- Brief description
- Letter, from Charles Dickens to Mr Arnold, 12 June 1865
- Label
- A letter from Dickens to “Arnold”, probably Thomas James Arnold, Westminster Police Court magistrate. Dickens describes his involvement in the Staplehurst Bridge railway accident the previous week. Affected by the experience, he apologises for his shaky handwriting. His son Henry remarked he “never quite recovered” and was nervous on trains the rest of his life, dying five years later on the same day as the crash.
- Collection
- Archives & Manuscripts
- Object number
- A607
- Object type
- letter
- Production person
- Dickens, Charles
- Production date
- 12/06/1865
- Inscription content
- GAD'S HILL PLACE, | HIGHAM BY ROCHESTER, KENT
Monday Twelfth June 1865
My Dear Arnold
I should have answered your note sooner, but -- firstly -- for having been in France, and -- secondly -- for having been in the terrible accident on Friday. I was in the carriage that did not go over, but was caught on the turn among the ruins of the bridge, and stood alone -- the engine broken from it, before -- the train gone down into the valley, behind. I am shaken, not by the dragging of the carriage itself, but by the work afterwards in getting out the dead and dying, which was horrible.
It would give me real pleasure to dine with your brother and you, but my Doctor says "Make no engagements. Rest." I am afraid my hand may not be very legible, but I thought you would prefer it to another's.
Faithfully Yours always
CHARLES DICKENS
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