Georgina Hogarth lived with Charles Dickens for twenty-eight years, controversially remaining in his household when he separated from his wife, Catherine. She is most often described as his housekeeper, but Dickens called her his ‘best and truest friend’, and Georgina was with him when he had a fatal stroke at their Gad’s Hill home. Dickens and Georgina’s relationship was remarkable as well as life-long. For one thing, they went through some difficult times during their years together and they played a range of roles in each other’s life. Georgina was Catherine’s younger sister. She moved in with Catherine and Dickens when she was fifteen years old. At first Dickens acted as a second father to Georgina, his ‘little Pet’, and later, as she grew into adulthood, they became firm friends. This in itself was unusual as Dickens was a powerful, successful man and she was a young woman from an educated, but cash-strapped, family – and a family that, with few exceptions, he grew to dislike. It was rare too for the mercurial tempered Dickens to have a close relationship with someone where there were never any major disagreements.
The young Georgina was no different to teenagers of today and, along with other young women, hero worshipped the handsome, talented, charismatic Dickens. As the years went by, Georgina’s teenage adulation receded, and was replaced with a genuine fondness. The rapport and ease the two enjoyed might have continued had Dickens not ousted his wife from the marital home.
Catherine, as wife and older sister, is pivotal to understanding the relationship between Dickens and Georgina. Although she was twelve years older than Georgina, they had a tight sisterly bond for many years. When Georgina joined the Dickens household, Mrs Hogarth was unwell so Catherine had the unenviable task of acting as a second mother to a teenager as well as having to deal with any sibling rivalry from Georgina. Although on the surface the two sisters came through this stage, some of what Georgina said and did later on suggests there were things about Catherine she disapproved of. When Dickens became dissatisfied with his marriage and began publicly criticising Catherine, he often contrasted his unloving wife who had no time for her children (an untrue statement on his part) with their warm, compassionate Aunty Georgy. Matters came to a head when Dickens fell in love with the actress Ellen Ternan; at eighteen, she was the same age as his younger daughter. However, despite Dickens declaring that he loved Nelly (as she was called), he insisted his intentions towards her were purely honourable. Catherine did not believe him and, like many others, thought he was set on having an affair. Georgina was the exception. If Dickens said his interest in Nelly was as a guardian and mentor, that was enough for her.
As the Dickenses marriage collapsed, Dickens and Georgina formed a tight alliance. It was their word against that of Catherine, the rest of the Hogarth family, and they resisted the press and public speculation that Dickens was having an affair with Georgina. If it is true that Georgina underwent a medical examination to prove her virginity, now was the time, as a sexual liaison between her and Dickens would have been regarded as incest. It was a stage of their relationship that was awkward and embarrassing both for themselves and for friends who found it difficult to overlook the fact that Dickens was now living with a single woman while his wife resided elsewhere. Dickens, worried about losing his readers and his popularity, dealt with the scandal by redefining his relationship with Georgina. In the census he entered her as ‘servant-housekeeper’ demoting her presence in his household to that of an employee.
The four years following the Dickenses marital breakdown were difficult for Georgina. Dickens was frequently away on his reading tours, at his London office or visiting Nelly. He was somewhat negligent towards Georgina who was estranged from her family, and opportunities for holidays and socialising in London drawing rooms were things of the past. Dickens often have people to stay at Gad’s Hill where Georgina acted as housekeeper while Dickens’s eldest daughter, Mamie, was hostess. It was following one such visit that Georgina had a mental and physical breakdown. Whatever caused it – and from circumstantial evidence it seems likely to have been connected to Ellen Ternan – altered their relationship once more. Dickens was shaken by Georgina’s illness and fearful that he might lose her. Although he became more solicitous, Georgina failed to fully recover her emotional equilibrium. She became increasingly dependent on and obsessed by Dickens. Georgina never complained about the damage done to her status and reputation by Dickens’s actions, and his loving words and the trust evident in his final will is testament to their mutual, loving, deep friendship.
Charles Dickens and Georgina Hogarth
by Christine Skelton
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