Inside Bram Stoker's House

Looking East along Cheyne Walk in the 1860s.

I've been feeling very visual in my writing lately. I also edit as I write. Sometimes, editing can be heartbreaking, so I'm sharing a passage that I just removed from my book.

Upstairs halls tell you more about a family than all of their downstairs rooms combined. Downstairs rooms are for showing off. Upstairs halls reveal the way that people live, the things they leave on the floor, the bedroom doors they leave open and shut. Truly, upstairs halls are more revealing than bedrooms. The floor in the Stokers’ upstairs hall was spotless, which is a sign of a depressed housekeeper or housewife. Elevated, Noel’s nursery was on the third floor. Mr. Stoker’s bedroom door was closed, as was Florrie's, but this she opened, allowing me inside. 

I replaced that passage with "Florrie opened her bedroom door."

Honestly, I don't know what the Stoker's house looked like inside. That was pure imagination. I've only seen pictures of the Stokers' houses on Google Street View. I do, however, have this information from the 1881 census:

Reference: 1881 Census of England and Wales
RG11/74/78/0656 

London, Chelsea, Chelsea South, District 9a, Page 1, Household 4 

Address: 27 Cheyne Walk 

1 inhabited house at this address 

Living there: 

Bram Stoker, Head. Married, male, age 33. Theatrical Manager M.A. [I'm assuming the M.A. means Master of Arts - Jill]. Born in Dublin [Ireland]. 

Florence Stoker, Wife. Married, female, age 21. Artist. Born in Falmouth [Cornwall, England].

Irving N. Stoker, Son. Unmarried, male, 15 months. [Occupation is blank.] Born in London. 

George Stoker, Brother. Unmarried, male, 26. Physician & Surgeon. Born in Dublin [Ireland]. 

Elizabeth Jarrald, Servant. Widow, female, 30. Nurse. [Place of birth is blank.] 

Harriett Daw, Servant. Unmarried, female, 21. Cook. Born in Middlesex, Nottinghill. [Notting Hill, part of London.] 

Emma Barton, Servant. Unmarried, female, 15. Housemaid. Born in Essex, Woodford. [Woodford, Essex.]

I think it's interesting that Mrs. Stoker's occupation appears as "artist." I know that she wanted to be an actress and appeared in at least one play, but I haven't seen anything about her being any other kind of artist. At that address, they lived a block from Dante Gabrielle Rossetti, overlooking the Thames.

By 1891, the Stoker family lived at 18 St Leonards Terrace. Bram's brother George still lived with them, but they had new servants, Ada Howard and Mary Drinkwater.

Not actually Ada Howard & Mary Drinkwater,
but somebody like them.

On St Leonards Terrace, the Stokers would entertain people, like Mark Twain, who remembered Mrs. Stoker fondly in one of his letters. I'm looking for photos and more information about both houses. Any help is appreciated and I will share what I learn.

April 10, 2014: To this, I would like to add that The Lost Journal of Bram Stoker lists Dr. George Stoker at 14 Hertford St, London with his wife Agnes, two children, a cook, a parlour maid, a housemaid, and a 24 year-old governess called Minna. That sounds like information the editors gathered from the census, which completely contradicts what I thought I read in the census. If anyone can double check the 1891 census, I would love to hear from you, as I no longer trust my memory on this point and The Lost Journal doesn't record a source for this information.

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The Place That Suits Me Best

The title of this post is what Christina Rossetti said to a friend about living in London. William Sharp remembered the conversation as follows:

"I am", she said, "not only as confirmed a Londoner as was Charles Lamb, but really doubt if it would be good for me, now, to sojourn often or long in the country."

"But", the lady insisted, "let me ask, do not you yourself find your best inspiration in the country?"

Rossetti's answer could not have been more emphatic: "Oh dear, no!" "My knowledge of what is called nature is that of the town sparrow which makes an excursion occasionally from its home in Regent's Park or Kensington Gardens."

"I am fairly sure", Rossetti added, "that I am in the place that suits me best." (From the BBC)

She did, in fact, spend the rest of her life there. We tend to think of her as a recluse during the last years of her life, but, in reality, her health was failing and she had found the place she liked best in the world.

Her place was 30 Torrington Square, a place that is only a square by name now. It's owned by the University of London, which has torn down most of the old houses to replace them with your typical university buildings. Rossetti's house remains and is marked with a plaque. 

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