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Dieppe, France

During Victorian and Edwardian times, Dieppe was a favourite destination of British holiday makers seeking a weekend break. There was a Casino in Dieppe which was attractive to many Britons who were then denied access to public gambling places at home.

It had been popular with the British as a seaside resort since the Napoleonic Wars (and perhaps before) and particularly after the London, Brighton South Coast Railway promoted the resort. Tickets could also be purchased for onward travel to Paris.

Dieppe's delights were discussed in correspondence by such luminaries as Oscar Wilde and Henry James:

Yes, dear Aubrey is always too Parisian, he cannot forget he has been to Dieppe once!
(Oscar Wilde to Charles Ricketts)

 

Your Dieppe is a reduced Florence, every type of character for a novelist seems to gather there … that enchanting Olga learnt more at Dieppe than my Maisie knew.
(Henry James to Jacques-Emile Blanche)

 

During the Easter weekend, 4 or 5 day tickets were available from London's Victoria Station to Newhaven and then, by boat, across the English Channel to Dieppe.

Doubtless, Crippen and Le Neve took advantage of such a deal when they visited Dieppe during Easter, 1910.

 

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