Who was Charles Dickens?
Novelist.
Date and Place of Birth:
7th February 1812, Mile End Terrace, Portsmouth,
Hampshire, England.
Family Background:
His father John Dickens was a Pay Clerk in the
Royal Navy who married Elizabeth Barrow in 1809 at St. Mary-le-Strand,
London.
Education:
William Giles’s School. Wellington House Academy,
London.
Chronology/Biography of Charles DIckens:
1812: Family move
in June to 16 Hawk Street, Portsmouth.
1813: Family move
in December to 39 Wish Street, Southsea.
1814: Brother Alfred
born and died September.
1815: Family move
to London as John Dickens is posted back by Navy. Live at Norfolk
Street, St. Pancras.
1816: Sister Letitia
born.
1817: John Dickens
is posted first to Sheerness then Chatham Dockyard in Kent. Family
move to 2 Ordnance Terrace, Chatham.
1819: Sister Harriet
born.
1820: Brother Frederick
born.
1821: Family moves
to St. Mary’s Place. Dickens begins school. Writes a tragedy "Misnar,
the Sultan of India".
1822: John Dickens
recalled to London. Settle at 16 Bayham Street, Camden Town.
1823: Family moves
to 4 Gower Street North. Mrs. Dickens attempts to start a school
without success.
1824: Dickens sent
to work at Warren’s Blacking Factory. Father arrested for debt and
sent to Marshalsea Prison where he is joined by wife and younger
children. Dickens lodges with family friends. On father’s release
family moves to 29 Johnson Street, Somers Town.
1825: Father retires
from Navy and Dickens sent to school.
1827: Family evicted
for non-payment of rates. Dickens goes to work at Ellis and Blackmore’s
Solicitors then Charles Molloy’s Solicitors. Birth of brother Augustus.
1828: Father works
as a reporter for the "Daily Herald" newspaper.
1829: Family move
to 12 Norfolk Street, Fitzroy Square. Dickens works as a freelance
reporter at Doctor’s Commons.
1830: Admitted as
a reader at the British Museum.
1831: Begins work
as a reporter for "The Mirror of Parliament" edited by
his uncle J.M. Barrow.
1832: Reporter at
the "True Sun" newspaper. Illness prevents him attending
auditions at Covent Garden.
1834: Becomes reporter
on the "Morning Chronicle" and meets Catherine Hogarth.
Takes rooms at 13 Furnival’s Inn, Holborn.
1835: Becomes engaged
to Catherine Hogarth.
1837: Birth of first
child Charles, on 6th January. Moves to 48 Doughty Street.
Visits France and Belgium.
1838: Second child
Mary born.
1839: Resigns editorship
of "Bentley’s Miscellany". Third child Kate born. Moves
to 1 Devonshire Place, Regent’s Park.
1841: Fourth child
Walter born. Declines an invitation to be Liberal parliamentary
candidate for Reading. Granted the Freedom of the City of Edinburgh
on 29th June.
1842: Visits America
with Catherine and Cornwall later in the year.
1844: Fifth child
Francis born. Breaks with previous publishers Chapman and Hall and
moves to Bradbury and Evans. Lives in Genoa, Italy.
1845: Visits Rome
with Catherine. Sixth child Alfred born.
1846: Becomes Editor
of the "Daily News". Resides in Lausanne and then Paris.
1847: Returns to
London. Birth of Seventh child Sydney.
1848: Death of sister
Fanny.
1849: Eighth child
Henry born.
1850: Ninth child
Dora born. Founds the Guild of Literature and Art with Bulwer-Lytton
to help writers and artists who have fallen on hard times.
1851: Catherine
ill and is treated at Malvern, Worcestershire where Dickens visits
her. Death of Father and baby Dora. Family move to Tavistock House.
1852: Tenth child
Edward born.
1853: Holiday in
Boulogne. Visits Switzerland with Wilkie Collins.
1855: Joins Administrative
Reform Society. Family move to Paris from October
1856: Returns to
England to live at Gad Hill Place, Chatham, Kent.
1857: Hans Christian
Andersen visits Dickens at Gad’s Hill. Holidays in the Lake District
with Wilkie Collins.
1858: Seperates
from his wife. Embarks on a provincial reading tour.
1860: Katey Dickens
marries Charles Collins.
1863: Charity readings
at the British Embassy in Paris. Death of Walter Dickens in India.
1865: 9th June,
involved in a serious railway accident at Staplehurst, Kent with
Ellen Ternan.
1867: Begins a reading
tour of the U.S.A.
1868: Leaves New
York for England.
1869: Reading tour
broken off because of illness.
1870: January, twelve
farewell readings in London. 9th March, received by Queen Victoria.
Written Works:
- 1835:
"Sketches by Boz".
- 1837:
"Pickwick Papers".
- 1838:
"Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi". "Oliver Twist.".
"Sketches of a Young Gentleman".
- 1839:
"Nicholas Nickleby".
- 1840:
"Sketches of Young Couples".
- 1841:
"Barnaby Rudge". "The Old Curiosity Shop".
- 1842:
"American Notes for General Circulation".
- 1843:
"A Christmas Carol".
- 1844:
"The Chimes". "A Goblin Story". "Martin
Chuzzlewit".
- 1845:
"The Cricket on the Hearth".
- 1846:
"Pictures from Italy".
- 1848:
"Dombey and Son". "The Haunted Man".
- 1850:
"David Copperfield".
- 1851:
"A Child's History of England".
- 1853:
"Bleak House".
- 1854:
"Hard Times".
- 1857:
"Little Dorrit".
- 1859:
"A Tale of Two Cities".
- 1860:
"The Uncommercial Traveller".
- 1861:
"Great Expectations".
- 1865:
"Our Mutual Friend".
- 1870:
"The Mystery of Edwin Drood".
Marriage:
2nd April 1836 to Catherine Hogarth at St. Lukes
Church, Chelsea.
Places of Interest:
AVON:
Stayed at No 35 St. Jame's Square and the Saracen's
Head, Bath.
Gave readings in the Assembly Rooms, Bath.
HAMPSHIRE:
Birthplace Museum, 393 Old Commercial Road, Portsmouth,
PO1 4OL.
KENT:
Gad's Hill Place, Rochester, ME3 7PA. (home)..
Charles Dickens Centre, Eastgate House, Rochester.
Chatham.
Pegwell Bay Hotel, Pegwell Bay. (mentioned in"Sketches by Boz").
Bleak House Museum, 2 Victoria Parade, Broadstairs, CT10 1QS.
LONDON:
Dickens House Museum, 48 Doughty Street, Bloomsbury,
WC1N 2LX..
George Inn, Southwark. (mentioned in "Little Dorrit").
Date and Place of Death:
9th June 1870, of cerebral haemorrhage, at Gad’s
Hill, Near Chatham, Kent, England.
Age at Death:
56.
Site of Grave:
Poet’s Corner, Westminster Abbey, London,
England.
Westminster Abbey, London where Dickens
is buried
(© A Blagg)
Further Information:
Dickens Fellowship
48 Doughty Street
London
WC1N 2LF
