1 March 2012

Please note: this news article is in our archive. Articles were correct at time of publication, but should not be relied on for accuracy after the passage of time.

WITH celebrations to mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens’ birth taking place across the UK this year, town tourism officer Simon Kerr was determined to find a connection between England’s greatest novelist and East Grinstead.

His search paid off with the discovery that Dickens’ sister-in-law was from East Grinstead, after he spotted this notice in the window of the High Street Book Shop.

“You couldn’t ask for a more ‘Dickensian’ tale than this one,” laughed Simon.

In 1845 the 25 year-old Fred Dickens fell in love with 15 year-old Anna Weller, a match that Charles disapproved of as he did not trust the girl. His attitude caused a breach between the brothers, Charles believing by now that Fred possessed all the worst qualities of their father.

Fred married Anna on 30 December, 1848 despite Charles’s misgivings, but in 1858 the couple applied for a judicial separation on the grounds of adultery. Anna was granted alimony, which Fred Dickens refused to pay, leaving the country.

On his return in 1862 he was arrested and imprisoned for debt.