Dirty Dick Dirty Dick Nathaniel Bentley (–1809), commonly known as Dirty Dick, was an 18th-century merchant who owned a hardware shop and warehouse in London, and is one person who is considered as a possible inspiration for Miss Havisham in Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations" after he refused to wash following the death of his fiancée on their wedding day. He was a previous owner of a pub on Bishopsgate, in the City of London, which is named after him. Bentley had been quite a dandy in his youth, but following the death of his fiancée on their wedding day he refused to
Miss Havisham her. Miss Havisham's father was a wealthy brewer and her mother died shortly after she was born. Her father later remarried and had a son, named Arthur; with the family cook. Although they grew up together, Miss Havisham's relationship with her half brother was far from harmonious. She inherited most of her father's fortune and fell in love with a man named Compeyson, who conspired with the jealous Arthur to swindle her of her riches. Her cousin, Matthew Pocket, warned her to be careful, but she was too much in love to listen. On the wedding day, while she was