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Letter from Charles Dickens, 1862 This letter is from Charles Dickens to Lord Palmerston.

Dated at Gadshill Place on 13 August 1862, it concerns a memorial presented some months previously on behalf of his sister, Mrs Austin, widow of the Civil Engineer of the Local Government Act Office.

Dickens bought Gadshill Place in March 1856. He intended it for a country house but became so attached to it that he lived there permanently from 1860 until his death in 1870.

Charles Dickens was one of the greatest and most popular novelists of his day. All of his books were serialised, which ensured that they were accessible to all. They are as popular today as they were in Dickens' time: works such as Oliver Twist, Great Expectations and David Copperfield have been made into film and television productions.