Charles Dickens – author of A Christmas Carol - The British Library Charles Dickens, British Library Biography Charles Dickens is perhaps as famous today as he was in his lifetime, the author of 15 novels, five novellas, and countless stories and essays, he also generously promoted the careers of other novelists in his weekly journals, and concerned himself with social issues. He excelled in writing about London settings and grotesque and comic characters (Uriah Heep and Fagin, Miss Havisham and Scrooge, the Artful Dodger and Sam Weller). He was born in Portsmouth on 7 February 1812, son of John Dickens, a feckless and improvident navy clerk with a great love for literature, and his wife Elizabeth: Charles drew an ironically affectionate portrait of them in Mr and Mrs Micawber (David Copperfield). A happy childhood in Chatham, during which he read voraciously, ended with a move to London in 1822. Family poverty meant the young Charles had to earn money, and he spent a humiliating year labelling bottles in a blacking factory; during this period, his father was imprisoned for debt. Both experiences informed later novels.

After leaving school, he became a parliamentary journalist and sketch-writer. He first won fame in 1836 with the antics of the cockney sportsmen portrayed in The Pickwick Papers, which was issued in 20 monthly parts. In the same year he married Catherine Hogarth, daughter of Evening Chronicle editor, George Hogarth; they had 10 children. Next, written in monthly instalments with prodigious speed, came Oliver Twist (1838) and the semi-comedic Nicholas Nickleby (1839). Dickens soon graduated to writing the complex and resonant masterpieces that have ensured his enduring fame, including David Copperfield (1850), Bleak House (1853), Great Expectations (1861) and Our Mutual Friend (1865). An enthusiast for the theatre, he enjoyed performing his own works, and twice toured America lecturing. After the collapse of his marriage in 1858, he continued his liaison with the actress Nelly Ternan. He died of a stroke in 1870, leaving The Mystery of Edwin Drood unfinished.

Further information about the life of Charles Dickens can be found here via the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Name Charles Dickens Timeline of Important Dates Dickens enrolls in classes at a school next door to his family's home. 1823 Hard Times Owing to John Dickens's numerous debts, he is unable to afford to send his son Charles back to school. His mother opens her own girls' school in an effort to earn more money for the family, but is unable to attract even a single student. Feb 9, 1824 Starts Work Two days after his twelfth birthday, Charles Dickens starts a job labeling jars of shoe polish in a factory. Feb 23, 1824 Father Imprisoned Despite a desperate attempt on behalf of his family to raise the money to keep him out of jail, John Dickens is committed to a debtor's prison for his failure to repay a debt of 40 pounds. The Dickens family pawns everything they own, Elizabeth Dickens and the four youngest children move in to John's prison cell. Charles takes a room at a boarding house, using his income from the boot-black factory to pay his room and board.

May 28, 1824 Father Released from Prison After earning a small inheritance, John Dickens is able to negotiate with his creditors and secure his release from jail. The family moves into the boarding house where Charles had been living. Jun 1824 Charles enrolls at Wellington House Academy. 1826 Financial Problems Another round of financial troubles forces Charles and his elder sister Fanny to withdraw from school. Soon after, the Dickens family is evicted from their London home. May 1827 Law Work Charles takes a job as a law clerk to bolster the family's income. He also starts spending time around London's theater – excuse us, theatre – district. Nov 1828 Launches Journalism Career Dickens leaves his job at a law office to work as a freelance reporter. Over the next few years, he writes for several London newspapers. 1830 Falls in Love Dickens falls in love with a young woman named Maria Beadnell. Her well-to-do parents disapprove of the relationship and send her to school in Paris to keep her away from Dickens.

Apr 28, 1833 Stage Performances Dickens, by now a major theater buff, stars in and also stage-manages three amateur plays. His three-year romance with Maria Beadnell ends a month later. Dec 1833 Published Dickens' first piece of writing, the short story "A Dinner at Poplar Walk," appears anonymously in Old Monthly Magazine. He publishes several more stories in the magazine over the next several months. Sep 26, 1834 Street Sketches Noticing his talent for writing, Dickens's editor at the Morning Chronicle newspaper encourages him to write more observational pieces. He publishes the first of his "Street Sketches," vignettes of life in London. Feb 1836 Sketches by Boz and The Pickwick Papers Dickens begins publishing his Sketches by Boz, a collection of written pieces. The following month, he publishes the first installment of the serial novel The Pickwick Papers, which runs until November 1937. Apr 2, 1836 Dickens marries Catherine Hogarth, the daughter of a colleague at the Morning Chronicle. 1837 The couple's first child, a son named Charles but called "Charley," is born.

Feb 1837 Oliver Twist The first installment of Dickens's serial novel Oliver Twist is published in Bentley's Miscellany, which Dickens now edits. It runs in 24 installments over two years. 1838 The couple's daughter, Mamie Dickens, is born. 1839 The couple's third child, Kate, is born. Mar 1839 Dickens's serial novel highlighting the miserable conditions in schools for poor children begins publication. 1840 Dickens begins another serial novel in the magazine Master Humphrey's Clock, which he edits. 1841 Son Born The fourth Dickens child, a son named Walter, is born. Dickens leaves the editor position at Master Humphrey's Clock. 1843 Two Famous Novels Dickens publishes two novels this year: The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit and A Christmas Carol. The latter is the well-known Christmas tale that turns out to be one of his most beloved stories. 1844 Fifth Child Born The couple's son, Francis, is born while the Dickens family is living abroad in Genoa, Italy. 1845 Sixth Child Born Catherine Dickens gives birth to the couple's sixth child, a son named Alfred Tennyson Dickens.

The poet Lord Alfred Tennyson is the baby's namesake and godfather. Dickens also begins performing this year with his own theater company. Oct 1846 Dickens begins serializing the novel Dombey and Son. 1847 The Dickens have their seventh child, son Sydney. 1849 Son Henry Fielding Dickens is born. May 1849 Dickens begins serializing David Copperfield, the most autobiographical of his novels. 1850 Catherine Dickens gives birth to a daughter, Dora. 1851 A Tragic Year The Dickens family suffers numerous hardships this year. Catherine endures a nervous breakdown. Charles's father, John, dies. Sadly, the couple's nine-month-old daughter, Dora, dies as well. 1852 Tenth Child Born The couple has their tenth (and final) child: a son named Edward. Dickens also begins writing the novel Bleak House. 1854 Hard Times Dickens' novel about the dark side of the Industrial Revolution is serialized in Household Words magazine. 1857 Meets Nelly Ternan Dickens meets the actress Ellen "Nelly" Ternan, who is working on a production of one of his plays.

They begin a romantic relationship that lasts for the rest of Dickens's life. Dickens and his wife Catherine agree to separate the following year. Dec 1857 Serialization begins of Little Dorrit, a novel about the consequences of debt. Apr 1859 A Tale of Two Cities The first installment of Dickens's novel set amid the French Revolution appears in the magazine All the Year Round. (Spoiler alert! The two cities are London and Paris.) Dickens takes over editorship of All the Year Round, a position he holds for the rest of his life. Dec 1860 The first installment of Dickens's classic novel is published. 1863 Two Losses In the same year, Dickens loses his mother, Elizabeth, as well as his fourth child, Walter, who is a soldier in Calcutta. Nov 1865 Our Mutual Friend Dickens completes work on Our Mutual Friend, the last novel he finishes before his death. He begins work on The Mystery of Edwin Drood, a mystery novel planned in twelve installments. He is only able to complete six installments.

Jun 9, 1870 Charles Dickens Dies Charles Dickens dies at the age of 58 after spending the day working on his novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood. He is buried in Poet's Corner at London's Westminster Abbey. Charles Dickens Biography | List of Works, Study Guides & Essays | GradeSaver Dickens, Charles Biography of Charles Dickens Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England, on February 7, 1812, to John and Elizabeth Dickens. He was the second of eight children. His mother had been in service to Lord Crew, and his father worked as a clerk for the Naval Pay office. John Dickens was imprisoned for debt when Charles was young. Charles Dickens went to work at a blacking warehouse, managed by a relative of his mother, when he was twelve, and his brush with hard times and poverty affected him deeply. He later recounted these experiences in the semi-autobiographical novel David Copperfield . Similarly, the concern for social justice and reform that surfaced later in his writings grew out of the harsh conditions he experienced in the warehouse. As a young boy, Charles Dickens was exposed to many artistic and literary works that allowed his imagination to grow and develop considerably.

He was greatly influenced by the stories his nursemaid used to tell him and by his many visits to the theater. Additionally, Dickens loved to read. Among his favorite works were Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, Tom Jones by Henry Fielding, and Arabian Nights, all of which were picaresque novels composed of a series of loosely linked adventures. This format no doubt played a part in Dickens' idea to serialize his future works. Dickens was able to leave the blacking factory after his father's release from prison, and he continued his education at the Wellington House Academy. Although he had little formal schooling, Dickens was able to teach himself shorthand and launch a career as a journalist. At the age of sixteen, Dickens got himself a job as a court reporter, and shortly thereafter he joined the staff of A Mirror of Parliament, a newspaper that reported on the decisions of Parliament. During this time, Charles continued to read voraciously at the British Library, and he experimented with acting and stage-managing amateur theatricals. His experience acting would affect his work throughout his life--he was known to act out characters he was writing in the mirror and then describe himself as the character in prose in his novels.

Quickly becoming disillusioned with politics, Dickens developed an interest in social reform and began contributing to the True Sun, a radical newspaper. Although his main avenue of work would consist in writing novels, Dickens continued his journalistic work until the end of his life, editing The Daily News, Household Words, and All the Year Round. His connections to various magazines and newspapers as a political journalist gave him the opportunity to begin publishing his own fiction at the beginning of his career. He would go on to write fifteen novels. (A final one, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, was left unfinished upon his death.) While he published several sketches in magazines, it was not until he serialized The Pickwick Papers over 1836-37 that he experienced true success. A publishing phenomenon, The Pickwick Papers was published in monthly installments and sold over forty thousand copies of each issue. Dickens was the first person to make the serialization of novels profitable and was able to expand his audience to include those who could not normally afford such literary works. Within a few years, Dickens was regarded as one of the most successful authors of his time, with approximately one out of every ten people in Victorian England avidly reading and following his writings.

In 1836 Dickens also married Catherine Hogarth, the daughter of a co-worker at his newspaper. The couple had ten children before their separation in 1858. Catherine's younger sister Mary lived with the couple, and Dickens was very attached to her. He was deeply traumatized by her death at the age of seventeen, and she is believed to have provided inspiration for a number of his idealized, angelic heroines such as Little Nell and Florence Dombey. Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby followed in monthly installments, and both reflected Dickens' understanding of the lower classes as well as his comic genius. In 1843, Dickens published one of his most famous works, A Christmas Carol . His disenchantment with the world's economic drives is clear in this work: he blames much of society's ills on people's obsession with earning money and acquiring status based on money. His travels abroad in the 1840s, first to America and then through Europe, marked the beginning of a new stage in Dickens' life. His writings became longer and more serious.

In David Copperfield (1849-50), readers find the same flawed world that Dickens discovered as a young boy. Dickens published some of his best-known novels, including A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations , in his own weekly periodicals. The inspiration to write a novel set during the French Revolution came from Dickens' faithful annual habit of reading Thomas Carlyle's book The French Revolution, first published in 1839. When Dickens acted in Wilkie Collins' play The Frozen Deep in 1857, he was inspired by his own role as a self-sacrificing lover. He eventually decided to place his own sacrificing lover in the revolutionary period, a period of great social upheaval. A year later, Dickens went through his own form of social change as he was writing A Tale of Two Cities: he separated from his wife, and he revitalized his career by making plans for a new weekly literary journal called All the Year Round. In 1859, A Tale of Two Cities premiered as a series in this journal. Its popularity was based not only on the fame of its author, but also on its short length and radical (for Dickens' time) subject matter.

Dickens became involved in theatrical collaborations with his friend, the novelist Wilkie Collins. In 1857, while interviewing actresses for a play the two had written together, Dickens met Ellen Ternan. Despite already being married, and the age difference between the two (Dickens was 45 and Ternan 18), the two fell in love. This meeting precipitated the end for Dickens of what was already an unhappy marriage. Dickens separated from his wife Catherine in 1858. While his relationship with Ellen was kept very discreet, especially considering Dickens's celebrity, the two travelled together regularly, and Dickens supported her financially until the time of his death. Dickens' health began to deteriorate in the 1860s. In 1858, in response to his increasing fame, he had begun public readings of his works. These exacted a great physical toll on him. An immensely profitable but physically shattering series of readings in America in 1867-68 sped his decline, and he collapsed during a "farewell" series in England. On June 9, 1870, Charles Dickens died. He was buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey.

Though he left The Mystery of Edwin Drood unfinished, he had already written fifteen substantial novels and countless shorter pieces. His legacy is clear. In a whimsical and unique fashion, Dickens pointed out society's flaws in terms of its blinding greed for money and its neglect of the lower classes of society. Through his books, we come to understand the virtues of a loving heart and the pleasures of home in a flawed, cruelly indifferent world. Among English writers, in terms of his fame and of the public's recognition of his characters and stories, many consider him second only to William Shakespeare. Study Guides on Works by Charles Dickens Charles Dickens Biography - A Life of Dickens CHARLES DICKENS BIOGRAPHY (1812 - 1870) Dickens life spanned the reign of four English monarchs. When he was born, in 1812, the King of England was George 3rd.

By the time of his death in 1870, Queen Victoria had reigned for 40 years and the 19th century had lodged in most peoples minds and memories as the "Victorian age." It was during her reign that Dickens rose from his humble beginnings and crested the heights of fame and fortune, so much so that, by the time of his death, he had become, and in many ways still remains, the second most famous Victorian, after the Queen herself. His life was, most certainly, an eventful one that equaled many of his own storylines in its highs and lows, its dramas and its tragedies. To this day he remains one of those few historical figures whose surname is sufficient as a means of identification, so much so that mere mention of the name "Dickens" will draw enthusiastic nods of acknowledgment no matter where in the World it is spoken. Not bad for a man whose start in life was far from ideal. CHARLES DICKENS CHILDHOOD YEARS Charles Dickens was born in the Landport suburb of Portsmouth on Friday 7th February 1812.

The house he was born in, 13 Mile End Terrace, is now the Dickens Birthplace Museum and is today furnished, more or less as it would have been at the time of his birth. Dickens was christened on 4th March 1812 at St Mary's church and was named Charles, after his maternal grandfather, Charles Barrow; John, after his father, John Dickens; and Huffham, after Christopher Huffam (the parish clerk misspelt the surname),who was a London friend of his father. John Dickens was employed as a clerk in the Navy Pay Office and his job meant that the family would have to move as, and where his employers saw fit to send him. As a result Charles's first five years were marked by a series of moves as his father was shuttled between various jobs with the Naval Pay Office. DICKENS FIRST VISIT TO LONDON Dickens first came to London in January 1815 when John was transferred to The Navy Pay Office then located at Somerset House on Strand.

As the three year old boy absorbed the sights, smells and sounds of the City, and his family settled into life in the Capital, no one could have known that, in later life, the name of Charles Dickens would become synonymous with London, and that he was destined to become the undisputed chronicler of its streets, buildings and people. THE DICKENS FAMILY MOVES TO CHATHAM On this occasion the family spent two years in London before another transfer saw John Dickens transferred to Chatham in Kent and, with this new move, Charles embarked upon what, by his own later admission, were to be the happiest years of his childhood. Not only did his mother teach him the basics of reading but he was also enrolled at a local school where he was taught by a kindly local clergyman and schoolmaster by the name of William Giles. One of the pastimes that the young Charles delighted in during this idyllic period of his childhood was going on long strolls with his father and exploring the lush Kent countryside that surrounded Chatham. He was particularly fond of strolling through the grounds of Cobham Hall, just outside Rochester, where he became enamoured with a large house that sat atop a hillside looking down on the park.

His father would often point the house out to him and encourage him with the words "If you were to be very persevering and were to work hard, you might some day come to live in it." This fondness for the house, which was Gad's Hill Place, remained with him into adulthood and Dickens did indeed purchase the house in 1856 and, from 1860 until his death in 1870, it became his principle residence. JOHN DICKENS ARRESTED FOR DEBT But the settled period of his childhood was brought to a sudden end when, in 1822, John Dickens was transferred back to London and his income dropped dramatically. John had always lived well beyond his means and this sudden reduction in his earnings, coupled with his inability to curb his expenditure, plunged him heavily into debt and, as a result, the family finances teetered on the brink. His wife, Elizabeth, made an attempt to improve the family fortunes by opening a school for young ladies.

But this proved unsuccessful and, in 1824, John Dickens was arrested for debt and was sent to the Marshalsea Debtors Prison, where he was joined by his wife and children with the exceptions of Charles and his older sister Fanny, who were found lodgings elsewhere. Dickens later told his primary biographer, John Forster, how his father had turned to him before being taken away and had tearfully told him that "the sun was set on him for ever." "I really believed at the time," Dickens informed Forster, "that these words had broken my heart." WISE WORDS FROM JOHN DICKENS That Charles was traumatised by this episode of his childhood is undeniable. Thinly disguised references to it crop up time and time again in his fiction and the image of the debtors prison looms over several of his novels. Indeed, he later recalled to John Forster how, when he first went to visit his father at the Marshalsea Prison, "...he was waiting for me in the lodge.. and [we] cried very much...

And he told me, I remember, ...that if a man had twenty pounds a year, and spent nineteen pounds nineteen shillings and sixpence, he would be happy; but that a shilling spent the other way would make him wretched..." This same advice is given by Mr Micawber, a character based upon John Dickens, to the protagonist of Dickens's most autobiographical novel - David Copperfield. DICKENS LONDON CHILDHOOD TRAUMA Charles was found work at Warren's Blacking Warehouse - on the site now occupied by Charing Cross Railway Station - and the sensitive 11 year old boy, who had genuinely believed he was destined to be a gentlemen, suffered the indignity of finding himself pasting labels onto pots of boot polish. The trauma of his time at the blacking warehouse stayed with him for the rest of his life. His torment at his situation was made worse by the fact that his older sister, Fanny, was enrolled at the Royal College of Music and received the type of education that young Charles longed for.

Instead, he found himself working with boys and men whom he considered to be very much his social inferiors and, with his family living in the Marshalsea Prison, a fact he kept hidden from his workmates, he found himself virtually abandoned. Left to his own devices, he began exploring all parts of London and, in so doing, he became acquainted with all the highs and the lows that the Victorian Metropolis had to offer. He couldn't have known it then, but this period of his life was to be his making as he gained an unrivalled knowledge of the City with which the majority of his fiction would later become indelibly linked. JOHN DICKENS RELEASED FROM PRISON John Dickens had been in the Marshalsea Debtors Prison for 14 weeks when his mother died and left him a little money. With this small inheritance he was able to secure his release, although he wasn't totally debt free.

But he seems to have been genuinely concerned by the misery his actions had caused his son and, in 1825, he took Charles away from the blacking factory, and despite vociferous objections from Elizabeth, who wanted their son to continue bringing in a useful weekly wage, John sent him to school at Wellington House Academy on Hampstead Road. CHARLES DICKENS LEARNS SHORT HAND Dickens spent approximately two years at the Wellington House Academy, before his father found himself in debt once more, and the young Charles was found employment as a clerk working for Ellis and Blackmore, a firm of solicitors in Gray London’s Gray’s Inn. This period would mark a turning point in his life for, whilst working for Ellis and Blackmore, he began to teach himself shorthand and, after 18 months, he felt sufficiently competent to set himself up as a shorthand recorder at Doctors’ Commons, which used to stand close to St Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London. DICKENS FIRST LOVE MARIA BEADNELL By 1830 the then eighteen year old Dickens had met with and fallen head over heels in love with a City banker's daughter by the name of Maria Beadnell.

She was thirteen months older than him, capricious by nature and, for the next three years, she toyed with his feelings, even, there is evidence to suggest, agreeing to a clandestine engagement. DICKENS GETS AN AUDITION In 1832 Dickens started work as a reporter on his uncle Thomas Barrow's newspaper The Mirror of Parliament. He was also toying with the idea of becoming an actor and was granted an audition at the Covent Garden Theatre. However, on the appointed day, he was stricken with a "... a terrible bad cold and inflammation of the face..." and so was unable to attend his audition. "See how near I may have been to another sort of life," he later told John Forster. However, his love of the theatre and his wish to act stayed with him for the rest of his life and, in later life, he would enthusiastically perform and produce his amateur theatricals and, from these, evolved his public reading tours from which he had become famous throughout the world by the time of his death in 1870.

MARIA BEADNELL REJECTS DICKENS Maria Beadnell's family were beginning to disapprove of their daughter's involvement with the young and impoverished reporter and, to get her way the from him, they sent her to finishing school in France. When she returned her enthusiasm for Dickens had cooled considerably and Dickens was devastated when, in May 1833, she ended their relationship. HIS FIRST WORK IS PUBLISHED Spurred on by Maria Beadnell's rejection, Dickens threw himself into his writing and, in the autumn of 1833, his first story A Dinner at Poplar Walk was published. LONDON LODGINGS By 1834 Dickens had settled into lodgings at Furnival's Inn, Holborn. He had also found employment with the Morning Chronicle newspaper and had become friends with its music critic George Hogarth. When, in 1835, George Hogarth became editor of the Evening Chronicle, he asked Dickens to contribute sketches to the paper. These would eventually appear in print as Sketches by ‘Boz’.

DICKENS GETS MARRIED Dickens also fell in love with Hogarth’s daughter, Catherine, and, on 2nd April, 1836, the two were married at St Luke’s Church, Chelsea. After a brief honeymoon in Kent, Charles and Catherine Dickens settled into his chambers at Furnival's Inns where they were joined by Catherine's 17-year-old sister, Mary Hogarth. By this time the first instalment of Pickwick Papers had appeared. There was an early setback when its originator and illustrator, Robert Seymour, committed suicide. But Dickens managed to continue writing the work and Hablot Browne, who for the next 20 years remained Dickens’s chief illustrator, replaced Seymour as illustrator. Shortly after Seymour's death Dickens introduced the character of Sam Weller and, as a result, Pickwick Papers became a publishing phenomenon and the young Dickens, writing under the pseudonym of Boz, was soon rocketing towards super star status. DICKENS MEETS WITH JOHN FORSTER It was around this time that Dickens met with the man who would become his most trusted confidante, both business wise and personally John Forster.

When they met, in December 1836, Forster was the literary and drama editor of The Examiner, and despite the fact Forster had written a somewhat lukewarm review of one of Dickens early pieces, the two became firm friends and Forster worked strenuously on Dickens behalf for the rest of his life and, when Dickens died in 1870, Forster became his primary biographer. FIRST CHILD AND A NEW HOUSE In January 1837, Catherine gave birth to their first child who they named Charles. By April 1837, the financial success of Pickwick Papers, coupled with the needs of his growing family, caused Dickens to look for larger and grander premises for their family home and he took a lease on a house in Doughty Street (the building that is now the The Charles Dickens Museum ) where they were joined by Catherine's younger sister Mary Hogarth. Dickens developed an intense platonic relationship with his young sister-in-law and, for a time, his domestic situation was truly idyllic.

THE DEATH OF MARY HOGARTH But the happiness of the Dickens household was shattered when, in the early hours of the 7th May, 1837, Mary Hogarth collapsed in her room and died that afternoon in Dickens arms. "Thank God she died in my arms," he said, shortly after her death, "and the very last words she whispered were of me." Dickens took a ring from Mary's lifeless finger, placed it on his own finger where it remained until the day he died. Such was the effect of Mary's death on him that, for the first and only time in his life, he found himself unable to write and the next instalments of Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist failed to appear. Rumour was rife that "Boz" had gone made, or that he had died, or even that he had been imprisoned for debt. In fact Dickens and his wife, Catherine, had retreated to the wilds of rural Hampstead and were coming to terms with Mary's loss at a lovely little white weatherboard cottage which still exists today and which was known as Collins's Farm. They remained there for several weeks until Dickens felt strong enough to return to the rigour of his writing schedule.

OLIVER TWIST AND OTHER WORKS Once back in Doughty Street, Dickens threw himself into his writing and established his reputation as one of the most gifted and popular writers of the age by finishing Oliver Twist, writing Nicholas Nickleby, and starting work on Barnaby Rudge. MOVES TO AN EVEN GRANDER HOUSE At the same time the size of his family increased with the birth of two daughters, Mary in 1838 and Kate in 1839. With the increased wealth that he was now enjoying he was able to take the lease on a much grander property at 1 Devonshire Terrace, Marylebone, and here his and Catherine's fourth child, Walter, was born in 1841. FIRST VISIT TO AMERICA In 1842 Charles and Catherine set sail for their first visit to America. Such was his reputation that Dickens found himself mobbed on several occasions. Back in London he wrote Martin Chuzzlewit (1843–44) and, a year later, what is perhaps one of his best known works, A Christmas Carol (1843).

By 1855, with his family swollen to ten children, one of whom, Dora, had died in infancy, Dickens was becoming restless. THE RETURN OF MARIA BEADNELL In February, he received a letter from Maria Beadnell, now Mrs Winter. He replied enthusiastically, and refused to believe her warning that she was now toothless, fat and middle aged. ‘You are always the same in my remembrance’ he wrote. They made plans to meet at his house when his wife was ‘not at home.’ But, when the two came face to face, Dickens was horrified to discover that Maria was just as she had described herself and his ardour for her cooled. Rather cruelly, he then went on to depict her in Little Dorritt (1855-57) as Flora Finching, a character who was "once pretty and enchanting, but now fat, diffuse and silly." DICKENS BUYS GAD'S HILL PLACE In 1856, Dickens purchased Gad’s Hill Place in Kent, the property he had admired from afar during those childhood walks with his father.

DICKENS MEETS ELLEN TERNAN In January 1857 he directed and acted in Wilkie Collins’s play The Frozen Deep and as he researched professional actresses to play the female parts, he met the young actress Ellen Lawless Ternan who became his intimate friend and probably his lover. DICKENS SEPARATES FROM HIS WIFE The following year Dickens formally separated from his wife, and viciously attacked her in an article published in several newspapers. His daughter Kate later recalled, ‘My father was like a madman… He did not care a damn what happened to any of us. Nothing could surpass the misery and unhappiness of our house.’ His younger sister-in-law, Georgina Hogarth, became his housekeeper, and rumours began to circulate that it was his affair with her that had caused his marital breakdown. PUBLIC READING TOURS In August 1858, Dickens began the first of a series of reading tours that would, over the next 12 years, prove extremely profitable.

DICKENS ENIGMATIC FINAL YEARS By 1860 Gad’s Hill had become his principle residence and, over the next ten years, as he and Ellen Ternan became more involved with each other, his personal life became more and more enigmatic. It is possible that he took a house in France for Ellen and her mother, where he visited them frequently. There have also been suggestions that he had a child with her but it died in infancy. Dickens’s clandestine life came close to exposure in 1865 when he, Ellen and her mother were travelling back from France and their train was involved in a serious accident at Staplehurst in Kent. Although Dickens tended to the injured and dying he refused to attend the subsequent inquest, probably for fear it would make public the fact he was travelling with Ellen Ternan. Over the next few years, Dickens undertook several reading tours in England and America. But his health was failing and by 1870 he looked considerably older than his 58 years.

THE DEATH OF DICKENS Then on the 8th June, 1870, having spent the day working on what was to be his last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, he collapsed at the dinner table and died the next evening. WEEKLY WALKS SCHEDULE 7th February 1812 - Born in Portsmouth. 4th March 1812 - Christened Charles John Huffham Dickens January 1815 - John Dickens transferred to London. Charles encounters London for the first time. 1817 - Dickens family move to Chatham in Kent and Charles enjoys the happiest years of his childhood. 1822 - John Dickens transferred to London. 1824 - John Dickens arrested and imprisoned for debt and 12 year old Charles sent to work at Warren's Blacking Warehouse. 1825 - John released from prison and takes Charles away from the blacking warehouse and sends him to school at the Wellington House Academy. 1827 - Starts work for Ellis and Blackmore legal firm. 1830 - Meets Maria Beadnell his first love interest.

1832 - Starts work as a reporter for his uncle - Thomas Barrow's - newspaper The Mirror of Parliament. 1833 - Maria Beadnell ends their relationship. 1833 - His first story A Dinner at Poplar Work is published. 1834 - Moves to lodging in Furnival's Inn. 1834 - Becomes a reporter on The Morning Chronicle and starts writing Sketches By Boz. 1834 - Meets his future wife Catherine Hogarth. 1835 - Becomes engaged to Catherine Hogarth. 1836 - Charles and Catherine are married. 1836 - Writes the first instalments of Pickwick papers. December 1836 - Meets John Forster who will become his closest friend, business advisor and primary biographer. 1837 - Charley, the first of their 10 children is born. April 1837 - the family move into a large house in Doughty Street, the house is now the Dickens House Museum. 1837 - Begins writing Oliver Twist. May 1837 - Dickens is devastated when his young sister-in-law, Mary Hogarth dies at their house.

1838 - Dickens and his illustrator, Hablot Browne, travel to Yorkshire to see the boarding schools. 1838 - His daughter, Mary, is born. 1838 - Begins writing Nicholas Nickleby. 1839 - His daughter, Kate, is born. 1840 - Begins work on The Old Curiosity Shop. 1841 - Begins work on Barnaby Rudge. 1841 - His son Walter is born. 1842 - Charles and Catherine tour America. 1843 - Begins work on Martin Chuzzlewit. 1843 - Writes A Christmas Carol. 1844 - His son Frank is born. 1845 - Another son, Alfred, is born. 1846 - The Dickens family pay a visit to Switzerland. 1846 - The first instalment of Dombey and Son appears. 1847 - Catherine gives birth to another son who is named Sydney 1848 - Fanny, his beloved sister dies. 1848 - Dickens Christmas Book The Haunted Man is published. 1849 - His son, Henry Fielding Dickens, is born.

1849 Dickens starts work on David Copperfield, which is part autobiographical. 1850 - A daughter, Dora Annie, is born. 1851- Catherine Dickens suffers a nervous breakdown. 1851 - Dickens father, John, dies. 1851 - His young daughter, Dora, dies aged just 8 months. 1851 - Catherine Dickens becomes an author herself with the publication of a cook book entitled What Shall we have for Dinner. 1852 - The first instalment of Bleak House is published. 1852 - Catherine Dickens gives birth to another son who they name Edward and nickname "Plorn." 1853 - Dickens gives a public reading from one of his works. Public readings will grow to become a major source of income to him in the years ahead. public reading of one of his works. 1854 - His book Hard Times is published. 1855 - Maria Beadnell (now Maria Winter) re-appears and they arrange to meet. Dickens is horrified by her appearance and avoids further meetings.

1855 - Starts work on Little Dorrit and visits the site of the Marshalsea Prison for the first time in years. 1856 - He and Wilkie Collins collaborate on the play The Frozen Deep in which Dickens will play the part of the heroic and self-sacrificing Richard Wardour. 1856 - Buys Gad's Hill Place, the house near Rochester that he used to admire on walks with his father when he was a child. 1857 - Hans Christian Anderson stays with Dickens at Gad's Hill Place. 1857 - Meets Ellen Ternan, the girl with whom his last years will become indelibly linked. 1858 - Charles and Catherine Dickens separate. 1859 - A Tale of Two Cities is published. 1860 - The first instalment of Great Expectations in his own magazine All the Year Round. 1860 - Marriage of his daughter, Katie. 1860 - Death of his brother, Alfred. 1860 - Dickens burns his personal papers on a huge bonfire at his house at Gad's Hill. 1863 - Death of his mother, Elizabeth.

1863 - Starts work on Our Mutual Friend. 1864 - Walter, Dickens son, dies in India. 1865 - Returning from France with Ellen Ternan and her mother Dickens is involved in the Staplehurst railway accident. 1867 - Dickens sets off on a public reading tour of America. 1868 - Presents his first public reading of the Murder of Nancy from Oliver Twist. It proves a huge success and even causes audience members to faint! 1869 - Showing signs of age and exhaustion Dickens is ordered by doctors to end his public readings. 1869 - Starts work on The Mystery of Edwin Drood. 1870 - Dickens gives his final public reading. 1870 - First instalment of The Mystery of Edwin Drood is published. 1870 - June 8th - Having spent the day working on The Mystery of Edwin Drood Dickens collapses at the dinner table at Gad's Hill Place. 1870 - June 9th - Having lingered unconscious for the whole day, at 6pm a tear rolls down his cheek and Charles Dickens dies.

14th June 1870 - Following a private funeral service is Westminster Abbey Charles Dickens is buried in Poets Corner. DICKENS WORKS Charles Dickens Charles Dickens Great-grandfather of Monica Dickens Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England, on February 7, 1812, to John and Elizabeth Dickens. He was the second of eight children. His mother had been in service to Lord Crew, and his father worked as a clerk for the Naval Pay office. John Dickens was imprisoned for debt when Charles was young. Charles Dickens went to work at a blacking warehouse, managed by a relative of his mother, when he was twelve, and his brush with hard times and poverty affected him deeply. He later recounted these experiences in the semi-autobiographical novel David Copperfield. Similarly, the concern for social justice and reform which surfaced later in his writings grew out of the harsh conditions he experienced in the warehouse. Dickens was able to leave the blacking factory after his father's release from prison, and he continued his education at the Wellington House Academy. Although he had little formal schooling, Dickens was able to teach himself shorthand and launch a career as a journalist.

At the age of sixteen, Dickens got himself a job as a court reporter, and shortly thereafter he joined the staff of A Mirror of Parliament, a newspaper that reported on the decisions of Parliament. During this time Charles continued to read voraciously at the British Library, and he experimented with acting and stage-managing amateur theatricals. His experience acting would affect his work throughout his life--he was known to act out characters he was writing in the mirror and then describe himself as the character in prose in his novels. Fast becoming disillusioned with politics, Dickens developed an interest in social reform and began contributing to the True Sun, a radical newspaper. Although his main avenue of work would consist of writing novels, Dickens continued his journalistic work until the end of his life, editing The Daily News, Household Words, and All the Year Round. His connections to various magazines and newspapers as a political journalist gave him the opportunity to begin publishing his own fiction at the beginning of his career. He would go on to write fifteen novels. (A final one, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, was left unfinished upon his death.) While he published several sketches in magazines, it was not until he serialized The Pickwick Papers over 1836-37 that he experienced true success.

A publishing phenomenon, The Pickwick Papers was published in monthly installments and sold over forty thousand copies of each issue. Dickens was the first person to make this serialization of novels profitable and was able to expand his audience to include those who could not normally afford such literary works. Within a few years, he was regarded as one of the most successful authors of his time, with approximately one out of every ten people in Victorian England avidly reading and following his writings. In 1836 Dickens also married Catherine Hogarth, the daughter of a fellow co-worker at his newspaper. The couple had ten children before their separation in 1858. Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby followed in monthly installments, and both reflected Dickens' understanding of the lower classes as well as his comic genius. In 1843, Dickens published one of his most famous works, A Christmas Carol. His disenchantment with the world's economic drives is clear in this work; he blames much of society's ills on people's obsession with earning money and acquiring status based on money. His travels abroad in the 1840s, first to America and then through Europe, marked the beginning of a new stage in Dickens' life.

His writings became longer and more serious. In David Copperfield (1849-50), readers find the same flawed world that Dickens discovered as a young boy. Dickens published some of his best-known novels including A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations in his own weekly periodicals. The inspiration to write a novel set during the French Revolution came from Dickens' faithful annual habit of reading Thomas Carlyle's book The French Revolution, first published in 1839. When Dickens acted in Wilkie Collins' play The Frozen Deep in 1857, he was inspired by his own role as a self-sacrificing lover. He eventually decided to place his own sacrificing lover in the revolutionary period, a period of great social upheaval. A year later, Dickens went through his own form of social change as he was writing A Tale of Two Cities: he separated from his wife, and he revitalized his career by making plans for a new weekly literary journal called All the Year Round. In 1859, A Tale of Two Cities premiered in parts in this journal. Its popularity was based not only on the fame of its author, but also on its short length and radical (for Dickens' time) subject matter.

Dickens' health began to deteriorate in the 1860s. In 1858, in response to his increasing fame, he had begun public readings of his works. These exacted a great physical toll on him. An immensely profitable but physically shattering series of readings in America in 1867-68 sped his decline, and he collapsed during a "farewell" series in England. On June 9, 1870, Charles Dickens died. He was buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey. Though he left The Mystery of Edwin Drood unfinished, he had already written fifteen substantial novels and countless shorter pieces. His legacy is clear. In a whimsical and unique fashion, Dickens pointed out society's flaws in terms of its blinding greed for money and its neglect of the lower classes of society. Through his books, we come to understand the virtues of a loving heart and the pleasures of home in a flawed, cruelly indifferent world. Among English writers, in terms of his fame and of the public's recognition of his characters and stories, he is second only to William Shakespeare. BBC - Primary History - Famous People - Charles Dickens Why is Charles Dickens famous? Who was Charles Dickens?

Charles Dickens is a famous English writer. People all over the world enjoy his stories. One of them is Oliver Twist, the story of a poor boy in Victorian times. Books by Dickens can be funny and sad. His stories are full of interesting 'characters' (people). When did Dickens live? Dickens was born in England in 1812. He died in 1870. His first big success was The Pickwick Papers. This was in 1837, the year Victoria became Britain's Queen. Dickens lived through the Industrial Revolution . He wrote about how life was changing, especially for poor people. Why do people read Dickens? Many of Dickens' stories came out in weekly or monthly parts, as serials. Each month people could read a new chapter in the story. Perhaps this is why Dickens' books make good films and TV serials too. Readers like a good story, with interesting characters. Dickens was very clever at making up characters. People all over the world know Oliver Twist, Scrooge and David Copperfield, even if they have not read the books in which these characters appear. Early life Where was Dickens born?

On 7 February 1812, Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth. His parents named him Charles John Huffam Dickens. Portsmouth was the home of the Royal Navy . His father, John Dickens, worked as a clerk for the Navy. His mother's name was Elizabeth Barrow. She wanted to be a teacher and run a school. Happy times The Dickens family never had much money. Charles had seven brothers and sisters. Mr Dickens dreamed of being rich. Mrs Dickens dreamed of owning a school. Somehow things never went right. In 1816 the family moved to Chatham, in Kent. Charles was happy there. He went to school. He explored the countryside. He loved the old castle at Rochester. Hard times In 1822 the family moved to London. Now times were hard. Mr Dickens was sent to prison for six months for not paying his bills. Charles (aged 12) had to work in a dirty old factory , beside the River Thames. He could hear rats squeaking and running about. His job was to put labels on pots of 'blacking', used to clean fireplaces. Dickens never forgot this unhappy time. He wrote about it later.

Growing up By 1824 Mr Dickens had enough money to send Charles back to school. At 15, Charles got a job in a lawyer's office. He hated it. In his books he makes most lawyers horrid! Charles learned shorthand . He got a job writing about Parliament . He travelled around England by stagecoach , writing for newspapers. He wrote stories about the people he met. Dickens the writer Dickens is a success In 1833, he sold his first story. At first Dickens called himself 'Boz'. This was his pen-name . In 1836, he married Catherine Hogarth. Suddenly he became famous. His funny stories called The Pickwick Papers were a success. Oliver Twist Oliver Twist came out in 1837. It was a grim tale about an orphan boy (Oliver), who is sent to the workhouse . Oliver ends up in the London underworld, in a gang of thieves led by Fagin. The story ends happily for Oliver, but people were shocked. Were poor children really treated so badly? Life for poor children Life for poor children in Victorian times was very hard. Small children worked in coal mines and factories .

Little boys were made to climb inside chimneys and clean them. Oliver Twist almost becomes a 'chimney-boy'. Instead he is made to work for an undertaker . Life in London London was a big, crowded city. Many poor people lived in slums . Homeless children slept on the streets. Many people died from diseases. Almost half the funerals in London in the 1830s were of children under 10. London did not have a police force until 1829. Even young children were sent to prison. Dickens the celebrity A famous man Dickens became so famous people knew him as he walked about London. He was a celebrity. Dickens walked for miles around the city, watching and listening. He made notes for new stories. Dickens keeps busy In 1846 Dickens became editor of the Daily News, a newspaper. He did not like being told what to do by the owners, so in 1850 he started his own magazine, Household Words. Now he could write what he liked. Dickens was a show-off. He loved to give public readings from his books. In 1842, he visited America.

Two famous books Of his many books, Dickens liked David Copperfield best. In it he wrote about Mr Micawber, who seems very like Dickens' father. In 1843, Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol. It is one of his most famous stories. In it, we meet the miser Scrooge - and three ghosts! Why did people like long books? In Victorian times, there was no radio, no television, no internet, no cinema. People read lots of books. Readers liked long stories, to pass the time. Grown-ups read novels and magazines. Children had their own books too. Dickens was the most famous novelist in Britain. There were lots of others, such as Sir Walter Scott and Charlotte Brontë. Family life Dickens and his wife had 10 children. But their marriage was not happy. In 1858, they split up. Dickens loved acting. He had his own little theatre at home. While acting in a play in 1857, Dickens fell in love with Ellen Ternan, an actress. How was Britain changing? Dickens saw many changes during his life, made by the Industrial Revolution .

In 1820 most people in England worked on farms. When Dickens died in 1870, most people worked in towns. Many poor people worked in factories and lived in slums . What made Dickens angry? Dickens was angered by the sad things he saw. In his books, he tried to show what was wrong. In Nicholas Nickleby, he wrote about a terrible school, Dotheboys Hall, where unwanted children were cruelly treated. He wanted to make life better for people. He wanted new libraries, hospitals and schools. Pictures in Dickens Many of Dickens's books had pictures. The pictures helped readers follow the story. Two artists were famous for their Dickens drawings. They were George Cruikshank and Hablot K Browne, known as 'Phiz'. How did Dickens die? In 1864 Dickens and Ellen Ternan were in a train crash. Dickens was not badly hurt, but he was never very well after this accident. In 1868 he went on a tour of the United States. He read to large audiences, on stage. It was very tiring. He came home worn out and sick.

Dickens died in June 1870, at home in Kent. He was working on a new book. It was The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Charles Dickens was buried in Westminster Abbey. { charlesdickens } Charles Dickens Biography (1812-1870) C H A R L E S D I C K E N S Charles Dickens was closest to his sister, Fanny who was two years older. Elizabeth Dickens (1789-1863) was born Elizabeth Barrow. She and John Dickens (1785 - 1851) named their eldest son after her father, Charles Barrow (1759-1826). John Dickens worked as a clerk at Admiral's Building, Chatham House Dockyard, by the River Medway in Kent from 1817 to 1822. The Dickens family lived at 16 Bayham Street in Camden Town (the house is now demolished). The house Charles Dickens was born in at Southsea, Portsmouth, is now a museum, furnished as it would have been when John and Elizbeth Dickens set up their home there.

It was at Marshalsea Debtors Prison, near Blackman Street in Southwark, south London, where the Dickens family were incarcerated. Today, all that remains of the prison is a brick wall. The prison was closed in 1842 and the buildings were later destroyed. Wellington House Academy, attended by Dickens from 1824 until 1827, inpired Salem House in David Copperfield. Charles and his schoolmates kept pet white mice in their desks. The illustrator George Cruikshank (1792 - 1878) worked closely with Dickens. Their friendship later soured when Cruikshank became involved with the Temperance movement. Dickens often used real places as inspiration for his stories. The White Hart Inn in Southwark appears prominently in The Pickwick Papers. It was at Colin's Farm in Hampstead where the Dickens family took a recuperative holiday following the death of Mary Hogarth in 1837. Then a rural haven, it is now part of north London. Mr and Mrs Dickens spent their honeymoon in the village of Chalk in Kent. The following year they returned to Chalk with their baby son, Charley.

The Dickens family lived at 48 Doughty Street, Bloomsbury, for two years. Today this house is the Charles Dickens Museum - the only one of Dicken's London homes to have survived. His son Walter Dickens (1841 - 63) travelled to India as a cadet in the East India Company. He would be promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the 42nd Highlanders. Frank Dickens (1844 - 86) initially wanted to be a doctor, but ended up a hero of the Royal Canadia Mounted Police. Henry Dickens (1849 - 1933) was the only one of the siblings to go to university. Later he wrote two non-fiction books: Memories of My Father and Recollections of Sir Henry Fielding Dickens KC. He was the last surviving Dickens child and died at the age of 84, after being hit by motorcycle while crossing a road. He is buried at Putney Vale , South London. One of his many grandchildren was the novelist Monica Dickens.

Alfred Dickens (1845 - 1912) was fortunate in his parents' choice of godfathers: Count Alfred d'Orsay and Alfred, Lord Tennyson, soon to be named poet laureate. Sydney Dickens (1845 - 72). He joined the Navy at the age of 13, setting sail for Canada when he was just 14 years old. His father's early pride turned to shame as Sydney fell into terrible debt and became notorious in the Navy for his "dissolute" lifestyle. Edward Dickens (1852 - 1902) was always known as "Plorn". Moved to Australia at the age of 16 to join his brother Alfred where Charles had bought his son a sheep farm. After a severe drought the business was in ruins. While Alfred subsequently became a respected businessman, Plorn fell into debt on numerous occasions. In 1889 he was elected MP for Wincannia in New South Wales. He held the post for five years. He fell into debt again soon afterwards and his health began to fail. He died in Moree, NSW, and is buried there.

Gad's Hill Place, at Higham, near Rochester in Kent, was the only house Charles Dickens ever owned.

He bought the house in 1856 and it was here that he died in 1870, Selected Books THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT, 1843-44 THE CHIMES, 1845 THE CRICKET ON THE HEART, 1846 PICTURES FROM ITALY, 1846 A CHILD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND, 1851-53 BLEAK HOUSE, 1853 THE TALE OF TWO CITIES, 1859 THE UNCOMMERCIAL TRAVELLER, 1860 THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD, 1870 SPEECHES, LETTERS AND SAYINGS, 1870 COLLECTED WORKS EDITIONS: The Charles Dickens Edition, 21 vols., (1867-75); Nonesuch Edition, 23 vols., (1937-38); The New Oxford Illustrated Dickens, 21 vols.

(1947-58); The Clarendon Dickens (in progress, 1966-) TO BE READ AT DUSK, 1898 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS, 1908 (2 vols.) CHARLES DICKENS'S UNCOLLECTED WRITINGS FROM HOUSEHOLD WORDS, 1970 (ed. by Harry Stone) THE SUPERNATURAL SHORT STORIES OF CHARLES DICKENS, 1979 (edited by Michael Hayes) A DECEMBER VISION, 1986

Question: In which year did British author Charles Dickens die?
Answer: 1870