Full name: Charles Dickens Born: 7th February 1812 Place of Birth: Southsea, Portsmouth Occupation: Author Died: 9th June 1870

Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on 7th February 1812 in Southsea, Portsmouth and was one of eight children.  Dickens early life was troubled due to his father's imprisonment for bad debt, after the family moved from Portsmouth to Camden Town in London.  Dickens had to be taken out of school and endure poor conditions whilst working at Warren's blacking factory along the bank of the River Thames in London to support his family. 

After his father received some inheritance money to pay off his debts, Dickens was able to return to school but was forced out of school again at the age of 15 and worked in an office to support his family, which was the start of his long writing career.  Dickens fictionalised his troubled childhood experiences in two of his most famous novels 'David Copperfield' and 'Great Expectations'. 

Charles Dickens began his writing career as a freelance reporter for the law courts of London before becoming a journalist for 'The Mirror of Parliament', 'The True Sun' and 'The Morning Chronicle'.  In 1836, Dickens published 'Sketches by Boz' and began writing the famous series of monthly sketches called 'The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'. 

Dickens began writing his first novel 'Oliver Twist' whilst working for a magazine called 'Bentley's Miscellany', which was inspired by his own difficult childhood.  Oliver Twist was published in monthly instalments in a magazine and was hugely successful in England and America.  As a result, Dickens' embarked on a tour of America to give lectures and speeches.
 
Dickens married Catherine Hogarth, with whom he had ten children, but the couple separated in 1858.  Dickens' literary career consisted of the publication of a number of highly successful novels.  Dickens wrote one of his most famous publications, 'A Christmas Carol' in 1843, followed by an autobiographical novel, 'David Copperfield' in 1850 and Bleak House in 1853 to name a few.  Dickens also wrote weekly periodicals, various travel books and a number of plays and  appeared in various theatre productions, including a performance in front of Queen Victoria in 1851. 

Charles Dickens' novels are still read and enjoyed today and he is highly regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period.  Dickens died on 9th June 1870 from a stroke and was buried at Westminster Abbey.