Nathaniel Bentley (c. 1735–1809), commonly known as Dirty Dick, was an 18th and 19th-century merchant of Jewish descent who owned a hardware shop and warehouse in London. He was possibly an inspiration for Miss Havisham in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, after he refused to wash following the death of his fiancée on their wedding day.[1][2] [3]
A pub he owned in Bishopsgate Without, in the City of London, was later named for him.[4]
- ^ "48 hours in Dickensian London - UK, Travel - The Independent". www.independent.co.uk. 12 January 2002. Archived from the original on 27 December 2009. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
- ^ Fraser, Russel (March 1955). "A Charles Dickens Original". Nineteenth-Century Fiction. 9: 301–307. JSTOR 3044395.
- ^ Wilson, Henry. "Nathaniel Bentley, The Well-known "Dirty Dick"". Cambridge University Press. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
- ^ Steves, Rick; Openshaw, Gene (28 November 2007). Rick Steves' London - Google Books. ISBN 9781566918626. Retrieved 21 July 2009.[permanent dead link]