Place Name
Originally Little Lant Street. One of a small cluster of local streets named after characters from the novels of Charles Dickens, who lodged in Borough while his father was incarcerated at the nearby Marshalsea debtors’ prison. Street wise Sam Weller featured in the author’s first novel The Pickwick Papers published in 1836. He was a humorous Cockney bootblack who Mr Pickwick, meets working at the White Hart Inn, just off the High Street, in The Borough and takes on as a personal servant and companion on his travels. Weller comes attached to Pickwick to such an extent that when the his master is sent to the Fleet Prison for debt Weller gets himself arrested so that he can join him there and continue to serve and protect him. Weller refuses to marry his sweetheart as he believes his marriage will obstruct him from continuing to care for Pickwick. However, his kindly boss makes arrangements that allow him to continue to work for him and still marry. As well as Dickens Square there is also Copperfield Street, Doyce Street, Quilp Street, and Trundle Street.
