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Charles Dickens the reluctant hero ‘The author whose name was a household word: the genial humorist who gave us Mr. Pickwick and Mr. Micawber, and a whole gallery of such familiar personages; the writer who has done more than any other to lesson the width and the depth of that gulf of mutual ignorance, and, on one side at least, of un-Christian indifference which prevailed many years ago, is no more.’ The Graphic – Saturday 18 June 1870 Charles Dickens is regarded as one of our greatest literary artists and his books are well-read throughout the world. However, what is less-known is his work as a political journalist, publisher and social reformer. As a journalist, Dickens reported on many Parliamentary debates, for which he travelled around the country covering election campaigns. As an author, apart from his well-known works he also wrote numerous short stories, many of which he put together for his first publication called Sketches by ‘Boz’, Illustrative of Every-day Life and Every-day People. Like his novels, they were a social criticism of the time. The pseudonym ‘Boz’ was taken from a nickname Dickens had given his younger brother. Dickens interest in social reformation was influenced by the hardship suffered by his family during his early childhood. Some of his lesser-known projects included the founding of Urania Cottage rescue home, ‘for the redemption of fallen women of the working class’, to create an ‘reformative environment conducive to education and proficiency in domestic household chores’. He managed the home for ten years, establishing house rules and interviewing prospective residents. Emigration and marriage were central to his agenda for the women on leaving Urania Cottage. In 1852 Charles West, founder of Great Ormond Street children’s hospital and a personal friend of Dickens, asked him if he would help with fundraising for the new hospital.
He took on the task, ‘with heart and soul’ and following numerous public readings of his stories; he helped to secure sufficient funds for an endowment, which put the new Children’s hospital on a sound financial footing. Less known is Dickens’ involvement in improving the safety of the railways. This was instigated by a major disaster at Staplehurst viaduct in Kent, in which 10 people died and almost 50 injured. The incident happened on 9th June 1865 when Dickens was returning from a trip to Paris with his mistress Ellen Ternan and her mother Frances Jarman. They were travelling in the first-class compartment of the South Eastern Railway’s boat train from Folkestone when a ‘terrible accident’ occurred.
“I can never be much nearer parting company with my readers for ever, than I was then” At Staplehurst viaduct, an engineering team were in the process of renovating and repairing the bridge. The viaduct’s baulks (wooden timbers that were placed between the iron girders to hold up the track) were being replaced. As was the practice in those days, maintenance work was carried out between the passing of trains. The safety measures set in place by the railway company included fog detonators, small explosives that would create a loud bang as a train passed over them to warn the train-drivers and those working on the track. These were to be placed along the tracks at 250-yard (230m) intervals up to 1000-yards (915m) from where the engineering works was taking place. A flagman was also positioned at 1000 yards. However, on 9th of June the foreman, Henry Benge, failed to organise the detonators and stationed the flagman ‘not more than 550 yards’ (500m). The foreman also failed to read his train timetable accurately. Boat trains departing from Folkestone were dependent on the arrival time of the Steam Packet (Steam-boat), which itself was determined by the tide. This meant that each day, the boat arrived at different times.
The Staplehurst railway accident The Illustrated London News 17th June 1865
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