1902-03 | ![]() | |
1903-09 | ![]() | Henry Fielding Dickens (1849-1933) - Becoming life President in 1911 Sir Henry Fielding Dickens was a son of Charles Dickens. He was a High Court Judge rising to Common Serjeant at the Old Bailey |
1909-10 | ![]() | Arthur Waugh (1866-1943) - Author and publisher. For 28 years he was Managing Director and Chairman of Dickens’s publishers Chapman & Hall. He was the father of writers Alec and Evelyn. |
1910-11 | ![]() | John Cuming Walters (1863-1933) - Journalist and author. |
1911-12 | ![]() | Sir Luke Fildes (1843-1927) - Artist who was commissioned by Dickens to illustrate his final, unfinished novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood. His works include The Doctor and Applicants for Admission to a Casual Ward, though he later specialised in portraiture. |
1912-15 | ![]() | Kate Perugini (1839-1929) - Life President after 1915, pictured on the right of her famous father. |
1915-19 | ![]() | William Walter Crotch (1874-1947) - English author of works on Dickens, most notably: ‘Charles Dickens Social Reformer’ (1913) and ‘The Pageant of Dickens’ (1915). |
1920-21 | ![]() | |
1921-22 | ![]() | Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) - Chesterton was a journalist and writer of fiction, best known for his ‘Father Brown’ stories. He also published ‘Charles Dickens’ (1906) and ‘Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens’ (1911). |
1922-23 | ![]() | Sir Frederick Orridge McMillan (1851-1936) - British publisher in the family firm Macmillan Co. Prominent in the establishment of the ‘net book agreement’ in 1890. |
1923-24 | ![]() | Sir Walter Lawrence (1857-1940) - An English author of travelogues based on his experiences in the Indian Civil Service. |
1924-26 | ![]() | William Pett Ridge (1857-1930) - An English novelist of lower middle-class life in London. Seen by some as the natural successor to Dickens. |
1926-27 | ![]() | Sir Ernest Edward Wild K.C. (1869-1934) - Barrister and politician. MP for West Ham Upton 1918-1922. |
1927-29 | ![]() | Sir Charles Cheers Wakefield (1st Viscount Wakefield) (1859-1941) - Founded the Castrol lubricants business (Castrol Oil). Lord Mayor of London 1915-1916. |
1929-31 | ![]() | Sir Alfred Farthing Robbins (1856-1931) - Journalist. London correspondent of the Birmingham Post (1888-1923). President of the Institute of Journalists in 1908. President of the Grand Lodge of Freemasons in England and received as such in the White House by President Coolidge. |
1931-33 | ![]() | Horace Annesley Vachell (1861-1955) - A prolific English novelist, short story writer and playwright. |
1933-35 | ![]() | Alfred Noyes (1880-1958) - English poet, short story writer and playwright. |
1935-37 | ![]() | Sir Stephen Killick - Lord Mayor of London (1861-1938). |
1937-39 | ![]() | Lord Gordon Hewart, 1st Viscount Hewart - Lord Chief Justice of England. |
1939-46 | ![]() | Compton Mackenzie (1883-1972) - Scottish writer of fiction – most notably ‘Whisky Galore' (1947). Knighted in 1952. |
1946-46 | ![]() | Henry Charles Dickens (known as Hal) (1878-1966) - Grandson of Charles Dickens and after WW1 became a barrister and was an Alderman in the city. |
1948-50 | ![]() | Ian Hay Beith (1876-1952) - Novelist and playwright (some of the plays written in collaboration with P.G. Wodehouse). He wrote under the nom de plume of Ian Hay. |
1950-52 | ![]() | Leonard Alfred George Strong (1896-1958) - A popular English novelist (who published over 20 novels), critic, historian and poet. Strong was also a director of the publishing firm Methuen 1938-58. |
1952-53 | ![]() | Sir Gerald Barry (1898-1968) - Editor of the News Chronicle (1936-47). Director-General of the Festival of Britain (1951). |
1953-55 | ![]() | William Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt (1885-1957) - William Allen Jowitt was a British politician and lawyer who served as Lord High Chancellor under Clement Atlee (1945-51). |
1955-59 | ![]() | The Very Rev Walter Robert Matthews (1881-1973). |
1959-61 | ![]() | |
1961-64 | ![]() | Sir John Evelyn Leslie Wrench (1882-1966) - Founder of the Royal Over-Seas League (1910) and the English Speaking Union (1918). |
1964 | ![]() | Philip Charles Dickens (known as Pip) (1887-1964) - Grandson of Charles Dickens and younger brother of Hal. After WW1 (where he was badly wounded twice) he became a Chartered Accountant and was one of the founding staff at ICI. |
1964-66 | ![]() | Cedric Charles Dickens(1916-2006) - President of the Dickens Fellowship 1964-1966 and 1988. Cedric Charles Dickens (known as Ceddy) was a great grandson of Charles Dickens (and took over as President from his father at short notice following his father's sudden death). |
1966-68 | ![]() | Eric Dickens Hawksley (d.1975) - He was a great grandson of Charles Dickens. Served in the Colonial Service and as a code breaker at Bletchley Park. |
1968-69 | ![]() | Leslie. C. Staples (1896-1980) - Hon Secretary of the Fellowship (1940-1946). Editor of The Dickensian (1944-1968). |
1970-71 | ![]() | Margaret Lane, Countess of Huntingdon (1907-1994) - A British novelist, journalist and biographer. President of the DF twice - 1959-1961 and 1970-1971 |
1971-72 | ![]() | Ernest Raymond (1888-1974) - British novelist best known for his novels Tell England (1922) and We, The Accused (1935). Wrote more than 50 novels. |
1972-73 | ![]() | Captain Peter Gerald Charles Dickens (1917-1987) DSO, MBE, DSC - Was a great grandson of Charles Dickens and served as a Naval officer and was an author. |
1973-75 | ![]() | Professor Angus Wilson (1913-1991) - English novelist and short story writer of works such as 'Hemlock and After', 'The Old Men at the Zoo' and 'Anglo-Saxon Attitudes'. He was knighted in 1980. |
1975-77 | ![]() | Professor George H. Ford (1915-1994) - Dickens scholar at the University of Rochester. |
1977-79 | ![]() | The Very Rev Edward Carpenter, Dean of Westminster (1910-1998). |
1979-81 | ![]() | |
1981-83 | ![]() | Professor Sylvere Monod (1921-2006) - Emeritus Professor of English at the University of the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris. |
1983-85 | ![]() | Professor Philip Collins (1923-2007) - Professor of English at Leicester University. Author of ‘Dickens and Education’ (1963) and ‘Dickens and Crime’ (1964). |
1985-86 | ![]() | George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy (1909-1997). |
1987 | ![]() | Eric Walter Frederick Tomlin CBE (1913-1988) - Essayist and philosopher. Head of the British Council in Japan 1961-67. Edited a centennial volume: 'Charles Dickens 1812-1870'. |
1988 | ![]() | Cedric Charles Dickens(1916-2006) - President of the Dickens Fellowship 1964-1966 and 1988. Cedric Charles Dickens (known as Ceddy) was a great grandson of Charles Dickens (and took over as President from his father at short notice following his father's sudden death). |
1988-90 | ![]() | Professor Michael Slater - Emeritus Professor of Victorian Literature at Birkbeck College, University of London. Author of ‘Dickens and Women’ (1983) and ‘Charles Dickens’ (2009). |
1990-92 | ![]() | Alan S Watts (1919-2016) - Honorary General Secretary of the Dickens Fellowship (1976-1990) and author of ‘Dickens at Gad’s Hill’. |
1992-94 | ![]() | Professor Jan Lokin - Professor of Legal History at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. |
1995-97 | ![]() | David Charles Dickens (1925-2005) - Great grandson of Charles Dickens. He was a publisher. |
1999-01 | ![]() | |
2001-03 | ![]() | Henry Dickens Hawksley CBE (1933-2014) - Great great grandson of Charles Dickens. He became Chairman of the Wine Standards Board. |
2003-05 | ![]() | Dr Paul Schlicke - Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Aberdeen. Author of 'Dickens and Popular Entertainment' (2005). |
2005-07 | ![]() | Gerald Roderick Charles Dickens (1963-present) - Great great grandson of Charles Dickens, and a professional actor. |
2007-09 | ![]() | Professor Leonee Ormond - Emeritus Professor of Victorian Studies at King’s College, University of London. Edited Pictures From Italy for Everyman Classics. |
2009-11 | ![]() | Professor Grahame Smith - Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Stirling. Author of ‘Dickens and the Dream of Cinema’ (2003). |
2011-13 | ![]() | Commander Mark Dickens (1955-present) - Great great grandson of Charles Dickens. Mark served as a naval officer and became a school bursar. |
2013-15 | ![]() | Professor Jenny Hartley - Emetrius Professor of English at Roehampton University. Author of ‘Charles Dickens and the House of Fallen Women’ (2008) and ‘Charles Dickens An Introduction’ (2016). |
2015-17 | ![]() | Dr Tony Williams - Associate Editor of The Dickensian and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Buckingham. Former Joint Honorary General Secretary of the Fellowship (1999-2006). |
2017-19 | ![]() | Professor John Bowen - Professor of 19th century Literature at the University of York. He has written widely on Dickens’s early novels including: 'Other Dickens: Pickwick to Chuzzlewit' (2005). |
2019- | ![]() |
The Dickens Fellowship acknowledges permission from the Charles Dickens Museum to use many images from its library on this website