Charles Dickens – 1812-1870
Born 7 February 1812 at Landport, Portsmouth
Died 9 June 1870 Higham – aged 58
Regarded as one of England’s greatest ever writers and the pre-eminent novelist of the Victorian Era.
He was a prolific writer, both as a journalist, editor, and fiction writer. He was able to draw upon many of his own personal experiences and observances to create larger than life characters, which vividly portrayed life and social conditions in Victorian Britain.
Charles Dickens was born in 1812, the son of John and Elizabeth Dickens and was fortunate to be sent to school at the age of nine, but his father was living beyond his means and a sudden drop in income meant his whole family (apart from Charles and his older sister Fanny who were found lodgings) were sent to Marshalsea Debtors Prison in 1824. This traumatic time, and the forlorn person that his father had become, was to be characterised in the person of Mr Micawber and the novel David Copperfield which Dickens started writing in 1849.
Charles was found manual work at Warren’s Blacking House, which was an enlightening and humbling experience, which stayed with him for the rest of his life.
Most of Charles Dickens works are available, free of charge, and in different formats, online at the Gutenberg project. Here are links to a number of his most famous books:
And here are some links to the leading Charles Dickens websites and associations: