Cedric Charles Dickens the Dickens Fellowship, a worldwide association of people who share an interest in the life and works of Charles Dickens, first taking that position on the death of his father in 1968, and again on his retirement in 1976, when he also founded the Dickens Pickwick Club, a society with an international membership. This he kept true to the spirit of the original in "The Pickwick Papers" by only allowing men to join, which in 2000 led to an accusation of sexism. In demand internationally as a guest and speaker at meetings of Dickens Fellowships and other events connected with
Manor Farm, West Challow Ascot. On his death in 1828 the manor passed to his relative Daniel Ferard, who died in 1837, leaving it to his eldest son Charles Cotton Ferard. Charles owned the manor for about 50 years, during which time he let it to various tenants. One group who rented the house for many years was the Hunt family. Uriah Hunt (1817–1870) took a lease on Manor Farm about 1860. He had previously been on a smaller farm (about 130 acres) in West Challow with his wife Harriet and six children, but by 1861 he had moved to the Manor House and