Thackeray, William

(1811 -1863)

Information

Thackeray’s Visit to Margate

Like many writers before him, Thackeray came to Margate in search of the restorative benefits of sea air and a change of scenery. These were, however, for his wife, who was suffering from depression after the birth of their third child and who was beginning to show increasing signs of mental instability. They came on the advice of the doctor but no doubt Thackeray also remembered the holiday he had spent there with his parents, to which he refers in one of his letters to his mother soon after their arrival. Despite his anxieties about his wife, Thackeray was still able to appreciate the place which had apparently delighted him as a child. They rented rooms at 1, Bridge Terrace from 20th August to 6th September 1840. The move to Margate helped his wife, but it is clear that the strain of helping to care for her as well as two small children badly affected Thackeray’s ability to work. The forebodings he expressed about her condition were borne out barely three weeks later when his wife made her first attempt on her life during a steamer crossing to Ireland.

Quotations

We have got a charming green little lodging here, but very dear 2 ½ guineas a week, everybody else asked 3 or 4 for rooms not so good. All our windows look to the sea, if you call this sea. A queer little sitting-room with a glass door that walks straight into the street and two neat smart bed rooms 1 on top of the other. … How delightfully quiet this night is ! The ripple of the water is most melodious, the gas lamps round the little bay look as if they were sticking flaming swords into it. … We have been out to walk on the sands Missy ( their eldest daughter ) famous. Baby ditto. My wife better in health but very low. For the last four days I have not been able to write one line in consequence of her. …. Indeed it is a hard matter to resist catching the infection for I am always with her : nor can I get much work done with the pitiful looks always fixed on me … of mornings especially her spirits are curiously low, she is so absent that I don’t like to trust her.