The Auction of Dickens' Diamond Ring
A 0.9 carat solitaire diamond ring previously owned by the author Charles Dickens was sold at auction (Nigel Ward & Company Auctioneers in Pontrilas, Herefordshire) for £26,000 on February 21st, 2009. The ring had been estimated to sell for between £25,000 and £35,000. The anonymous buyer from Northern Ireland beat three other bidders for the ring.
Charles Dickens had received the ring from his poet friend Lord Alfred Tennyson in 1854, the year in which Dickens published Hard Times. The ring is inscribed with the message “Alfred Tennyson to Charles Dickens 1854”. The ring and documents sold with it provide evidence for Dickens' having had an illigitimate son (Hector Charles Bulwer Lytton Dickens) with Georgina Hogarth, the sister of his wife Catherine. The ring was being sold by Hector Dickens' descendants.
2009-02-25