novelist Charles Dickens, with whom he fathered 10 children.-Marriage:...
. He made lecture
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
tours in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on his father's life and work.
Early life
Nicknamed "Sampson Brass" and "Skittles" by his father, Alfred Dickens was born at 1 Devonshire Terrace in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and was baptized
Infant baptism
Infant baptism is the practice of baptising infants or young children. In theological discussions, the practice is sometimes referred to as paedobaptism or pedobaptism from the Greek pais meaning "child." The practice is sometimes contrasted with what is called "believer's baptism", or...
at the church of St. Mary Marylebone in London on 21 April 1846. He was named after his godfather
Godparent
A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...
s, Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language....
and Count Alfred D'Orsay
Alfred Guillaume Gabriel, Count D'Orsay
Alfred d'Orsay, known as the comte d'Orsay was a French amateur artist, dandy, and man of fashion in the early- to mid-19th century.-Life:...
. Because of this choice of godfathers Alfred's christening
Infant baptism
Infant baptism is the practice of baptising infants or young children. In theological discussions, the practice is sometimes referred to as paedobaptism or pedobaptism from the Greek pais meaning "child." The practice is sometimes contrasted with what is called "believer's baptism", or...
became a popular topic among literary people. Father Prout
Francis Sylvester Mahony
Francis Sylvester Mahony , also known by the pen name Father Prout, was an Irish humorist. He was born in Cork, Ireland, to Martin Mahony and Mary Reynolds. He was educated at the Jesuit Clongowes Wood College, Kildare, and later in Saint Acheul, a similar school in Amiens, France and then at Rue...
wrote:
- What eye but glistens
- And what ear but listens
- When the clergy christens
- A babe of 'Boz'
Edward Fitzgerald
Edward FitzGerald (poet)
Edward FitzGerald was an English writer, best known as the poet of the first and most famous English translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. The spelling of his name as both FitzGerald and Fitzgerald is seen...
wrote to his friend Edward Barton that Tennyson and Count D'Orsay had stood as godparents to one of Dickens's children, and that the unfortunate child had been named 'Alfred D'Orsay Tennyson', which he believed proved that 'Dickens was a snob
Snob
A snob is someone who believes that some people are inherently inferior to him or her for any one of a variety of reasons, including real or supposed intellect, wealth, education, ancestry, taste, beauty, nationality, et cetera. Often, the form of snobbery reflects the snob's personal attributes...
... For what is Snobbishness and Cockneyism, but all such pretensions and parade? It is one thing to worship heroes and another to lick their spittle.' Robert Browning
Robert Browning
Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.-Early years:...
wrote to Elizabeth Barrett
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era. Her poetry was widely popular in both England and the United States during her lifetime. A collection of her last poems was published by her husband, Robert Browning, shortly after her death.-Early life:Members...
, who shortly after married him in the same church in which Alfred Dickens had been baptized, wondering if she knows why Alfred Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language....
has been dining with Dickens to meet celebrities.
'What do you suppose caused all the dining and repining? He has been sponsor to Dickens's child in company with Count D'Orsay and accordingly the novus homo glories in the praenomia Alfred d'Orsay Tennyson Dickens ... You observe Alfred is common to both the godfather and the devil-father ... When you remember what the form of sponsorship is, to what it pledges you in the Church of EnglandChurch of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
- and then remember that Mr. Dickens is an enlightened Unitarian - you will get a curious notion of the man, I fancy.'
Alfred Dickens was educated at a private school in Boulogne-sur-Mer
Boulogne-sur-Mer
-Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....
with his brothers Frank and Sydney
Sydney Smith Haldimand Dickens
Sydney Smith Haldimand Dickens was a Royal Navy officer; the fifth son and seventh child of English novelist Charles Dickens and his wife Catherine.-Biography:...
. He attended Brackenbury's Military School
Wimbledon College
Wimbledon College is a government-maintained voluntary-aided Jesuit Roman Catholic high school for boys aged 11 to 19. The school is based at Edge Hill, Wimbledon, London. It was founded in 1892 "for improvement in living and learning to the greater glory of God and the common good"...
at Wimbledon
Wimbledon, London
Wimbledon is a district in the south west area of London, England, located south of Wandsworth, and east of Kingston upon Thames. It is situated within Greater London. It is home to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre, and contains Wimbledon Common, one of the largest areas...
. Alfred Dickens considered a career in the Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, in medicine, and in business, but after failing the entrance examination into the Army, instead he spent two years working in a China House in London. Persuaded by his father, he migrated to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in June 1865 aged 19, leaving behind many unpaid bills. His father came to see him off at Paddington Station
Paddington station
Paddington railway station, also known as London Paddington, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex.The site is a historic one, having served as the London terminus of the Great Western Railway and its successors since 1838. Much of the current mainline station dates...
.
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...
sent him with some money and letters of introduction, hoping that he would make a career there and that he would cease to be a financial drain upon his father. According to various letters, Charles Dickens sent his son to Australia "to seek his fortune"; although he saw Alfred as "steady and working, though not in the least brilliant," he had been anxious to get him "far away from home," being concerned about the negative influence of his brothers and the "idleness" of London. He was followed shortly afterwards by his younger brother Edward Dickens
Edward Dickens
Edward Bulwer Lytton Dickens was the youngest son of English novelist Charles Dickens and his wife Catherine and was an Australian politician....
. Alfred Dickens remained in Australia for 45 years.
Australia
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. He remained in Australia for 45 years. Charles Dickens having died in 1870, Alfred purchased Wangagong station, near Forbes with his share of his father's estate. In 1874 he moved to Hamilton, Victoria
Hamilton, Victoria
Hamilton is a city in western Victoria, Australia. It is located at the intersection of the Glenelg Highway and the Henty Highway...
, to take up a position as a station agent.
Dickens married Augusta Jessie Devlin (1849 – 1878), known as 'The Belle of Melbourne", in a fashionable wedding in Toorak, Victoria
Toorak, Victoria
Toorak is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district located on a rise on the south side of a bend in the Yarra River. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington...
, and with whom he had two daughters, Kathleen Mary (1874 – 1951) and Violet Georgina (1875 – 1952). Jessie Dickens died from her injuries on 14 December 1878 after having been thrown out of her carriage when a pony bolted. Alfred Dickens then moved to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, where he was persuaded by his younger brother Edward Dickens
Edward Dickens
Edward Bulwer Lytton Dickens was the youngest son of English novelist Charles Dickens and his wife Catherine and was an Australian politician....
to start up their own stock and station agency, 'EBL Dickens and Partners'.
Later years
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
giving lectures about his father's life and work. From 1910 he gave the lectures in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Alfred Dickens was the Vice President of the Dickens Fellowship
Dickens Fellowship
The Dickens Fellowship was founded in 1902, and is an international association of people from all walks of life who share an interest in the life and works of Victorian era novelist Charles Dickens....
. While touring America in 1912 as a guest of honour during the Dickens Centennial celebrations, Dickens was taken ill at noon while strolling in the lobby of his hotel, the Astor Hotel
Astor Hotel
The Hotel Astor was a hotel located in the Times Square area of Manhattan, in operation from 1904 through 1967. The former site of the hotel, the block bounded by Broadway, Astor Plaza, West 44th Street, and West 45th Street, is now occupied by the high-rise 54-story office tower One Astor Plaza.-...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Taking to his bed, he slept for a while and then awoke and dictated a letter to one of his daughters in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
explaining that his sudden illness had required him to cancel one of his speaking engagements. He died at 5.15 p.m. in his suite at the Astor Hotel of acute indigestion after a few hours illness.
He was buried in Trinity Church Cemetery
Trinity Church Cemetery
Trinity Church Cemetery consists of three separate burial grounds associated with Trinity Church in Manhattan, New York, USA. The first was established in the Churchyard located at 74 Trinity Place at Wall Street and Broadway...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
on 14 April 1912 in a plot donated by the Trinity Corporation after his sister, Kate Perugini
Kate Perugini
Kate Perugini was an English painter of the Victorian era and the daughter of Charles Dickens.-Biography:...
, had been contacted in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
concerning the funeral arrangements. It had originally been thought that his body would be returned to England for burial. The funeral was attended by members of the American Dickens League, the Dickens Centenary Committee and other groups. In 1935 a permanent headstone of Barre, Vermont granite was placed at the grave, the funds for which were collected by the children of the Church School of the Chapel of the Intercession. The lettering on the headstone is believed to be the same as that on 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...
's grave in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Every year at Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
the congregation from the Episcopal Church
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
across the street process to Dickens's grave, with the children carrying a lit candle. Gathering around the grave, the congregation sing several Christmas carol
Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...
s, led by the church choir. The tradition continues to this day.
His name appears with those of his nine siblings on the monument next to his mother's grave in Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery is a cemetery located in north London, England. It is designated Grade I on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. It is divided into two parts, named the East and West cemetery....
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
External links
- Dickens on Find A Grave
- http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/23/1040511009543.htmlDickens in The Sydney Morning HeraldThe Sydney Morning HeraldThe Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
24 December 2002] Retrieved on 2008-10-31 - Dickens on Charles Dickens Biography, Life, Books and his work on Literature
- http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E02EFD91131E233A25753C3A96F9C946096D6CF'Dickens's Son Arrives: Has Spent Most of His Life in Australia -- Comes to Lecture' The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
30 September 1911] - Dickens on the Audubon Park website