Charles Dickens
In full: Charles John Huffam Dickens
Born: February 7, 1812, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England
Died: June 9, 1870, Gad’s Hill, near Chatham, Kent (aged 58)
Notable Works: “A
Christmas Carol” “A
Tale of Two Cities”
“All the Year Round”
“American Notes”
“Barnaby Rudge”
“Bleak House” “David
Copperfield”
“Dombey and Son”
“Great Expectations”
“Hard Times” “Little
Dorrit” “Martin
Chuzzlewit” “Nicholas
Nickleby” “Oliver
Twist” “Our Mutual
Friend” “Sketches by
‘Boz’ ” “The Cricket
on the Hearth” “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” “The Old Curiosity Shop” “The
Pickwick Papers”
Charles Dickens is much loved for his great contribution to classic English
literature. He was the quintessential Victorian author. His epic stories, vivid
characters and exhaustive depiction of contemporary life are unforgettable.
His own story is one of rags to riches. He was born in Portsmouth on 7
February 1812, to John and Elizabeth Dickens. The good fortune of being sent
to school at the age of nine was short-lived because his father, inspiration for
the character of Mr Micawber in 'David Copperfield', was imprisoned for bad
debt. The entire family, apart from Charles, were sent to Marshalsea along
with their patriarch. Charles was sent to work in Warren's blacking factory
and endured appalling conditions as well as loneliness and despair. After
three years he was returned to school, but the experience was never
forgotten and became fictionalised in two of his better-known novels 'David
Copperfield' and 'Great Expectations'.
Like many others, he began his literary career as a journalist. His own father
became a reporter and Charles began with the journals 'The Mirror of
Parliament' and 'The True Sun'. Then in 1833 he became parliamentary
journalist for The Morning Chronicle. With new contacts in the press he was
able to publish a series of sketches under the pseudonym 'Boz'. In April 1836,
he married Catherine Hogarth, daughter of George Hogarth who edited
'Sketches by Boz'. Within the same month came the publication of the highly
successful 'Pickwick Papers', and from that point on there was no looking
back for Dickens.
As well as a huge list of novels he published autobiography, edited weekly
periodicals including 'Household Words' and 'All Year Round', wrote travel
books and administered charitable organisations. He was also a theatre
enthusiast, wrote plays and performed before Queen Victoria in 1851. His
energy was inexhaustible and he spent much time abroad - for example
lecturing against slavery in the United States and touring Italy with
companions Augustus Egg and Wilkie Collins, a contemporary writer who
inspired Dickens' final unfinished novel 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood'.
He died of a stroke in 1870. He is buried at Westminster Abbey.
