Wilkie Collins: A Life of Sensation

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Wilkie Collins: A Life of Sensation Page 47

by Andrew Lycett


  Bartley, Evelyn (Harriet’s daughter), 389

  Bartley, Henry Powell (‘Harry’), 361, 364–6, 397, 409, 413–15

  Bartley, Richard (Harry’s brother), 414

  Bartley, Violet Clara (Harriet’s daughter): death as baby, 404

  Basil (WC): and marriage of underage girl, 79; plot and themes, 102–7, 112, 114, 129; writing, 102, 111; publication and reception, 107, 118; copyright, 133; proposed stage version, 266

  Bath, 157

  Beard, Dr Frank Carr: background, 229; treats Dickens, 229–30; as WC’s doctor, 230–1, 250, 255; and Caroline’s nervous attack, 237; refers WC to Radcliffe, 251; erysipelas, 276; treats WC’s mother, 284; attends Charley Collins at Gad’s Hill, 287; gives Caroline away at wedding to Clow, 293; accompanies WC to Antwerp, 307; socialises with WC, 309; treats Marian Dawson’s broken leg, 326; gourmandising, 368; attends WC after stroke, 407; and WC’s death, 408; at WC’s funeral, 409; death, 413; as trustee for WC’s will, 413

  Beard, Louisa, 229

  Beard, Nathaniel, 368, 417

  Beard, Thomas, 229

  Beaumont, Sir George, 15

  Belgium: WC holidays in, 65

  Belgravia (magazine), 362, 367, 369, 382, 387, 391

  Belinfante Brothers (Dutch publishers), 299, 308, 360

  Bell, John, 250

  Benham & Tindell (solicitors), 217

  Benham, Charles, 216

  Benham, Ebenezer, 217, 250, 287–9, 292

  Bentley, George: WC offers articles to, 127; and Forster’s account of Dickens’s breach with father, 317; publishes The New Magdalen, 322, 330; publishes Man and Wife, 326; publishes selection of WC’s US readings, 347; advises WC on publications, 350–1; WC promises story for Temple Bar, 357–8

  Bentley, Richard (publisher): breach with Dickens, 75, 317; financial difficulties, 75, 118; WC’s dealings with, 75, 81, 94, 118, 193; publishes Basil, 107; publishes Frances Dickinson, 121; and WC’s views on Crimean War, 126; publishes Hide and Seek, 131; revises publication practices, 136

  Bentley’s Magazine, 75, 81, 91

  Bentley’s Miscellany (journal), 72, 92, 97–8, 127, 131

  Benzon, Elizabeth (née Lehmann), 296

  Benzon, Ernest Shlesinger, 211–12

  Berger, Francesco, 140

  Berger, G., 52

  Berkeley, George, Bishop of Cloyne, 274

  Besant, Walter, 399, 411; completes Blind Love, 411–12

  Betjeman, John: ‘East Anglian Bathe’ (poem), 249

  Bigelow, Jane, 338, 344, 352, 381

  Bigelow, John, 338

  Black Robe, The (WC): serialised, 367, 378, 380–1; proposed French translation, 387

  Black and White (WC with Fechter; drama), 297–9, 315

  Blackwood’s Magazine, 233, 238–9, 307, 324

  Blandford Square, London, 70, 72, 78

  Blind Love (WC; earlier The Lord Harry), 393, 398, 405–7, 411

  Blomfield, Charles James, Bishop of London, 43, 58

  Brockley Hall, Somerset, 93

  ‘Bold Words by a Bachelor’ (WC; article), 168–9

  Bolsover Street, Marylebone, 261, 290

  book trade: restrictive practices, 98; WC’s view on, 311, 326; late Victorian changes, 353–4

  ‘Books Necessary for a Liberal Education’ (WC; article), 401

  Boorn, Jesse and Stephen, 339

  Boothby, Louisa, Lady, 76

  Boston Commonwealth (newspaper), 336

  Boston Lyceum Bureau, 341

  Boston, Mass., 339–40, 344

  Boswell, James, 73, 401

  Boucicault, Dion: The Octoroon, 298

  Boulogne, 24–5, 116–18, 134–5, 164

  Bow Bells (penny periodical), 406

  Bradbury and Evans (printers and publishers), 173, 188

  Bradbury, William, 180, 183

  Braddon, Mary Elizabeth, 232–3, 236–7, 362, 407; Joshua Haggard’s Daughter, 371; Lady Audley’s Secret, 3, 233, 235–6, 286; The Trail of the Serpent, 273

  Brandling, Emma (Henry’s sister), 79

  Brandling, Frances see Pott, Frances

  Brandling, Henry, 76, 79, 81, 100, 226, 262

  Brandling, Mary (Henry’s sister), 100

  Brandling, Robert (Henry’s father), 79

  Brelsford, Charles S., 331, 341

  Bright, John, 126

  Brighton, 173

  Brigstocke, Thomas, 34, 43

  Bristol Mercury, 94

  Britannia Theatre, London, 223

  British Museum Library: WC acquires reader’s ticket, 64

  Broadstairs, Kent, 181, 187, 190, 202, 226, 228–9

  Brooks, Shirley, 132

  ‘(Brother Griffith’s Story of) a Plot in Private Life’ (WC; story) see ‘Marriage Tragedy, A’

  Brown, Esther (Mrs Augustus Egg), 240

  Brown, Ford Madox: The Last of England (painting), 323

  Browne, Martha Griffith: Autobiography of a Female Slave, 298

  Browning, Robert, 385

  Bruce, Edgar, 388

  Brussels, 360

  Buckley’s Serenaders, 223

  Buiret, Anne, 200

  Bullar, Henry, 56–7, 65, 99, 188, 229

  Bullar, John (father), 56, 262

  Bullar, John (son), 56–7, 64

  Bullar, Dr Joseph, 56, 195; Evening Thoughts, by a Physician, 57

  Bullar, Rosa, 56

  Bullar, Dr William, 56

  Bulwer-Lytton see Lytton

  Burdett-Coutts, Angela, Baroness, 76, 117, 119, 160, 167

  Burnett, Frances Hodgson: Little Lord Fauntleroy, 399–400

  Burton, Decimus, 245

  Burton, John Hill: Narratives from Criminal Trials in Scotland, 349

  Byron, George Gordon, 6th Baron, 56, 369

  Byron, Henry James: Our Boys, 384

  Cadell, Robert, 53

  Caine, Hall, 282, 403, 407, 410; The Deemster, 403

  Campden House, Kensington, 140–1

  Canada: WC in, 341

  ‘Captain’s Last Love, The’ (WC; story), 362

  Carew, Francis, 141

  Carew, Mary Fanny (née Cornwall), 141

  Carlisle, Sir Anthony, 10

  Carlyle, Thomas, 385

  Carpenter, Edward, 249

  Carpenter, Jane see Ward, Jane

  Carpenter, Margaret (née Geddes; WC’s aunt), 12–13, 17, 23, 55, 140; death, 330

  Carpenter, William Hookham, 17, 39, 63, 178, 278

  Carr, Sir Thomas, 229

  Carrock Fell, Cumbria, 176

  Carroll, Lewis, 385, 395

  Carte, Richard D’Oyly, 383

  Cassell’s Magazine, 299, 305, 314, 317–18

  Catholic Apostolic Church, 28, 77

  Catholic emancipation (1829), 26

  Catnach, James, 20

  Cavendish, Ada, 330, 332, 357, 388

  Cawthorn and Hutt (circulating library), 220

  Cecil, Arthur, 357

  Cecioni, Adriano, 321

  Chambers, Nina see Lehmann, Nina

  Chambers, Robert, 100

  Chantrey, Sir Francis and Lady, 77

  Chapman and Hall (publishers), 62, 64, 75, 373

  Chapman, John, 98, 185

  Chartism, 50, 68

  Chatto, Andrew, 350, 353–4, 361–2, 372, 400, 406, 410

  Chatto and Windus (publishers): publish WC, 350–1, 354, 356, 360, 369, 373, 379, 387, 389, 394, 412

  Cheselden, William, 312

  Chicago, 344

  Chorley, Henry, 77, 235, 238, 265

  Christ Church, Albany Street, London, 42, 49, 58, 89

  Christian Socialism, 371, 378, 385

  Christie, Agatha, 273

  Church of England: and Oxford Movement (Tractarians), 26, 59; and Muscular Christianity, 303; WC’s view of, 378

  Clarence Terrace, Regent’s Park, 188, 244

  Clark, Jane, 141

  Clarke, William, 419

  Clarkson family, 55

  Clarkson, Revd George, 56

  Clarkson, Sarah, 55

>   class (social): and exclusion of Caroline and Martha, 279, 323, 392; in The Moonstone, 279

  ‘Clergyman’s Confession, The’ (WC; story), 357

  Clique (group of painters), 69, 73

  Clow family: home damaged, 352

  Clow, Charles, 416

  Clow, Joseph, 290, 352

  Clow, Joseph Charles, 290–1, 309–10, 415–16

  Clow, Leonard, 291

  Clow, Louisa (formerly Maguire), 415–16

  Clow, Mary Anne, 327

  Cobbe, Frances Power, 197, 385–6; Celibacy vs. Marriage, 197; What Shall We Do With Our Old Maids?, 197

  Cobbe, William, 196, 197

  Cole, Frances, 44–5, 59

  Cole, Revd Henry, 41–4, 46, 48–50, 59; ‘Popular Geology Subversive of Divine Revelation’, 42

  Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: frienship with William Collins, 14–15, 24–5, 27; takes opium, 110

  Coleridge, Sara (STC’s daughter), 15

  Collins, Charles Allston (WC’s brother): birth, 23–4; breaks arm in Italy, 38; holidays in Southsea with mother, 51; character and career, 58; painting, 72–3, 80, 89, 138, 151; amateur dramatics, 76; and Pre-Raphaelites, 78, 80, 89–91, 94; social life, 80, 99; attends dress rehearsal of Not So Bad As We Seem, 87; religious faith and practices, 89, 91, 113, 122, 325; marriage to Katey Dickens, 113, 205–6; relations and correspondence with Millais, 113–14; and John Sleigh’s marriage, 117; portrait of WC, 125; and Holman Hunt in Middle East, 127; helps Millais, 142; voyage to Scilly Isles with Pigott, 144–5; influenced by Millais, 151–2; rents studio in Percy Street, 151; abandons painting for writing career, 186, 244; misses Stringfields in Paris, 186; visits Gad’s Hill, 189; in Broadstairs, 202; writes for All the Year Round, 205; Leslie Ward likes, 208; honeymoon, 218, 223; on mother’s economising, 222; marriage relations, 223; congratulates WC on 40th birthday, 243; returns to continent, 252; enquires about Dickens in rail accident, 254; Arthur Munby meets, 263; poor health, 269, 287, 289, 326–7; Dickens supports, 272, 306; financial difficulties, 272; shares father’s paintings with WC, 272; arranges mother’s funeral, 285; and Kennet Paper Making Company, 289; inheritance from father, 295; WC entertains at Gloucester Place, 309; in Thurloe Place, South Kensington, 315; The New Magdalen dedicated to, 325; attends staging of Man and Wife, 328; cancer, death and funeral, 329–30; estate, 329; WC writes entry for in Dictionary of National Biography, 401; At The Bar, 252; The Bar Sinister, 244; The Christian Year (painting), 112; Convent Thoughts (painting), 89, 92, 112; A Cruise Upon Wheels, 219; The Good Harvest of 1854 (painting), 139; Strathcairn, 244

  Collins, Francis (Frank; WC’s uncle), 8, 10, 18, 31

  Collins, Francis (James’s son), 9

  Collins, Harriet (née Geddes; WC’s mother): decline and death, 2, 260, 284–5; background and upbringing, 11–14; courtship and marriage, 11, 13, 17–18; and WC’s upbringing and education, 22–3; garrulity, 23; poor health and anxieties, 30, 38; in Italy, 34–5, 37–8; religious faith, 35; stays in Southsea, 51, 55, 99; denounces Paris, 63; rift with Antrobus family, 64; moves to Blandford Square, 70, 78; social life in widowhood, 73, 99, 142; moves to Hanover Terrace, 80; attends dress rehearsal of Not So Bad As We Seem, 87; tolerance of drug-taking, 110; writes memoir, 111, 131, 143; Millais and, 113–14; friendship with Frances Dickinson’s mother, 128; marriage secret, 130–1; unwell, 138; moves to Harley Place, 147–8, 161; stays with Langtons in Maidenhead, 165; WC informs of success of The Lighthouse, 176; hostility to Caroline Graves, 190, 231, 290; annoyed by Katey, 206; and WC’s trip to Paris with Caroline, 218–19; eccentric dress, 219; economises, 222; Dickens criticises, 224; stays with friends, 226; illness, 237; considers staying as paying guest, 239; leaves Clarence Terrace and settles in Tunbridge Wells, 243–4, 253, 262, 272, 284; letter to Holman Hunt, 262; WC visits in Tunbridge Wells, 266; estate, 288–9

  Collins, James (WC’s great-uncle), 9

  Collins, Katey (née Kate Macready Dickens): censors Millais’s letters to Charley, 113; marriage to Charles, 113, 205–6; on Caroline as inspiration for The Woman in White, 160; and Evangelicals in Broadstairs, 202; honeymoon, 218, 223; on Harriet’s economising, 222; marriage relations, 223; at Hyde Park Gate, 243; returns to continent, 252; admits to knowing of Nelly Ternan’s lost baby, 254; and father’s rail accident, 254; Arthur Munby meets, 263; poor health, 269; on WC’s relations with Caroline, 294; proposes acting career, 306; as model for Walker’s poster, 315; attends staging of Man and Wife, 328; moves back to family on Charley’s death, 329

  Collins, Margaret (WC’s grandmother), 17–18, 24, 31

  Collins, Samuel (anatomist), 8

  Collins, Wilkie: appearance, 1, 22, 321, 364, 368; working method, 1–2; friendship with Dickens, 2, 20, 85, 102, 111, 133–4, 138, 164, 178–9, 253–4; gout, 2, 110–11, 181, 236, 241, 266, 284, 297, 360, 367–8, 380–1, 389–90; lives with two unmarried women, 2, 4; secrecy over private life, 2; as sensation novelist, 2–3, 418; birth and family backgound, 7–8, 19, 21; baptism (as William Wilkie Collins), 21–4; misshapen forehead, 21; early education, 22, 31; and father’s piety, 30; reading, 31, 37–8, 48; accompanies father to Italy, 32–4, 40; schooling, 32, 41, 43–6; love adventure in Rome, 36, 123; studies Latin, 37; eye trouble, 44, 110; fluency in French, 45; schoolboy storytelling, 45; literary ambitions, 48; relations with father, 48, 52, 111, 128–30; confirmed, 49; works for tea merchant under Antrobus, 49–50, 52; early writings, 51–2; travels to Scotland with father, 53–4; first published works, 57–8; medical knowledge, 57; uses name Wilkie, 58–9; visits Paris with Charles Ward Jr, 59–61; father supports financially, 61; revisits Paris, 63, 119, 137, 146–8, 150–1, 252, 256, 333, 357, 361; trains as barrister, 64, 92; holidays abroad with Charles Ward, 65, 70; inheritance from father, 65, 296; helps arrange Ned Ward’s marriage, 66–8; writes father’s biography, 70–1; paintings, 71–2, 78; social/artistic circle, 72–3; amateur dramatics, 73–6, 92–3, 101, 137, 140, 165–6, 172, 174–5; self-consciousness as early writer, 74; dealings and agreements with publishers, 75, 107, 118, 131, 204, 216, 286–7, 295, 307–8, 311, 316–17, 350–1; influence of painting on writing, 75, 78; dislikes countryside, 77; holiday in Cornwall, 78; writes on Cornwall, 81; Dickens invites to act in Not So Bad As We Seem, 82, 85–6, 99–100; portrait by Millais, 85, 114, 125, 174, 414; journalistic writings, 91–2, 95, 139; on Pre-Raphaelites, 91; gambling, 92; called to Bar, 93; nervous exhaustion, 94; investigates animal magnetism, 95–7; religious beliefs and attitudes, 96–7, 117, 122, 378, 385, 392, 402, 417; and books business and publishing, 98–9, 136, 184–5, 354; contributions to Household Words, 98, 143, 159, 162–3, 166, 183–4; increasing literary professionalism, 98–9; love of France, 98, 133; poem to Nina Chambers, 100–1; takes laudanum, 102, 110–11, 230–1, 251, 272, 278, 292, 390, 418; interest in science and psychology, 106; drinking, 109–10, 123–4; health problems, 109–10, 188, 202, 226, 229, 250–1, 307, 347, 365; interest in women and sex, 111–12, 116; introduces supernatural into writings, 114; in Boulogne, 116–18, 134, 164; attitude to marriage, 117–18, 142, 168–70, 181, 197–8, 228, 267, 292, 302, 305, 347, 349, 370, 380, 400; travels to Italy with Dickens and Egg, 118–23; meets Frances Dickinson, 120; grows moustache and beard, 123, 125; portrait by brother Charley, 125; on Crimean War, 126; joins Garrick Club, 132; reviews books and plays, 132, 136, 184; financial difficulties, 133, 136, 288; secrecy over private letters, 135–6; in Paris with Dickens, 137, 146–8, 150; contracts venereal disease in Paris, 138, 147–8; as playwright, 141–2, 181, 363, 387–8; Folkestone holiday with Dickens family, 143; supposed romantic liaison, 147; moves to Howland Street, 152, 159; liaison with Caroline Graves, 155, 159–61, 169, 177, 180–1, 186; sailing with Pigott, 161, 181, 216, 232, 248, 254, 266, 272, 314, 388; detective stories, 162–3; social awareness, 162; collaborates with Dickens on The Frozen Deep, 165–7; joins staff of Household Words, 166–7; writes on art, 167; secretiveness over Caroline Graves, 171; photographs of, 174, 225, 341, 396; publicity campaign, 174; accident on Carrock Fell, 176–7; accompanies Dic
kens to Doncaster for meeting with Nelly Ternan, 176; salary increase at Household Words, 178; maintains relations with Catherine after separation from Dickens, 180; declines invitation to spend Christmas with Wards, 186; holidays in Broadstairs with Caroline and daughter, 187, 190, 202; lives openly with Caroline Graves, 187–8; visits Gad’s Hill, 188–9, 214; works for All the Year Round, 189, 209–10; ghost stories, 202, 204; attitude to children, 208–9, 313; acquires separate bank account, 209; domestic life with Caroline, 209–10, 396; Jewish friends, 212; musical taste, 212, 296; dress, 213, 386–7; letters to Dickens burnt, 214; attitude to reviews, 216; inland travels, 216, 226; prosperity, 218, 245, 295; takes Caroline to Paris, 218–19; tour of West Country with Dickens, 221; elected to Athenaeum Club, 224; literary earnings, 225, 229, 369; holiday in Whitby, 226; published in Cornhill, 226; achieves effects by restraint, 234; self-treatment for ailments, 236, 239, 327; takes cure at German spas, 240; stays in Italy with Caroline and Harriet Graves, 241–3, 247; fortieth birthday, 243; fondness for animals and pets, 246, 267, 281–2, 363, 385; moves to Melcombe Place, Marylebone, 252; resigns from Garrick, 253; takes medication prescribed by Dr Beard, 255–6; relegates Caroline to minor role, 259–60; meets Martha Rudd, 260–2; dramatic productions and disappointments, 265–6, 268–9; visits Rome with Pigott, 266–7; considers republishing works for popular market, 269–70; copyrights, 269, 299, 325–6, 373, 382, 406; buys lease and improves Gloucester Place house, 272, 281–2; confused relations with Caroline and Martha, 272; shares father’s paintings with brother Charley, 272; and nature of observation, 274–5; misses mother’s death and funeral, 284–5; supports Stringfield, 288; Dickens criticises for failing to support Charley, 289–90, 305; and Caroline’s marriage to Clow, 290, 293; children with Martha Rudd (Dawson), 293, 300, 313, 352; investments, 295; injects morphine to break laudanum habit, 296–7; dependence on opium, 297; makes loans to Fechter, 299; revises will, 300, 333, 381; and Dickens’s death and funeral, 305–6; international readership, 308; entertaining at Gloucester Place, 309, 314; pacifism, 309; resumes relations with Caroline Graves, 309–10; plans visit to USA, 318; caricatured in Vanity Fair, 321; convalesces in Ramsgate, 327; tours and talks in USA, 331, 334, 335–8, 340–3; reads story at Olympic Theatre, 332; domestic life with Caroline and Martha, 333, 353, 380; fiftieth birthday, 342; earnings from American trip, 346; returns from USA, 346; political views, 354, 393; rift with Graphic, 355–6; literary judgements and tastes, 364, 367, 386, 402; profile in World, 364; as witness at Bartley-Harriet wedding, 366; diet, 368, 387; described by Julian Hawthorne, 377–8; portrait by Rudolf Lehmann, 380; taste and preferences in theatre, 383–4; quirky behaviour and practices, 387; hallucinations from drug-taking, 390; angina, 391; affection for Anne Wynne, 395; on ideal woman, 395–6; family and social life in later years, 397–8; moves from Gloucester Place to Wimpole Street, 403–4; in traffic accident, 405; suffers stroke, 407; death, 408; funeral, 409–10; obituaries, 410; house contents auctioned, 412; will proved, 412–13; assessed and reputation, 416–20

 

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