The Ground Floor > The Morning Room
An Overview of The Morning Room
The former Morning Room of the Dickens Family is filled with items relating to the family of Charles and Catherine Dickens. Immediately upon entering the room, you find a wall of drawings and painting of their children. First off is a large painting of Katey Dickens, and underneath is a sketch of Katey at Gad's Hill Place. Farther along the wall are photographs of their sons. There is a photo of Henry, who became a lawyer and judge, Edward, a member of the Australian parliament, Sydney, a navy cadet, and Alfred. Also, there is another photograph with both Walter and Francis together. In the center of these photographs is a drawing of four of the children. Charles took this drawing of his children with him to America, since they were too young to travel. This wall also has a portrait of Mary Dickens, who acted as mistress of Gads Hill until her father's death. Finally, there are two drawings of Young Charley, one of him at a young age and one later in life.
The fireplace is surrounded with portraits of Charles and Catherine. To the left is a famous painting of Charles, done by W. P. Frith, and below that are some drawings of Dickens which were used in newspapers. Directly above the fireplace are matching drawings of Charles and Catherine drawn by Samuel Lawrence. To the right of those is a huge painting of Catherine. In front of the fireplace sit two velvet chairs. Below the painting of Catherine is a display case containing some of her items.
Around the window of the room is a watercolour of Catherine, a Samuel Lawrence sketch of Frances Dickens, Charles's sister, and an etching of their father John Dickens. In the window are two busts, one of Charles and one of his father.
The final wall of the room is dominated by a complete family tree of Dickens family. Below the tree is a large display case. This case contains photographs of Charles throughout his life, photographs of Catherine, and copies of books that mention or contain references to Dickens.
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