Charles Dickens was born in 1812 near Portsmouth. His father was employed at the navy offices in the dockyard. The family often relocated to various places throughout the country.

Charles’s experiences in Somers Town and its neighbouring areas come alive in his stories, brought to life through his vivid descriptions of the streets, homes, and complex characters.

He was an avid explorer of London and once lived just a mile from the famous Somers Town dust heaps, which he knew intimately. He also developed a friendship with Henry Dodd, a prosperous dust contractor from Islington, who left an estate valued at £111,000 when he died in 1881.

Some believe the central character in Our Mutual Friend, Nicodemus Boffin, was inspired by Henry Dodd, who inherited his fortune from a former employer, a dust contractor who amassed his wealth in Somers Town.

The infamous dust heaps were located close to King’s Cross station. Dickens vividly recalls the following from his childhood adventures exploring the dust heaps:

Here, one could find nearly anything—‘dust’ was a Victorian euphemism. This so-called ‘dust’ often comprised dead dogs, cats, horses, discarded pots and pans, crockery, shoes, boots, old clothes, and various street debris such as grit, horse dung, dog waste, and even human excrement, all of which scavengers meticulously sorted through and collected. Once sorted, their finds could be sold to factory owners for a significant profit.

A contemporary sketch of the Somers Town site from 1836 depicts scavengers scrambling over filthy piles, searching for valuable items to sell. This practice still persists in some developing countries today. Notably, a classified advertisement in the London Times dated December 6, 1820—when Dickens was just eight years old—called for dust contractors to submit bids for a contract in Chelsea.