The Charles Dickens museum
Some of you may have heard about David Copperfield while others may
have read it or done it as text in school. Today we bring you some
information about the famous author who wrote David Copperfield. He is
the well-known author Charles Dickens.
The furniture, ceramics, glass, household objects and decorations
faithfully recreated the Regency style which Charles's parents would
have favoured, although their actual possessions have long since been
dispersed.
There are three furnished rooms: the parlour, the dining room and the
bedroom where Charles was born. The exhibition room features a display
on Charles Dickens and Portsmouth, as well as a small collection of
memorabilia: the couch on which he died at his house in Kent, together
with his snuff box, inkwell and paper knife, poignant reminders of an
author celebrated for his prodigious talents and creative output.
 Volunteers are dressed in costume every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the
month and The Dickens Fellowship also do readings at 3pm on the first
Sunday of every month. Charles Dickens was born in the house pictured
above February 7, 1812. John Dickens, Charles' father was a clerk in the
Navy Pay Office, he had brought his bride Elizabeth to Portsmouth in the
summer of 1809 and this was their first marital home.
The Dickens family stayed in Portsmouth until 1815 when John Dickens'
job forced the family to move to London. Although Charles Dickens' time
spent in Portsmouth was short he did return on three separate occasions,
on one occasion he carried out research for his book Nicholas Nickleby.
The museum was opened in 1904 and the furniture, ceramics, glass,
household objects and decorations are re-creations of the type Charles's
father would have used.
In the kitchen is the painted dresser which has survived from Mrs
Dickens' kitchen and is part of the structure of the house.
There is a collection of memorabilia including the couch he died on
in Kent, an inkwell and paper knife he used and much more. There are
also regular readings from Charles Dickens' books in the summer months
held in this house.
The house where Charles Dickens was born was originally called No 1
Mile End Terrace which later became 393, Commercial Road when the road
was absorbed into Commercial Road until the construction of the M275
which cut Commercial Road in two. The isolated part of the Road became
Old Commercial Road where Charles Dickens Birth place can now be found.
We will bring you summarised versions of the books written by this
author in the weeks to come.
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