Who's Who
The Charles Dickens Museum is governed by an independent charitable trust which aims to protect and preserve 48 Doughty Street and its museum collections, and to promote the appreciation of Dickens’s works through an on-going programme of exhibitions, events and educational activities.
Board of Directors
Lycia Lobo, Chair
Lycia joined the Charles Dickens Museum Board in August 2017. She has over 20 years’ experience in the retail and catering sector where she has held senior management roles with Thorntons, H Samuel and Ernest Jones. In 2013, Lycia moved over to the heritage and charity sector, working for the V&A and then the Ashmolean Museum. Lycia joined English Heritage as their Commercial Director in 2019. She enjoys visiting exhibitions, playing netball and finding quirky independent shops and cafes in her spare time. Lycia’s favourite Dickens character is Oliver Twist - he has strong morals and a loyalty to anyone that he befriends.
Carol Seigel, Vice Chair
Carol has been Director of the Freud Museum London, Sigmund Freud’s last home, since 2009. An experienced museum professional, with a particular interest in small historic house museums and nineteenth and twentieth century London, she previously worked at the Jewish Museum, Hampstead Museum and the Museum of London. She is also a Trustee at Burgh House & Hampstead Museum and joined the Board of the Charles Dickens Museum in August 2017. In her spare time, Carol enjoys the theatre, contemporary novels, tennis (watching rather than playing), and long walks in the country. Her favourite Dickens character is Betsey Trotwood, from David Copperfield - one of Dickens's strong, admirable women, whose description is also laced with humour.
Paul Allen
Paul has spent most of his working life in the social care sector and, since 2018, has been the Chief Executive of Vibrance, a charity supporting adults with a learning disability across London and the south-east. His love affair with Dickens began whilst travelling round America in 1978 and becoming homesick. He also loves rock music (especially live gigs) and is a season ticket holder at Chelsea FC, who he has supported since 1969. His favourite Dickens character is Captain Cuttle, admiring his simple honesty, loyalty, gentle nature and positive attitude regardless of the challenges he is facing.
Neil Bennett
Neil is the CEO of Maitland/AMO, one of the UK’s leading strategic communications and PR firms, headquartered at King’s Cross, London. He is also a journalist and has held reporting and editing roles at The Sunday Telegraph and The Times. His career highlights include interviewing Bill Gates and being named Business Journalist of the Year for two years in succession. Outside work he is a passionate collector of Dickens memorabilia and has run marathons on five continents. His favourite Dickens character is Mr Venus, the lovestruck taxidermist from Our Mutual Friend. Neil joined the Board of the Charles Dickens Museum in March 2020.
Liz Bowers
Liz Bowers has worked in the cultural sector for over 20 years, both as a consultant and in senior leadership roles at Imperial War Museums and Royal Museums Greenwich, where she led commercial, visitor services and marketing teams. Currently at museum consultancy Cultural Innovations, Liz has also worked with the V&A, the Ashmolean, National Galleries of Scotland and the Royal Society for British Architects. Liz joined the Board of the Charles Dickens Museum in March 2020. One of her favourite Dickens characters is the colourful Jack Dawkins, aka the Artful Dodger, who has learned to survive on his wits and whose confident swagger, adult mannerisms and audacious court appearance bring this compelling character to life.
Anne Byrne
Anne Byrne is an experienced commercial lawyer, having been a partner at global law firm Linklaters LLP and general counsel at FTSE 250 property company, Capital & Counties Properties PLC. She is currently a trustee of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, an independent committee member for The Samaritans and joined the Charles Dickens Museum Board in July 2021. Anne enjoys hiking in the countryside and visiting historic properties and gardens. In Anne’s view, Sydney Carton from A Tale of Two Cities is one of Dickens’s most memorable characters, a lawyer who wastes his talents but ends the book as an unlikely hero.
Daisy Christodoulou
Daisy Christodoulou is the Director of Education at No More Marking, a provider of online comparative judgement. She works closely with schools on developing new approaches to assessment. Before that, she taught English in two London secondary schools, and was Head of Assessment at Ark Schools. She is the author of Seven Myths about Education and Making Good Progress? The future of Assessment for Learning. Daisy joined the Board of the Charles Dickens Museum in February 2018. Daisy’s favourite Dickens character is Sam Weller. He is funny, loyal and down-to-earth - and he made The Pickwick Papers a great success!
Penelope Hines
Penelope is a curator with an interest in historic houses and decorative arts, particularly the combination of the historic house, collections and interpretation and how this can create a holistic understanding of a person or family. She has previously worked as a curator at the National Trust, Victoria & Albert Museum and National Museum Wales. She first encountered Charles Dickens through studies at school and is particularly interested in further exploring his non-fiction writing. Her favourite character is Esther Summerson (Bleak House) due to her personality and relationships, which are still relatable today. Penelope joined the Charles Dickens Museum Board in July 2021.
Peter Knowles
Peter is the UK producer for the US network C-SPAN, based in Westminster's Parliamentary Press Gallery, the haunt of Charles Dickens when at the start of his writing career. Peter has served as a Trustee with Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery and the Hansard Society and has a strong interest in architectural history. Peter’s favourite Dickens character is the perpetually perplexed, and often misguided, Martin Chuzzlewit.
Sarah Ridley
Sarah has over 30 years’ experience in the charity and commercial sectors in the UK and US. She served as a curator and educator at the Smithsonian Institution and as a grantmaker for the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington, D.C. In the UK, she led The Tubney Charitable Trust, an environmental grantmaker, and The London Marathon Charitable Trust. Now a consultant, she provides advice on governance and strategy. She is Vice Chair of Carers Worldwide. Sarah is fascinated by the life chances and choices that lead to the evolution of the relationship between Magwitch and Pip in Great Expectations.
Sandra Lynes Timbrell
Sandra Lynes Timbrell has worked in the heritage and cultural sector for 20 years. She is Director of Visitor Engagement at St Paul’s Cathedral where she leads the commercial, visitor experience, collections and marketing teams. Growing up in Bloomsbury meant that Sandra came into contact with the Charles Dickens Museum and the author’s work from an early age, all thanks to her grandmother who used to bring her to the museum and buy her his novels, at far too early an age, to encourage her reading! Sandra lives in south west London with her husband, three children and Mable the cat. Sandra’s favourite Dickens novel is Great Expectations and her favourite character is Nancy from Oliver Twist – a complicated woman who ultimately risks her own life to save another.
Caroline Trewhitt
Caroline is currently the Independent Investigator for the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, a body which supports consumers when regulated financial service firms fail. In addition to this role she is a Commissioner and Audit Chair of The Royal Hospital Chelsea and also currently serves as Finance Trustee for the Royal Osteoporosis Society. Caroline’s professional background is within the financial services sector and she has held senior appointments with major international companies including Reuters, Reed Elsevier and NatWest, specialising in corporate development and, latterly, financial compliance and governance. Her favourite Dickens’s novel is Bleak House and her favourite character is Lizzie Hexam from Our Mutual Friend, a woman who has the courage to remain true to her values.
Claire Warrior
Claire is Senior Exhibitions Interpretation Curator at Royal Museums Greenwich. She has over fifteen years’ experience of working in museums, having held posts at the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, Pitt Rivers Museum, and World Museum Liverpool. Claire completed her PhD at the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, in 2016, on the interrelationship between family history and British polar exploration. She has published and lectured upon on the history of museums, memory, identity, and the Polar Regions. Claire joined the Board of the Charles Dickens Museum in February 2018. Claire enjoys singing with the London Oriana Choir, tap dancing, ice skating, going to the theatre and exploring the rich experiences that London has to offer. She has yet to identify her favourite Dickens character, but is intrigued by the women in the author's life, particularly his wife, Catherine.
Patrons
Simon Callow
Mark Dickens
Lucinda Dickens Hawksley
Miriam Margolyes
Emeritus Professor Michael Slater
Academic Advisors
Emeritus Professor Michael Slater
Emeritus Professor Jenny Hartley
Professor Juliet John
Dr Pete Orford
Dr Tony Williams
Dr Leon Litvack
Dr Lee Jackson
Key Staff
Director - Dr Cindy Sughrue OBE
Senior Curator - Frankie Kubicki
Curator - Emma Harper
Learning Manager - Ben Venus
Marketing & Events Manager - Jordan Evans-Hill