In the nineteenth century, it was an exclusive residential street and had gates at either end to restrict entry and these were staffed by porters. Charles Dickens and his wife
Catherine Dickens (née Hogarth) lived here with the eldest three of their ten children, with the older two of Dickens's daughters,
Mary Dickens and
Kate Macready Dickens being born in the house. A new addition to the household was Dickens's younger brother
Frederick. Also, Catherine's 17-year-old sister
Mary moved with them from
Furnival's Inn to offer support to her married sister and brother. It was not unusual for a woman's unwed sister to live with and help a newly married couple. Dickens became very attached to Mary, and she died in his arms after a brief illness in 1837. She inspired characters in many of his books, and her death is fictionalized as the death of
Little Nell. Dickens had a three-year lease (at £80 a year) on the property. He would remain here until 1839 when he moved to Devonshire Terrace. He upscaled to grander homes as his wealth increased and his family grew. However, Doughty Street is his only surviving London house. The two years that Dickens lived in the house were extremely productive, for here he completed
The Pickwick Papers (1836), wrote the whole of
Oliver Twist (1838) and
Nicholas Nickleby (1838–39) and worked on
Barnaby Rudge (1840–41). ==The museum==