In the Shadow of Greatness

From the man who brought us those memorable eccentrics, Messrs. David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, Barnaby Rudge, Mr. Pickwick and Company—there came to Victoria in 1868 the slight figure, in flesh and in fact, of one Acting Lieut. Sydney Smith Haldimand Dickens, RN.

For those unacquainted with the literary classics, this junior officer of Her Majesty’s Royal Navy was the fifth son of no less a personage than Charles Dickens, celebrated novelist. Or, as young Sydney became to Victorians, if ever so briefly, ‘Vindicator.’

As the son of the greatest novelist of the day, much was expected of young Sydney. Was he up to it?

You’ll find out in in next week’s Chronicle.

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PHOTO: —Wikipedia