Charles Dickens, 1812 - 1870, wrier, journalist and social reformer.
London Borough of Southwark
Voted by the People
In 1824, aged 12, Dickens lodged in Lant Street in a house belonging to the Vestry Clerk of St George's Church - we take this to mean St George the Martyr, opposite Borough Station. At the time Dickens senior was confined to the nearby Marshalsea debtors' prison and was joined there by his wife and the younger children. Charles was working in a blacking factory to bring some funds into the family.
The plaque is irritatingly silent on why it has been placed on this precise spot, but perhaps, even with the Vestry connection, it's not known exactly where in the street Dickens lived - after all he was only 12, and only here for a few months.
Site: Charles Dickens + Harry Cole (2 memorials)
SE1, Lant Street, Charles Dickens Primary School
The building has some other, architectural, plaques which read:
School Board for London
Lant Street School 1877
SLB Lant St. School enlarged 1901
