In case you’re just joining us, Psychic Investigator Paul Fitz-George has been treating us to tales of Whitby’s haunts and authors connected to the city for his series, “Whitby’s Fascination for the Literati or how Dracula met the Jabberwocky.”
In Part 1 he gave us an overview of Whitby’s haunts. Part 2 was about Bram Stoker’s connection to the city. Part 3 was about Wilkie Collins. Part 4 was Lewis Carroll. Charles Dickens will be the final author Mr. Fitz-George covers. But it won’t be the last installment of his series. There is one final one to follow…
Some direct input into his stories from the area comes from his friendship with his friend Charles Smithson, who ran a law practice in nearby Malton. Scrooge’s counting house for instance, is based on Smithson’s Chancery Lane premises in Malton.
It was at Smithson’s home at Easthope hall in the same area that he came across a woman who he used to construct the character of the drunken nurse Mrs Sarah Gamp in his novel Martin Chuzzlewit, some of which he also wrote in Malton.
As for any actual supernatural connections with Dickens and Whitby, no definite connections have been recorded…as yet.
However, this gives you an excellent excuse to come to Whitby to investigate and prove otherwise, perhaps during the upcoming Goth Weekend, 4th to 6th November. During this time of Gothic romping and promenading, you can parade along its still cobbled streets and seek out its spirit roots (both ethereal and alcoholic), ideally in one of its many old inns, whilst at the same time soaking in the wealth of historical ambiance around you, achieving (hopefully) some supernatural enlightenment.
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