Charles Dickens born 1812- 1870

About:

Charles John Huffman Dickens is acclaimed as one of history’s greatest novelists – clearly demonstrated by the fact that none of his books has ever gone out of print.

Born into a family that was quite comfortably off, Dickens’ life changed dramatically when his father was imprisoned for debt at the Marshalsea Prison, and the twelve year old Charles was sent out to work for ten hours a day at a boot blacking factory, to help support his family. Although happier and more prosperous times were to follow, these early experiences resulted in a fierce identification with the working classes, and a formidably effective drive to champion their cause in addressing social injustices and improving working conditions.

He became a journalist, writing articles that appeared as sketches, and his works were mostly published as serialised novels (the usual format for fiction at the time – prefiguring the modern day soap). The first of these serialised novels, The Pickwick Papers in 1836, was an instant success but despite the literary triumph that followed he remained a journalist and contributed to journals throughout his literary career.

It seems that Dickens’ private life did not echo the solid integrity of his public persona. His first love, Maria Beadnell is said to be the model for Dora in David Copperfield – but her parents disapproved of the relationship and sent her away to school in Paris. He went on to marry Catherine Thompson Hogarth in 1836, who bore him ten children but he separated from her in 1858, beset by rumours of affairs with the actress Ellen Tiernan and with his wife’s own sister, Georgina.

It was while in the company of Ellen that Dickens was involved in the Staplehurst rail crash in 1865, when he famously left the unfinished manuscript of Our Mutual Friend in the carriage and had to return to retrieve it. After this, he became less prolific as a writer, and concentrated more on performing public readings of his own works – the theatricalisation of his stories proving to be as popular then as it is today.

Dickens died of a stroke in 1870 and contrary to his wish to be buried in Rochester Cathedral, Dickens was buried in Poets’ Corner at Westminster Abbey. The inscription on his tomb reads: "He was a sympathiser to the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world."