Charles Dickens (1867). “Charles Dickens's works. Charles Dickens ed. [18 vols. of a 21 vol. set. Wanting A child's history of England; Christmas stories; The mystery of Edwin Drood].”, p.198
David Copperfield ch. 28 (1850). The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs cites Peter Atall, Hermit in America (1819): "Accidents will happen in the best regulated families." See Robert Burns 3; Disraeli 7; Modern Proverbs 102; Orwell 17; Plautus 3; Proverbs 2; Sayings 25