Eliza Davis (1817–1903) was a Jewish English woman who is remembered for her correspondence with the novelist

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

about his depiction of Jewish characters in his novels. Davis was born in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. In 1835 she married her cousin James Phineas Davis (1812–1886), a banker, who, in 1860, bought

Tavistock House Tavistock House was the London home of the noted British author Charles Dickens and his family from 1851 to 1860. At Tavistock House Dickens wrote ''Bleak House'', '' Hard Times'', ''Little Dorrit'' and ''A Tale of Two Cities''. He also put on a ...

in London from Dickens. Dickens' novel '' Oliver Twist'' refers to one of its characters,

Fagin Fagin is a fictional character and the secondary antagonist in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist''. In the preface to the novel, he is described as a "receiver of stolen goods". He is the leader of a group of children (the Artful Dod ...

, 274 times in the first 38 chapters as "the Jew", while the ethnicity or religion of the other characters is rarely mentioned. In 1854, ''

The Jewish Chronicle ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' asked why "Jews alone should be excluded from the 'sympathizing heart' of this great author and powerful friend of the oppressed." Dickens (who had extensive knowledge of London street life and child exploitation) explained that he had made Fagin Jewish because "it unfortunately was true, of the time to which the story refers, that that class of criminal almost invariably was a Jew." Dickens commented that by calling Fagin a Jew he had meant no imputation against the Jewish faith, saying in a letter, "I have no feeling towards the Jews but a friendly one. I always speak well of them, whether in public or private, and bear my testimony (as I ought to do) to their perfect good faith in such transactions as I have ever had with them." Eliza Davis, whose husband had purchased the lease on Dickens's home in 1860 when he had put it up for sale, wrote to Dickens in 1863, protesting at his portrayal of Fagin, arguing that he had "encouraged a vile prejudice against the despised Hebrew", and that he had done a great wrong to the Jewish people. While Dickens first reacted defensively upon receiving Davis's letter, he then halted the printing of ''Oliver Twist'', and changed the text for the parts of the book that had not been set, which explains why after the first 38 chapters Fagin is barely called "the Jew" at all in the next 179 references to him.

Death and legacy

Davis died in 1903 and is buried at

Willesden Jewish Cemetery The Willesden United Synagogue Cemetery, usually known as Willesden Jewish Cemetery, is a Jewish cemetery at Beaconsfield Road, Willesden, in the London Borough of Brent, England. It opened in 1873 on a site. It has been described as the ...

. Her correspondence with Dickens was published in 1915. Further correspondence by Davis, with the novelist and historian

Walter Besant Sir Walter Besant (14 August 1836 – 9 June 1901) was an English novelist and historian. William Henry Besant was his brother, and another brother, Frank, was the husband of Annie Besant. Early life and education The son of wine merchant Willi ...

, the painter

Lawrence Alma-Tadema Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, (; born Lourens Alma Tadema ; 8 January 1836 – 25 June 1912) was a Dutch painter who later settled in the United Kingdom becoming the last officially recognised denizen in 1873. Born in Dronryp, the Netherlands, ...

, and Sir

Henry Ponsonby Major-General Sir Henry Frederick Ponsonby (10 December 182521 November 1895) was a British soldier and royal court official who served as Queen Victoria's Private Secretary. Biography Born in Corfu, he was the son of Major-General Sir Frede ...

, Private Secretary to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

, is held in the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

archives.

References

External links

University College London exhibition about Charles Dickens, featuring his correspondence with Eliza Davis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Eliza 1817 births 1903 deaths 19th-century British Jews 20th-century British Jews Burials at Willesden Jewish Cemetery Charles Dickens English Jews English letter writers Jewish English activists Jewish women Oliver Twist Women letter writers 19th-century letter writers