Malton society to mark Charles Dickens' 200th birthday (From York Press)
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Malton society to mark Charles Dickens' 200th birthday
7:52am Friday 3rd February 2012 in News By Karen Darley
Dressed in readiness for the Dickens celebrations are, from left, Brian Oxberry, Gayther Gault, Richard ‘Badger’ Billinge, Jane Hollington and Garry Cooper
THE society which promotes Malton’s links with Charles Dickens is holding a series of events to mark the author’s 200th birthday.
Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, and had a number of links with the town.
One of his friends was Charles Smithson, a lawyer who lived at Easthorpe Hall, had a practice in the town and it was his office in Chancery Lane, that is credited with the inspiration for Dickens’s most famous character, Ebeneezer Scrooge, the miser in A Christmas Carol.
The Counting House is now run by the Charles Dickens (Malton) Society and members are inviting people to have a look around the building on Saturday and next Saturday, 11am-4pm, and view new displays to mark his 200th birthday.
Entry is free with the society asking for a donation for their funds.
Members of the society, in partnership with professional actors Garry Cooper and Jane Hollington, are also performing in The Studio at the Milton Rooms on Tuesday, February 7 at 7.30pm.
A Celebration of Charles Dickens will include a series of dramatised readings from Dickens’s novels. Tickets are £5 from Malton Tourist Information Office at the library.
Members of the society will also be at Malton library on Saturday, February 11 at 4.30pm when they will be presenting Dickens and His Characters.
Linda McCarthy, from the society, said a number of shops around Malton had offered to display pictures of Dickens in their windows next week to mark the anniversary.
She said: “It is important that we mark this anniversary because we know how much Dickens enjoyed coming here and spending time with Charles Smithson.
“There is so much negativity and despondency around that people forget this connection Malton has with Dickens and it is something that is worth us all celebrating.”
Linda said the society has recently extended the lease on the Counting House “We now have the building until April 2013 which is great news,” she said.
“It is thanks to many small local donations and the funds raised by members.”
The society meets each month in The Hidden Monkey Tearooms, Market Place, Malton. For details phone Linda McCarthy on 01653 698701.
