Georgina Hogarth

Georgina Hogarth ran Charles Dickens's household for nearly thirty years, stayed with him when he separated from her own sister, and then spent forty-seven years as the keeper of his reputation. She came to live with the Dickenses at about fifteen to help with the children, and gradually took over the management of a large, chaotic and much-moved household. When Dickens separated from Catherine in 1858 Georgina stayed - which the public noticed, and which produced the rumour, denied and never evidenced, that she was his mistress; she submitted to a medical examination to disprove it, which is a measure of what was being said. Her own mother and sister were estranged from her for years afterwards. She was with him when he collapsed at Gad's Hill in 1870 and it was she who sent for the family. He left her a legacy, his personal jewellery and all his private papers. With his daughter Mamie she edited the three-volume Letters of Charles Dickens published from 1880, which shaped the public understanding of him for a century - and which was edited: material about the separation and about Nelly Ternan was removed, and some originals were destroyed afterwards. She lived until 1917, the last person alive who had known the household from inside, and gave interviews to the end. She never married. Dickens called her the best and truest friend man ever had. The letters she edited were reissued repeatedly and remained the standard edition until the Pilgrim edition began appearing in 1965.

• Lived: 1827 CE – 1917 CE
• Nationality: British
• Roles: other