The Charles Dickens Letters Project

To PETER ROYLE,1 11 MAY 1863

MS Huntington Library

Gad’s Hill Place, Higham

Eleventh May 1863. 

Dear Sir 

Having paid Dr. Whitehead,2 I had no intention of imposing a loss upon you. But I have suffered so severely from paying the debts of others, that I feel it really necessary to set you right. Enclosed is a cheque for the amount in question.3

Faithfully Yours

CHARLES DICKENS

Peter Royle Esquire

• 1. Peter Royle (1818-91), surgeon, with premises at 27 Lever St., Manchester. A lifelong Conservative, he was active in municipal politics, and was chairman of the Manchester Board of Overseers of the Poor in the 1850s and 60s. Royle also played a key role in treating the victims of Asiatic Cholera in Manchester in 1853 (Leeds Mercury, 13 Nov. 1891).
• 2. James Whitehead (1812-85), surgeon, with premises at 87 Mosley Street, Manchester. He specialised in the diseases of women and children, and in 1856 he (together with August Schoepf Merei) founded the Clinical Hospital and Dispensary for Children (later Manchester Clinical Hospital for Women and Children).
• 3. The circumstances of CD’s payment to Royle not traced, but are most likely to be in connection with a family member. CD’s accounts show a payment on 14 May 63 of £8.2.6 (MS Coutts).