Charles Dickens

Background

Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist whose stories earned him recognition worldwide. He was an Aquarius, born on February 7, 1812, in Portsmouth, England. Dickens was the second of eight children of Elizabeth and John Dickens. When he turned four, his family relocated to Sheerness and then to Chatham, Kent. Dickens spent a lot of time reading picturesque novels like “The Arabian Nights.” His father worked for the Navy Pay Office, so they moved around a lot. Eventually, his mother died in prison, and Dickens paid the creditors, moving his family to a family friend’s home.

In 1832, Dickens’s uncle offered him a job on “The Mirror of Parliament,” and he worked in the House of Commons. In 1833, he submitted his first story, “A Dinner at Poplar Walk,” to “Monthly Magazine”. By 1836, Dickens became the editor of Bentley’s Miscellany, and in 1838, “Oliver Twist” was published. “Oliver Twist” became the first Victorian novel with a child protagonist. In 1843, Dickens wrote “A Christmas Carol,” and in 1845, he wrote “The Cricket on the Hearth.” In 1859, Dickens published “A Tale of Two Cities.” “Great Expectations” followed suit in 1861. Dickens wrote many books in his lifetime. His last was “Edwin Drood” in 1870, but it was left unfinished due to his death.

Dickens married Catherine Thomson Hogarth in April 1836 and separated in 1858. He was then in a relationship with Ellen Ternan until his death. Dickens had 10 children, and on June 8, 1870, he suffered a stroke that led to his death. He was a celebrated novelist whose legacy lives on in his stories.