Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens was a renowned English-born novelist and social commentator. He achieved popular acclaim in the late 1830s, and his fame steadily grew until his death in 1870. Dickens never visited Australia although some of the most notable characters in his literary works were said to be inspired by Colonial identities. Two of Dickens’s sons, Alfred and Edward, immigrated to NSW in the 1860s, where they were active in the political and cultural life.

The marble statue of Charles Dickens appears to have been one of eleven statues acquired around 1889 as decoration for the newly laid-out Centennial Park. The statue was placed in the park around 1891. It was originally sited at the junction of Parkes and Hamilton Drives but was relocated to the junction of Dickens Drive and Loch Avenue in 1897, to make way for a statue of Henry Parkes.

The statue is one of only three known life-size representations of Charles Dickens in the world. The rarity of statuary representing Dickens is due to injunction in his will requesting that no public memorials be erected in his honour.

In 1972, most of the remaining the statuary in the park, including the Dickens statue, was removed and placed in storage. The statue was then lost in the mists of time, being moved around to locations known and unknown for over 40 years.

In 2006, the President of the NSW Dickens Society wrote to the Sydney Morning Herald’s Column 8 asking if anyone had any idea if the statue still existed and if so, where was it? The request was republished in 2007 as the initial letter did not elicit a single response.

Soon after, Column 8 published correspondence revealing that the statue was “placed into protective custody by the Royal Botanic Gardens some time ago…necessary due to the damage inflicted by vandals (he lost his head)”. The statue was found.

The statue was to be returned to Centennial Park, but with head missing, a major restoration would first be required. This work was undertaken by a sculptor from NSW Public Works, using a block of white marble from Carrara in Italy. The restored statue was then returned to the location where it stood for 74 years from 1897 until 1971.

If you watch ABC2 television, you may have seen an ‘ident’ promo in which a pink hummingbird leaves a bright pink bird poop on Dickens’ head, with the slogan 'always brighter'!