A summary of meetings held 2010-2018:
| Wed 12 Dec 2018 ‘Christmas Party’ Presented By Committee Traditional readings, music, presents, raffle and supper. |
| Wed 21 Nov 2018 ‘Mind the Movement’ Presented By Veronica Delafosse |
| Wed 17 Oct 2018 ‘Dickens and Horses’ Presented By Andrew Gemmell |
| Wed 19 Sep 2018 ‘Some aspects of London when Dickens was just 21 years old’ Presented by Trevor Morton Includes Annual General Meeting |
| Wed 15 Aug 2018 ‘Venice in Shakespeare, Jonson and Dickens’ Presented By Alan Dilnot |
| Wed 18 July 2018 ‘President’s Night’ Presented By Dennis Marriott A look at the many London residences Dickens lived in and the inspiration they gave his work. |
| Wed 20 June 2018 ‘Fathers and Daughters’ Presented By Patricia Wiltshire |
| Wed 16 May 2018 ‘Miss Wade’ Presented By Alan Dilnot |
| Wed 18 Apr 2018 ‘Prisons’ Presented By Nita Jawary |
| Wed 21 Mar 2018 ‘Introduction to Little Dorrit’ Presented By Elisabeth Neales With an array of talented readers Elisabeth led us through of our Book of the Year |
| Fri 9 Feb 2018 ‘206th Birthday Commemoration Dinner’ Presented By Committee Guest Speaker: Kenneth W. Park on The Grand Tour |
| Wed 13 Dec 2017 ‘Christmas Party’ Presented By Committee Traditional readings, music and supper. Christmas presents and raffle. |
| Wed 15 Nov 2017 ‘The influence of Dickens on some other authors’ Presented By Patricia Wiltshire |
| Wed 18 Oct 2017 ‘Mothers in Dickens’ Presented By Eileen Nelson, Elisabeth Neales, Elna Estcourt, and Nita Jawary |
| Wed 20 Sep 2017 ‘Shopping’ Presented By Margaret Leonard Includes AGM, Elections and Presentation of The Charles Dickens Prize from the Ormond Butler Bequest |
| Wed 16 Aug 2017 ‘Dickens at the seaside’ Presented By Alan Dilnot; Nominations for Office Bearers and Committee |
| Wed 19 Jul 2017 ‘President’s Night’ Presented By Elna Estcourt |
| Wed 21 Jun 2017 ‘Charles Dickens: finding a home in Australia’ Presented By Guest Speaker: Jack Tan |
| Wed 17 May 2017 ‘The Two-fold Solution to the Mystery of Edwin Drood’ Presented By Alan Dilnot |
| Wed 19 April 2017 ‘History of Criminals in Crime Fiction’ Presented By Lyndsey Burton |
| Wed 15 Mar 2017 ‘Introduction to The Mystery of Edwin Drood’ Presented By Elisabeth Neales With an array of talented readers Elisabeth led us through the basics of our Book of the Year |
| Fri 10 Feb 2017 ‘Birthday Dinner’ Presented By Committee This was our first dinner at the Faichney Room, Toorak Uniting Church, and was very enjoyable, included fine wines, food and excellent company. Guest Speaker: Judith Rodriguez |
| Wed 14 Dec 2016 ‘Christmas Party’ Presented By Committee Traditional Readings, Music and Supper. Christmas Presents and Raffles |
| Wed 14 Nov 2016 ‘Architecture in Dickens’s time’ Presented By Guest Speaker: Kenneth Park |
| Wed 19 Oct 2016 ‘Disability and Ability in the Works of Dickens’ Presented By Nita Jawary |
| Wed 21 Sep 2016 ‘Issues from Our Mutual Friend’ Presented By Committee The Value of Rubbish by Shirley Anderson and Carmel Hurst. Rivers and Gardens in Dickens’s Time by Ann Ruck. Includes AGM, Elections and Presentation of The Charles Dickens Prize from the Ormond Butler Bequest |
| Wed 17 Aug 2016 ‘Dickens’s Contemporaries’ Presented By Committee Dickens’s Literary Contemporaries by John Leonard. Dickens’s Scientific Contemporaries by Trevor Morton. Nominations for Office Bearers and Committee |
| Wed 20 Jul 2016 ‘President’s Night’ Presented By Elna Estcourt Whatever takes the fancy of our president. |
| Wed 15 Jun 2016 ‘The Life and Death of Mr. Bradley Headstone’ Presented By Alan Dilnot A reading, adapted from Our Mutual Friend |
| Wed 18 May 2016 ‘Deadly Tales’ Presented By Committee Capital Punishment by Sue Prior. Victorian Funerals by James Howard. |
| Wed 20 Apr 2016 ‘ River Stories’ Presented By Committee Melbourne Colonists and Dickens by Pat and Ron Amor. Henley on Thames by Dennis Marriott. |
| Wed 16 Mar 2016 ‘Introduction to Our Mutual Friend’ Presented By Elisabeth Neales Elisabeth’s readers reminded us of our book of the year. This was our first meeting at our new venue – The Faichney Room, Toorak Uniting Church, 603 Toorak Rd. |
| Fri 05 Feb 2016 ‘Birthday Dinner’ Presented By Committee This was our last function at the ESU and was very enjoyable, included fine wines, food and excellent company. Guest Speaker: Barry Dickins |
| Wed 09 Dec 2015 ‘Christmas Party’ Presented By Committee Traditional readings, music and supper. Christmas presents. |
| Wed 18 Nov 2015 ‘London in Verse and Prose’ Presented By Alan Dilnot How the great city is represented by various authors |
| Wed 21 Oct 2015 ‘Characters in Dickens’ Presented By Andrew Gemmell Members presented a favourite character and explain how Dickens portrayed them |
| Wed 16 Sep 2015 ’19th Century Homes and Gardens’ Presented By : A group of members Presented by 3 members as part of the Dickens and his World series: Dickens Domiciles, by Elna Estcourt, Victorian Gardens, by Ann Ruck, The Victorian Industrial City: Leeds, by Margaret Leonard. Coordination by Lyndsey Burton. This meeting includes the AGM and elections for 2016 |
| Wed 19 Aug 2015 ‘Nicholas Nickleby on page, stage and film’ Presented By Patricia Wiltshire Patricia will give an account of the varied versions of our book of the year |
| Wed 15 Jul 2015 ‘Love, Lust and Lechery’ Presented By Brian Ruck Brian’s survey of Dickens’s delvings into the 3Ls |
| Wed 17 Jun 2015 ‘Health Practices in the 19th Century’ Presented By Lyndsey Burton Three of our members will present as part of the Dickens and his World series: Health Practices by Jean Cotter; The Pox by Margaret Leonard; Dentistry by Gerald Toffler |
| Wed 20 May 2015 ‘Actors and Acting in the Time of Dickens’ Presented By Frances Hutson Frances, an experienced actor, will talk about one of Dickens’s greatest passions |
| Wed 15 Apr 2015 ‘From Mr. Squeers to the Brothers Cheeryble’ Presented By Alan Dilnot Running a business in Nicholas Nickleby. |
| Wed 18 Mar 2015 ‘Introduction to Nicholas Nickleby’ Presented By Elisabeth Neales Our Secretary, with an array of talented readers, will lead you through the basics of our Book of the Year |
| Fri 06 Feb 2015 ‘Birthday Dinner’ Presented By Committee Guest Speaker is Richard Burman, Past President of the Victorian Drama League. In keeping with our book of the year his topic will be: Theatre |
| Wed 10 Dec 2014 ‘Christmas Party’ Presented By Committee Traditional Readings, Music, Games and Supper. Christmas presents and Raffle |
| Wed 19 Nov 2014 ‘Guest Speaker’ Presented By Barry Fry An evening about Elizabeth Fry by one of her descendants, our beloved song-smith Barry Fry. |
| Wed 15 Oct 2014 ‘Dickens and Women’ Presented By Elisabeth Neales Elisabeth with Margaret and John Leonard perform their popular presentation |
| Wed 17 Sep 2014 ‘Art and Dickens’ Presented By Nita Jawary Art related to Dickens and his work |
| Wed 20 Aug 2014 ‘When Pip rode on a sheep’s back’ Presented By John Calderwood How Magwitch made his fortune in Australia. Also: Nominations for Office Bearers and Committee |
| Wed 16 Jul 2014 ‘Dickens and his world’ Presented By Lyndsey Burton Members present shorter pieces on a theme related to Dickens: 1. The Railways by Trevor Morton 2. Weak, Wet and Woolly Women by Carmel Hurst 3. The River Thames in Our Mutual Friend and Great Expectations by Ann Douglas 4. An A to Z of the Victorian Pharmacapoeia by Deb Rhodes |
| Wed 18 Jun 2014 ‘President’s Night’ Presented By Andrew Gemmell Humour within & without Dickens |
| Wed 21 May 2014 ‘When I went to Lunnon Town’ Presented By Alan Dilnot When I went to LunnonTown sirs, wasn’t I done very brown sirs |
| Wed 16 Apr 2014 ‘The Case for Mr. Jaggers’ Presented By John Calderwood John, a lawyer himself, will discuss this most misunderstood individual. |
| Wed 19 Mar 2014 ‘Introduction to Great Expectations’ Presented By Elisabeth Neales Elisabeth and a group of readers will introduce our book of the year |
| Fri 07 Feb 2014 ‘Dickens Birthday Dinner’ Presented By Committee Emeritus Professor John Hirst is the guest speaker at our annual (tickets only) event. His topic: Convicts and the Transportation System in line with our book of the year Great Expectations |
| Wed 11 Dec 2013 ‘Christmas Party’ Presented By Committee Our annual Christmas celebration, carols, gifts, raffles, games and great goodwill. |
| Wed 20 Nov 2013 ‘Colonial Dickens’ Presented By Susan Martin & Kylie Mirmohamadi The authors of the recently published book “Colonial Dickens” discuss their work. |
| Wed 16 Oct 2013 ‘Dickens the Traveller’ Presented By Margaret & John Leonard Dickens travels in Europe and elsewhere. |
| Wed 18 Sep 2013 ‘No Thoroughfare’ Presented By Alan Dilnot An account of one of Dickens’s lesser known works. Including AGM and elections |
| Wed 21 Aug 2013 ‘Away With Melancholy: Songs in Dickens’ Presented By Eileen Nelson Sing along with Eileen |
| Wed 17 Jul 2013 ‘Drawing Dickens: The Later Illustrators’ Presented By Dennis Marriott An examination of the work of the artists who illustrated Dickens’s later works. |
| Wed 19 Jun 2013 ‘President’s night: Humour in Dickens’ Presented By Andrew Gemmell Members present their favourite Dickens funny bits |
| Wed 15 May 2013 ‘Humour in Sketches by Boz’ Presented By Lyndsey Burton Concentrating particularly on the lighter Sketches |
| Wed 17 Apr 2013 ‘The Impact of Sketches by Boz’ Presented By Alan Dilnot An account of the public’s reception of our work of the year. |
| Wed 20 Mar 2013 ‘Introduction to Sketches by Boz’ Presented By Elisabeth Neales Concentrating on the Sketches under the subtitle of: “The Tales” |
| Fri 08 Feb 2013 ‘Annual ticketed event’ Presented By Melbourne Dickens Fellowship The 201st birthday of the celebrated author. Guest Speaker: Nich Hudson of Hudson Publishing on “The Changing Face of Publishing” |
| Wed 12 Dec 2012 ‘Christmas Party’ |
| Wed 21 Nov 2012 ‘Dickens and William Howitt’ Presented By Dr. Grace Moore Dr. Grace Moore from the University of Melbourne will present a talk on William Howitt’s journalism for Charles Dickens |
| Wed 17 Oct 2012 ‘Dickens & The Theatre: Part 2’ Presented By John Leonard |
| Wed 19 Sep 2012 ‘George Silverman’s Explanation’ Presented By Alan Dilnot incl AGM & Elections |
| Wed 15 Aug 2012 ‘Leisure Pursuits in the Countryside in the time of Dickens’ Presented By see below Country leisure pursuits with reference to The Old Curiosity Shop.Punch and Judy…..Pat Amor The Races……….Sue Prior Waxworks shows…..Eileen Nelson Children’s Games…Lyndsey Burton also: Nominations for Office Bearers & Committee |
| Wed 18 Jul 2012 ‘New Members’ Night’ |
| Wed 20 Jun 2012 ‘President’s Night’ Presented By Brian Ruck |
| Wed 16 May 2012 ‘Playing Miss Havisham’ Presented By Helen Moulder |
| Wed 18 Apr 2012 ‘The Old Curiosity Shop: Outlaws and In-Laws’ Presented By Alan Dilnot |
| Wed 21 Mar 2012 ‘Introduction to The Old Curiosity Shop’ Presented By Elisabeth Neales |
| Fri 10 Feb 2012 ‘Dickens Birthday Weekend’ Friday 10th February 2.00pm Trinity College Library, Melbourne University. Tour of the Dickens CollectionSaturday 11th February Dickens Bicentenary Dinner: 6.30 for 7.00pm at University House, University of Melbourne. Guest Speaker Dr. Barry Jones AO (Ticketed event)Sunday 12th February 2.00pm at the English Speaking Union: Characters from Dickens. Presented by the Theatre of the Winged Unicorn |
| Wed 14 Dec 2011 ‘Christmas Party’ Readings, Music, Supper; and more |
| Sun 11 Dec 2011 ‘Lunch with Lillian’ Presented By Professor Lillian Nayder Professor Lillian Nayder, who is professor of English at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, USA, has written a biography of Catherine Dickens, called “The Other Dickens, a Life Of Catherine Hogarth”. Professor Nayder will be visiting Melbourne in December and we have arranged a barbeque lunch on Sunday December 11th to welcome her. After lunch, she will talk to us about the biography, the challenges she faced in reconstructing Mrs Dickens’ life and the discoveries that helped her to meet these challenges. Andrew Gemmell and Lyndsey Burton have very generously offered their homes as the venue for this event. We do urge our members to put the date in their diaries, as it should be a very interesting and enjoyable occasion. |
| Wed 16 Nov 2011 ‘Petticoats & Waistcoats’ Presented By Elna Estcourt |
| Wed 19 Oct 2011 ‘Dickens on both sides of the footlights’ Presented By John Leonard |
| Wed 21 Sep 2011 ‘Readings from American Literature’ Presented By David Chandler (Co-ordinator) This is also the night of our AGM & Elections. |
| Sat 20 Aug 2011 ” Presention By Adelphi Players |
| Wed 17 Aug 2011 ‘President’s Night’ Presented By Brian Ruck Whatever treat our president decides to engage for us. |
| Wed 20 Jul 2011 ‘Three Eminent Victorians’ Presented By Margaret Leonard (Co-ordinator) |
| Wed 15 Jun 2011 ‘Dickens and America’ Presented By Andrew Gemmell & Lyndsey Burton The joys and disappointments of Dickens’s two visits to the USA |
| Wed 18 May 2011 ‘Katie’ Presented By Lucinda Hawksley A Special Meeting at which Lucinda Hawksley, Dickens’s great great great granddaughter, will speak about her researches into the life of Dickens’s daughter Katie. Lucinda Hawksley is an art historian and author of “Lizzie Siddal: The Tragedy of a Pre-Raphaelite Supermodel”, and of “Katie, the Life and Loves of Dickens’s Artist Daughter” “ |
| Wed 06 Apr 2011 ‘Money & Murder’ Presented By Dr Alan Dilnot Money & murder in Martin Chuzzlewit |
| Wed 16 Mar 2011 ‘Introduction to Martin Chuzzlewit’ Presented By Elisabeth Neales Elisabeth will give us an introduction to the characters, situations and plotlines of this year’s featured book. |
| Sun 27 Feb 2011 ‘Martin Chuzzlewit’ Presented By Julian Clarke Members & their guests only presentation of the BBC adaption, starring Paul Schofield. Should you wish to attend but are not a member, please contact the society by email. |
| Fri 11 Feb 2011 ‘Dickens & Midwifery’ Presented By Dr Sonia Allen Annual birthday dinner, with guest speaker Dr Sonia Allen. This meeting is not a normal monthly meeting & tickets must be bought in advance. |
| Wed 08 Dec 2010 ‘Christmas Party’ |
| Wed 17 Nov 2010 ‘Dickens’ Minor Characters’ Presented By Elisabeth Neales |
| Wed 20 Oct 2010 ‘Hearing the Chimes’ Presented By Dr Alan Dilnot An insight into The Chimes. |
| Wed 15 Sep 2010 ‘AGM & New Members’ Night’ Annual General Meeting followed by readings chosen & read by members who have joined during the last 2 or 3 years. |
| Wed 18 Aug 2010 ‘President’s Night’ Presented By Brian Ruck Whatever fancy takes our illustrious president. |
| Wed 21 Jul 2010 ‘Another Twist on Oliver’ Presented By Julian Clarke So you think you know the story of ‘Oliver Twist’? |
| Wed 16 Jun 2010 ‘Naughty Boys and Nasty Boys’ Presented By Eileen Nelson An amusing & insightful talk about he different levels of misbehaviour by Dickens’ young males. |
| Wed 19 May 2010 ‘Food, Glorious Food’ Presented By Margaret Leonard An insight to food in the 19th Century (no recipes or food supplied). |
| Wed 21 Apr 2010 ‘Poor Laws’ Presented By Andrew Gemmell & Lindsey Burton An overview of the Poor Laws and their relation to the Workhouse and Oliver Twist. |
| Wed 17 Mar 2010 ‘Introduction To Oliver Twist’ Presented By Elisabeth Neales An introduction to the story and characters in ‘Oliver Twist’. |