Charles John Huffman Dickens, the second of eight children, was born to Elizabeth and John Dickens in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England on February 7, 1812. Not long after Charles’ birth, his father’s job demanded a transfer to Chatham in Kent County. There the family settled into a large home where Dickens claims he lived his best years of his childhood. At an early age, he displayed a passionate love for literature and astounding creativity.

The Dickens family, during the Victorian Era, was considered a middle class family. John Dickens, on a clerk’s salary, was awful at managing his expenses. He liked to bask in luxuries which were unaffordable to the family. Alas, in 1814, he was imprisoned due to the vast amount of debt that had accumulated. His family, save Charles, went with him to Marshalsea Prison. Charles, at the time, had been employed at Warren’s Shoe Blacking Factory to help with the family’s expenses. He resided in Camden Town from where he could walk to work and on Sundays, he could visit his father.

After a few months in prison, Charles’ father was finally released. Charles felt that he would be able to abandon his factory labor however, his mother desired for him to continue working in the horrible conditions of Warren’s Factory. Charles had been terribly scarred by his experiences there; he despised her for her choice. His father, however, averted him from the life of infinite hours of factory labor and arranged for his attendance at Wellington House Academy in London.

His influences to write were the horrendous reality of child labor and the conditions in which England was in during this epoch.

Works Cited

• Cody, David. “Dickens: A Brief Biography.”