charles dickens was born on the 7th of february 1812 in ...charles dickens died on the 9th of june...

Charles Dickens was born on the 7th of February 1812 in Portsmouth, England. His father was a clerk for the Navy.

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Dickens had seven brothers and sisters. The family moved to Chatham in Kent when he was four years old.

The family moved to London in 1822. They did not have much money and in 1824 his father was arrested for debt and sent to Marshalsea Prison.


At the age of 11, Dickens was sent to work at a boot-blacking factory, where he stuck the labels on the pots of boot black (polish).

Charles Dickens died on the 9th of June 1870, at his home, Gad's Hill Place in Kent. The building is now an independent school.


Dickens suffered from epilepsy as a child, and several characters in his books also suffer from it.

Dickens gave his younger brother Augustus the nickname Moses. Little Augustus mispronounced this as "Boses", which Dickens shortened to Boz and used as a pseudonym (pen name).


His novel David Copperfield is based on his own childhood, and he described the character of Copperfield as his "favourite child”.

Dickens was working on a novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, when he died. He did not leave any notes that show how he planned to end it.


Dickens' books were originally published in monthly instalments, not as complete books.

On the 9th of June 1865 Dickens was involved in a train crash. He was unharmed, but 10 people died and about 50 were injured.


Dickens was buried on the 14th of June in Poets Corner, Westminster Abbey. Only 12 mourners attended the burial, as Dickens left instructions for a private funeral.

Dickens had a pet raven called Grip, who he put in his novel Barnaby Rudge. The bird is also thought to have inspired Edgar Allen Poe's poem, The Raven.


Dickens walked around London, watching and listening to get ideas for his books. He made notes and used them in his descriptions.

When Dickens toured America in 1868, tickets to see him sold out. The trip was exhausting for him and when he returned he was very tired and unwell.


When Dickens' father was in prison, his mother and younger siblings had to go with him. Dickens had to live with a family friend. He was twelve years old.

Dickens loved the theatre and hoped to be an actor. In 1832, he missed an audition at Covent Garden because he was unwell and he became a writer instead.


Dickens and his wife Catherine did not have a happy marriage. They had 10 children together. Most of them lived with Dickens after the couple separated in 1858.

Dickens was a successful journalist before he began writing fiction. He worked for two London newspapers, The Sun and The Morning Chronicle.


Dickens published his own weekly magazine, Household Words, from 1850 to 1859. As well as his stories, it featured other well known writers such as Mrs Gaskell and Wilkie Collins.

charles dickens was born on the 7th of february 1812 in ...charles dickens died on the 9th of june...

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