Biography of Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens was born February 7, 1812 in Landport, Portsea, to a middle-class family. His father John Dickens worked as a clerk in the local Navy Pay-Office, and his mother was Elizabeth. Soon after his birth, Charles moved to Norfolk, temporarily, and then to London and finally to Chatham. (Bloom 1-3)

A few years later, in 1821, the Navy made internal reforms, and Charles's father lost his job, leaving the family poor and without steady income (Bloom 7). Due to this, the family moved to Camden Town, London in search of work. Just under three years later, Charles's father was arrested and thrown into debtors' prison along with the family, excluding Charles. With only twelve years under his belt, Charles was sent to work at the Warren's Blacking factory to repay the debts. He originally stayed in Camden and walked over four miles to work everyday, but he soon moved closer so that he could see his family easier.(Chesterton 7)

After four months of working at the blacking factory, Charles's family was released from prison and Charles was allowed to stop working. Instead, he was sent to school to study after the family moved back into Camden Town (Miller 27-35). After his father inherited a small legacy, he was allowed to go to private schools and his father sent him off to Wellington House Academy in London from 1824-1827, and then to Mr. Dawson's school in 1827(Miller 27-35). Charles was educated highly here and soon after completing school he worked as a law office clerk from 1827-1828(Miller 27-35). Not seeming to enjoy this profession, Charles decided to work instead as a shorthand reporter at the Doctor's Commons. This is where his love of writing started. He began to write for magazines under the alias Boz, a nickname which came from Moses, the name of his favorite character in "Vicar of Wakefield." Dickens's first fictional story ever published was "Dinner at Poplar Walk" which appeared in 1833 in a monthly magazine (Miller 32). In 1836, "Sketches by Boz" was published followed by "The Pickwick Papers." After this, His career as a writer took off and he became a full time writer, with his first novel being, "Oliver Twist"(Orwell 6).

By the late 1830s Dickens was becoming well known and was able to purchase a very nice house near Regent's Park, London, in 1839. After purchasing his house, though, he decided to partake in much travel and went to America for the first time in 1842, followed by Italy in 1844, Switzerland in 1845. After completing his visit to America and Canada, he wrote "American Notes" which was a disaster in America (Chesterton 10). In his writing he criticized strongly the use of chewing tobacco, which he claimed was very common in America (Chesterton 10). He also wrote many anti-slavery comments which didn't settle well with the pro-slavery Americans of the time (Chesterton 10). During this time, Dickens also founded an amateur theatrical company which took up a great deal of his time in the latter part of his life.

In 1849, Dickens began writing his own journal, which was known as "Household Words," and then in 1856 he purchased the Gadshill Place, which was an estate he had dreamed of ever since he was a child. With this new acquisition came a great loss to Dickens however. His wife left him only two years after buying the house. This hurt Dickens deeply, but he didn't let it affect his career and he kept working diligently. (Orwell 5-17)

In November of 1867, Dickens