Charles Dickens

Born in Portsmouth on 7 February 1812 on Old Commercial Road, Charles Dickens was a well-known personality and his novels proved immensely popular during his lifetime. His first full novel, The Pickwick Papers, brought him immediate fame, and this success continued throughout his career.

His father, inspiration for the character of Mr Micawber in David Copperfield, was imprisoned for bad debt. His family, all apart from Charles, were sent to Marshalsea prison for the father's crimes. Forced to leave school at the age of 12 for a job in a factory, Dickens based several of his characters on his experiences. He began working 10 hour days at Warren's Blacking Warehouse on Hungerford Stairs, pasting labels on blacking. The strenuous - and often cruel - work conditions for children made a deep impression on Dickens, and later influenced his fiction and essays.

Education: Charles John Huffam Dickens

Born: 7 February 1812 Landport, Portsmouth

Died: 9 June 1870 (58) Gad's Hill Place, Higham, Kent

Similar authors: Jane Austen, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Emily Brontë, Thomas Hardy