On this day in 1865, Charles Dickens became a hero when he was on a train carrying ferry passengers from France thundering through the Kent countryside toward London. Dickens, incognito, was in a first-class carriage with his mistress Ellen Ternan and her mother (strange but true but then Dickens was one out of the box). Stuffed into his pocket was the next instalment of Our Mutual Friend, which like so many Dickens classics, was being serialised. The train hurtled into an unrepaired viaduct at Staplehurst and flew off the rails. All first-class carriages, except Dickens’ fell to the river bed far below, killing the passengers. His was suspended, precariously, between life and death. Dickens, ingeniously using workmen’s planks, rescued his two Ternan ladies. Once they were safe, he returned to the dangling carriage to rescue – at the risk of his life – his coat and, most importantly, his manuscript. Greater love hath no author. Having taken care of his own, Dickens then walked among the corpses helping the injured. It never made the papers, and for good reason. Dickens did not want the press reporting who his travelling companions were. A great story that sadly went unreported. Thank God for brilliant biographers like Peter Ackroyd.
Posted on: Sun, 08 Jun 2014 22:41:34 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015