Charles Dickens was born February 7, 1812 in Hampshire, England. He was the second of eight children born to John and Elizabeth Dickens. Dickens was raised in Chatham, Kent and Camden Town, London. During his younger years his family was wealthy enough to send him to a private school. Their wealth soon ended when his father was arrested and sent to Marshalsea Debtor’s prison. He had spent more money than he had and caused himself to fall into debt. Eventually the rest of his family joined him and Dickens was sent to live with Elizabeth Roylance, a family friend.
At 12-years-old, Dickens was working 10-hour shifts to help support his family and himself. He worked at Warren’s Blacking Warehouse earning six shillings a week. His job was to post labels on supplies. Dickens’ father was soon released from prison when his grandmother died. His family joined him at Roylance’s home and Dickens attended the Wellington House Academy in Northern London. However, his mother still made him work at the Warehouse and this brought Dickens to resent her. His stressful childhood led him to start writing essays and fiction and eventually he wrote the autobiography David Copperfield.
Dickens worked in a law office until he became a freelance reporter in 1828. One of his distant relatives, Thomas Charlton, was a freelance reporter at a law school. Dickens worked with Charlton and began writing novels and essays based on the legal system. These writings include Bleak House, Nicholas Nickleby and Dombey and Son.
It wasn’t until 1833 when Dickens finally got his first story published. It was titled A Dinner at Popular Walk and was published in London’s Monthly Magazine. In 1836 Dickens became an editor for Bentley’s Miscellany. He worked there for three years and produced Oliver Twist and The Old Curiosity Show over this time period. Later that year in April, he was married to Catherine Hogarth. They moved to Bloomsbury and had ten children together.
In 1857, Dickens worked with his friend, Wilkie Colins, in producing a play. They hired professional actresses, one in which Dickens developed a strong bond with. He later separated from his wife because a divorce would have ruined his reputation. However, Dickens financially supported his wife for a while after that. Soon after separating from his wife, Dickens began traveling the world and performing public readings.
Dickens was one of the most popular English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his most popular novels include A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol. One of Dickens’ first pieces of work, Little Doritt, was written during his weekly visits to the Marhsalsea prison.
On June 9, 1865 Dickens was involved in a train crash. His carriage was untouched, but the first seven carriages were thrown off the tracks. Dickens rushed from his cart to aid the injured passengers. Later Dickens used this tragic even as a short ghost story titled The Signal-Man.
Exactly five years later on June 9, 1870, Dickens passed away. He had suffered from his second stroke at his home in Higham, Kent. He is buried in the Poets’ corner of Westminster Abbey.
