Charles Dickens biography l Charles Dickens as a Victorian Novelist l Charles Dickens Facts l Charles Dickens Famous works

Charles John Huffam Dickens
He was born in Landport on 7 February 1812. In 1814, the Dickens family moved to London, then two years later to Chatham, Kent, where Charles spent his first years. Because of their financial problems they came back to London in 1822 and lived in the poor neighborhood of London, Camden Town.

Charles Dickens Youth

Dickens' life was defining at the age of 12. His father, who had a hard time managing money and had a persistent debt, was sent to the Marshalsa debtor prison in 1824. Charles was therefore taken from the school and forced to labor in a warehouse which was used to feed his family with blacking or shoe polishing. Charles was deeply influenced mentally and sociologically by this occurrence. It gave him a first-hand understanding of poverty and made him the most vigorous and famous voice in his day.

After a few months, Dickens' dad was released from prison and Charles was allowed to return to school. He graduated at 15 and worked as an attorney's boy, but he learned shorthand at night. In 1830 he worked in the courts as a shorthand journalist and then as a parliamentarian and reporter.

In 1833 Dickens began writing short stories and essays to newspapers. The Popular Walk supper was Dickens' first published story. It was published in the Monthly Magazine in December 1833. In 1834, still a journalist, he got the famous Boz moniker. Dickens' first book, Sketches by Boz, was published in 1836. That same year, he married Catherine Hogarth, the daughter of the editor of the Evening Chronicle. They had 10 children together until they parted in 1858.

While Dickens was the biggest novelist vocation, he kept his work as a journalist until the end of his life, editing The Daily News, Household Words, and the full year. His links to various magazines and newspapers allowed him at the beginning of his career to start publishing his own stories.

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club were published monthly from April 1836 to November 1837. Pickwick emerged and became one of the most popular works of the era in 1837. After Dickens's successful novel career, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Store, and Barnaby Rudge in the series, Master Humphrey's Clock created works that have been more sophisticated at an amazing rate.In 1842 he and his wife went to the United States and Canada.

His popularity allowed Gad's Hill Place to be purchased in 1856, an estate he had loved since childhood. In 1858 Dickens began a series of paid readings, which became popular immediately. Dickens has played in all over 400 times. In that year, after a long time of troubles, he divorced his wife. Dickens also had an affair at the time with a young actress named Ellen Ternan. The specific nature of his relationship is uncertain, but the personal and working life of Dickens was undoubtedly crucial.

In the later years of his life, Dickens worsened his failing health with frequent readings. He collapsed with indications of slight stroke during his lectures in 1869. He left Gad's Hill and began working on Edwin Drood, which was never completed.


On June 9, 1870, Charles Dickens died after a stroke at home. In contrast to his intention to be buried at Rochester Cathedral, he was buried at the Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey. The inscription reads in his grave:

"He sympathized with the downtrodden, the destitute, the oppressed, and one of England's best novelists was lost in his death."
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List of Works by Charles Dickens

1. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit
2. A Tale of Two Cities
3. Great Expectations
4. Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son.
5. Bleak House
6. Hard Times
7. Little Dorrit
8. Our Mutual Friend
9. Oliver Twist
10. A Christmas Carol
11. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
12. The Old Curiosity Shop
13. Barnaby Rudge
14. David Copperfield