View source for Alfred D'Orsay Tennyson Dickens

{{Short description|Sixth child and fourth son of English novelist Charles Dickens}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Alfred D'Orsay Tennyson Dickens
| image       = Portrait of Alfred D'Orsay Tennyson Dickens.jpg
| alt         =
| caption     = Alfred Dickens
| birth_date  = {{birth date|df=yes|1845|10|28}}
| birth_place = [[London]], England
| death_date  = {{death date and age|df=yes|1912|1|2|1845|10|28}}
| death_place = [[New York City]], U.S.
| nationality =
| other_names =
| known_for   =
| occupation  = Lecturer
| spouse      = Augusta Jessie Devlin (died 1878)<br/>{{marriage|Emily Riley|1888}}
| children    = 2
| parents     = [[Charles Dickens]] <br/> [[Catherine Dickens|Catherine Hogarth]]
}}
'''Alfred D'Orsay Tennyson Dickens''' (28 October 1845 &ndash; 2 January 1912) was an English lecturer. The sixth child and fourth son of English novelist [[Charles Dickens]] and his wife [[Catherine Dickens|Catherine]],<ref>[http://www.myheritage.com/FP/family-tree.php?s=50445521&familyTreeID=1 Dickens Family Tree website]</ref> Dickens made lecture tours in [[Australia]], [[Europe]], and the [[United States]] on his father's life and work.
==Early life==
Nicknamed "Sampson Brass" and "Skittles" by his father, Alfred Dickens was born at 1 Devonshire Terrace, near [[Regent's Park]], and was [[Infant baptism|baptized]] at the church of St. Mary Marylebone in London on 21 April 1846. He was named after his [[Godparent|godfather]]s, [[Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson|Alfred, Lord Tennyson]] and [[Alfred d'Orsay|Alfred, Comte d'Orsay]]. Because of this choice of godfathers Alfred's [[Infant baptism|christening]] became a popular topic among literary people. [[Francis Sylvester Mahony|Father Prout]] wrote:
<blockquote>{{center|
:What eye but glistens
:And what ear but listens
:When the clergy christens
:A babe of 'Boz'<ref name=una>''Charles Dickens'' by [[Una Pope Hennessy]] Published by Chatto & Windus, London (1945) p. 236</ref>
}}</blockquote>
[[Edward FitzGerald (poet)|Edward Fitzgerald]] wrote to his friend Edward Barton<ref>New Letters of E. Fitzgerald, p. 122</ref> that Tennyson and Count D'Orsay had stood as godparents to one of Dickens's children, and that the unfortunate child had been named 'Alfred D'Orsay Tennyson', which he believed proved that 'Dickens was a [[snob]]&nbsp;... For what is Snobbishness and Cockneyism, but all such pretensions and parade? It is one thing to worship heroes and another to lick their spittle.'<ref>Hennessey, p. 236</ref> [[Robert Browning]] wrote to [[Elizabeth Barrett Browning|Elizabeth Barrett]], who shortly after married him in the same church in which Alfred Dickens had been baptized, wondering if she knows why [[Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson|Alfred Tennyson]] has been dining with Dickens to meet celebrities.
<blockquote>
'What do you suppose caused all the dining and repining? He has been sponsor to Dickens's child ''in company with Count D'Orsay'' and accordingly the ''novus homo'' glories in the praenomia Alfred d'Orsay Tennyson Dickens ... You observe Alfred is common to both the godfather and the devil-father ... When you remember what the form of sponsorship is, to what it pledges you in the [[Church of England]] – and then remember that Mr. Dickens is an enlightened Unitarian – you will get a curious notion of the man, I fancy.'<ref>Hennessey, p. 237</ref>
</blockquote>
[[File:Alfred-dickens-1865.jpg|thumb|left|Alfred Dickens in 1865]]
Alfred Dickens was educated at [[Wimbledon College#History|Brackenbury's Military School]] at [[Wimbledon, London|Wimbledon]] and at Mr Gibson's boarding school in [[Boulogne-sur-Mer]], with his brothers [[Henry Fielding Dickens|Henry]] and [[Sydney Smith Haldimand Dickens|Sydney]].<ref>Dickens, Henry Fielding 'The Recollections of Sir Henry Fielding Dickens, K.C.' Published by William Heinemann Ltd (1934) p 11</ref> Alfred Dickens considered a career in the [[British Army|Army]], in medicine, and in business, but after failing the entrance examination into the Army, instead he spent two years working in a China House in London.<ref name=mark>'The Family Tree of Charles Dickens' by Mark Charles Dickens Published by the [[Charles Dickens Museum]] (2005)</ref>
He shared his father's love for fashionable clothing, and ran up bills, in his father's name, at various [[tailor]]s.<ref>[[Lucinda Hawksley|Hawksley, Lucinda Dickens]] ''Charles Dickens'' Andre Deutsch (2011) p. 33</ref> Persuaded by his father, he migrated to Australia in June 1865 aged 19, leaving behind many unpaid bills.<ref>[http://www.perryweb.com/Dickens/life_children.shtml Dickens on the Gads Hill Place website]{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016041517/http://www.perryweb.com/Dickens/life_children.shtml |date=16 October 2008 }}</ref> His father came to see him off at [[Paddington Station]].
[[Charles Dickens]] sent him with some money and letters of introduction, hoping that he would make a career there and that he would cease to be a financial drain upon his father. According to various letters,<ref>National Library of Australia</ref> Charles Dickens sent his son to Australia "to seek his fortune"; although he saw Alfred as "steady and working, though not in the least brilliant," he had been anxious to get him "far away from home," being concerned about the negative influence of his brothers and the "idleness" of London.<ref>[http://www.ilab.org/db/book1561_10576.html Sumner and Stillman website]{{Dead link|date=November 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He was followed shortly afterwards by his younger brother [[Edward Dickens]]. Alfred Dickens remained in Australia for 45 years.
==Australia==
Dickens settled in Australia quickly, becoming manager of Corona station<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5054704 |title=Some Dickens Reminiscences |newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Advertiser]] |volume=XLIX |issue=15,070 |location=South Australia |date=5 February 1907 |access-date=29 May 2019 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> on the border of [[New South Wales]] and [[South Australia]]. He remained in Australia for 45 years. Charles Dickens having died in 1870, Alfred purchased Wangagong station, near [[Forbes, New South Wales|Forbes]] with his share of his father's estate. In 1874 he moved to [[Hamilton, Victoria]], to take up a position as a station agent.<ref name=smh>[http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/23/1040511009543.html ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' 24 December 2002]</ref>
Dickens married Augusta Jessie Devlin (1849–1878), known as 'The Belle of Melbourne", in a fashionable wedding in [[Toorak, Victoria]], and with whom he had two daughters, Kathleen Mary (1874 &ndash; 1951) and Violet Georgina (1875 &ndash; 1952). Jessie Dickens died from her injuries on 14 December 1878 after having been thrown out of her carriage when a pony bolted. Alfred Dickens then moved to [[Melbourne]], where he was persuaded by his younger brother [[Edward Dickens]] to start up their own stock and station agency, 'EBL Dickens and Partners'.<ref name=smh/>
==Later years==
In Melbourne on 22 June 1888, Dickens married again, his new wife, Emily Riley (1863&ndash;1913), being 17 years his junior.<ref>Riley Family of Melbourne, Victoria Australia</ref> The marriage was not a happy one, and there were no children. Severely hit financially when depression hit Victoria in the early 1890s, Alfred began to tour Australia giving lectures about his father's life and work.<ref name=smh/> From 1910 he gave the lectures in [[Europe]] and [[United States|America]], in that year returning to [[United Kingdom|Great Britain]] for the first time since 1865. He became the Vice President of the [[Dickens Fellowship]].<ref name=mark/>
While touring America in 1912 as a guest of honour during the Dickens Centennial celebrations,<ref>''The New York Times'' 4 January 1912</ref> Dickens was taken ill at noon while strolling in the lobby of his hotel, the [[Astor Hotel]] in [[New York City]]. Taking to his bed, he slept for a while and then awoke and dictated a letter to one of his daughters in Australia explaining that his sudden illness had required him to cancel one of his speaking engagements. He died at 5:15 p.m. in his suite at the Astor Hotel, reportedly of acute indigestion after a few hours illness.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1912/01/03/archives/son-of-dickens-dies-at-the-astor-tennysons-namesake-expires-there.html Death of Alfred Dickens reported] in ''[[The New York Times]]'' on 3 January 1912</ref>
[[File:Alfred-Dickens-grave1.jpg|thumb|right|160px|The grave of Alfred Dickens in [[Trinity Church Cemetery]] in [[Manhattan]]]]
He was buried in [[Trinity Church Cemetery]] in [[Manhattan]] on 14 April 1912 in a plot donated by the Trinity Corporation after his sister, [[Kate Perugini]], had been contacted in [[London]] concerning the funeral arrangements. It had originally been thought that his body would be returned to England for burial. The funeral was attended by members of the American Dickens League, the Dickens Centenary Committee and other groups.<ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1912/04/14/100360444.pdf Funeral Services for Alfred Dickens] ''[[The New York Times]]'' 14 April 1912</ref> In 1935 a permanent headstone of [[Barre, Vermont (city)|Barre, Vermont]], granite was placed at the grave, the funds for which were collected by the children of the Church School of the Chapel of the Intercession. The lettering on the headstone is believed to be the same as that on [[Charles Dickens]]'s grave in [[Westminster Abbey]] in [[London]].<ref>[http://www.audubonparkny.com/AudubonParkAlfredTennysonDickensGrave.html Dickens's grave on the Audubon Park website]</ref>
His brother, [[Henry Fielding Dickens]], wrote of him, "He had been quite a stranger to [[Dickens family|the family]] from the time he went to Australia. He left two daughters, who came over to this country some years ago, and remain great favourites with all of us."
His name appears with those of his nine siblings on the monument next to his mother's grave in [[Highgate Cemetery]] in [[London]].
==See also==
* [[Dickens family]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/23/1040511009543.html Dickens] in [[The Sydney Morning Herald]] 24 December 2002, Retrieved on 2008-10-31
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071102093549/http://www.charles-dickens.ws/dickens_children.asp#move Dickens on Charles Dickens Biography, Life, Books and his work on Literature]
*[https://www.nytimes.com/1911/09/30/archives/dickenss-son-arrives-has-spent-most-of-his-life-in-australia-comes.html 'Dickens's Son Arrives: Has Spent Most of His Life in Australia -- Comes to Lecture'] ''[[The New York Times]]'' 30 September 1911
*[http://www.audubonparkny.com/AudubonParkAlfredTennysonDickensGrave.html Dickens on the Audubon Park website]
{{Charles Dickens}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickens, Alfred Dorsay Tennyson}}
[[Category:1845 births]]
[[Category:1912 deaths]]
[[Category:People from the London Borough of Camden]]
[[Category:Charles Dickens]]
[[Category:British lecturers]]
[[Category:Burials at Trinity Church Cemetery]]
[[Category:Dickens family]]