Lucinda Hawksley

Lucinda Hawksley is a British biographer, author and lecturer. She is the daughter of Henry Dickens Hawksley and Susan Jane, and the great-great-great-granddaughter of Victorian novelist Charles Dickens and his wife Catherine, Hawksley is an award-winning travel writer.

Hawksley studied literature and education before starting her career as a book editor. She took an MA in Literature and the History of Art and organised and curated an exhibition of the paintings of her relative Kate Dickens-Perugini in 2002 at the Charles Dickens Museum in London. She is an author, travel writer, lecturer and broadcaster. She has appeared on TV and radio programmes around the world, including India, Iran, Australia, the USA and New Zealand.

Her books include biographies, social histories, art history and travel writing: Bitten by Witch Fever, Thames & Hudson, 2016 Charles Dickens and his Circle, NPG, 2016 A London Treasury, Andre Deutsch, 2015 Queen Victoria’s Mysterious Daughter: A Biography of Princess Louise, Thomas Dunne (NYC) 2015 A Victorian Treasury, Andre Deutsch, 2015 Moustaches, Whiskers & Beards, NPG, 2014 The Mystery of Princess Louise: Queen Victoria’s Rebellious Daughter, Chatto, 2013 March, Women, March: Voices of the Women’s Movement, Andre Deutsch, 2013 What Makes Great Art, Quintessence, 2012 (co-authored with artist Andy Pankhurst) Charles Dickens, Andre Deutsch, 2011 50 British Artists You Should Know, Prestel, 2011 Katey: The Life and Loves of Dickens’s Artist Daughter, Doubleday, 2006 Lizzie Siddal: The Tragedy of a Pre-Raphaelite Supermodel, Andre Deutsch, 2004 A Tale of Two Cities, retold for children, Usborne, 2002 Essential Pre-Raphaelites, Dempsey Parr, 1999 London, Siena, 1999

Lizzie Siddal: The Tragedy of a Pre-Raphaelite Supermodel was Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4 in 2004. Her co-authored works include the 19th and early 20th-century sections of 'The Essential History of Art' (2000) and 'An Encyclopedia of British History' (2001); 501 Great Artists, (Quintet Publishing, 2008); 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die (Quintet Publishing, 2006); Eyewitness Art (Dorling Kindersley, 2006); Europe 2006 (Bradmans Business Travel Guides, 2005), The History of the Bra (Studio Cactus, 2004); Europe 2005 (Bradmans Business Travel Guides, 2004); An Encyclopaedia of British History (Star Fire, 2001); Essential History of Art (Dempsey Parr, 2000); Essential van Gogh (Dempsey Parr, 2000) and Essential Michelangelo (Dempsey Parr, 2000). Hawksley's 'Essential Pre-Raphaelites' (1999) has become a best seller and led to an invitation to lecture on 'Pre-Raphaelite Artists: The Connection Between Their Lives and Work' at the Oxford Union. As a speaker and lecturer she has spoken at the International Charles Dickens Conference, the Newberry Library in Chicago, the National Portrait Gallery in London, the University of Genoa, the Kensington Hilton in London, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge; the Chicago Dickens Holiday Festival, the Dickens on the Strand festival in Galveston, Texas; Washington & Lee University, VA; Santa Fe College, FL; Arkansas State University; Southwestern University, TX; the University of Kolkata; the British Council in India; and the Free Libraryin Philadelphia, PA; as well as many other art galleries, universities and libraries around the world.

In December 2007 she appeared as herself in the BBC docudrama Charles Dickens & the Invention of Christmas, written and presented by Griff Rhys Jones. She also appeared in Channel 4's 2008 documentary Dickens's Secret Lover, which was concerned with Dickens's relationship with the actress Ellen Ternan. In December 2011 she appeared on BBC One's Songs of Praise and for BBC Two in Mrs Dickens' Family Christmas, during which she was interviewed by Sue Perkins. In January 2013 she appeared in all three episodes of BBC Two's Queen Victoria's Children and in an episode of Find My Past which was concerned with the affair between Charles Dickens and Ellen Ternan. She has appeared twice on BBC One's The One Show, interviewed about Lizzie Siddal and about Charles Dickens's will. She was the presenter for BBC One's Inside Out London: Dickens and HealthHer radio appearances include The Today Programme (BBC Radio 4), Woman's Hour (BBC Radio 4), The Aled Jones Show (BBC Radio 2), The Robert Elms Show (BBC London), The Lynn Parsons Show (Smooth Radio and BBC Berkshire), Glad To Be Grey with Mary Beard (BBC Radio 4) and Behind the Looking Glass with Lauren Laverne (BBC Radio 4). In 2013, Hawksley unveiled a new blue plaque to her great great great grandfather, at 22 Cleveland Street, London.

Hawksley is the cousin of actor Harry Lloyd and actor and performer Gerald Dickens. She is a Patron of the Charles Dickens Museum and lives in London. She is a member of the Management Committee of the Society of Authors (2014-2017) and Royal Literary Fund Fellow (2015-2017).

• Bitten by Witch Fever (Thames & Hudson, 2016) ISBN 9780500518380
• Charles Dickens and his Circle (NPG, 2016) ISBN 9781855145962
• A London Treasury (Andre Deutsch, 2015) ISBN 9780233004822
• Queen Victoria’s Mysterious Daughter: A Biography of Princess Louise (Thomas Dunne (NYC) 2015) ISBN 1250059321
• A Victorian Treasury (Andre Deutsch, 2015) ISBN 9780233004778
• Moustaches, Whiskers & Beards (NPG, 2014) ISBN 9781855144934
• The Mystery of Princess Louise: Queen Victoria’s Rebellious Daughter (Chatto, 2013) ISBN 0701183497
• March, Women, March: Voices of the Women’s Movement (Andre Deutsch, 2013) ISBN 9780233004457
• What Makes Great Art (Quintessence, 2012) (co-authored with artist Andy Pankhurst) ISBN 9780711235076
• Charles Dickens Published by Andre Deutsch Ltd, (2011) ISBN 0233003290
• Katey: The Life and Loves of Dickens's Artist Daughter Published by Doubleday, (2006) ISBN 0-385-60742-3
• Lizzie Siddal: Face of the Pre-Raphaelites Published by Walker & Co., (2006) ISBN 0-8027-1550-8
• Essential Michelangelo by Kirsten Bradbury and Lucinda Hawksley Published by Parragon, (2001) ISBN 0-7525-5147-7
• Endangered Animals by Lucinda Hawksley and Michael Posen Published by Parragon, (2000) ISBN 0-7525-3498-X
• Essential Pre-Raphaelites Published by Dempsey Parr, (1999) ISBN 1-84084-524-4
• The Magic & Mystery of Scotland by Lucinda Hawksley and Dennis Hardley Published by Barnes & Noble Books, (1999) ISBN 0-7607-1367-7
• London by Lucinda Hawksley and Allan Stone Published by Mustard, (1999) ISBN 0-7525-2928-5
• The Virgin Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock by Lucinda Hawksley and C. Larkin Published by Virgin, (1998) ISBN 1-85227-786-6
• Yoga by Lucinda Hawksley and Ian Whitelaw Published by Dorling Kindersley, (1995) ISBN 0-7513-0185-X
• Queen Victoria's Mysterious Daughter: A Biography of Princess Louise, Thomas Dunne Books, (2015) ISBN 9781250059321

Select Articles BBC Travel: The Italian Town With An Ancient Secret http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20151207-sicilys-secret-chocolate-obsession BBC: 1922: The Year That Changed Brazilian Art http://www.bbc.co.uk/culture/story/20140710-a-year-that-changed-brazilian-art The Telegraph: Could This Wallpaper Kill You? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/could-this-wallpaper-kill-you-victorian-britains-lethal-obsessio/ BBC: The Forgotten Wife of Charles Dickens http://www.bbc.co.uk/culture/story/20160519-the-forgotten-wife-of-charles-dickens BBC: The Great Victorian Beard Craze http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30037914 BBC: Why The World Still Loves Charles Dickens http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20141216-why-the-world-loves-dickens BBC: The Mysterious Story of Charles Dickens's Raven http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150820-the-mysterious-tale-of-charles-dickenss-raven