Charles dickens autobiography

Charles John Huffman Dickens was born in Portsmouth on February 7, 1812, to John and Elizabeth Dickens. At the age of three the family left the south coast and went to live in London where a young Charles attended school, only for his education to abruptly stop three years later when his father was incarcerated at Marshalsea’s Debtors Prison.

With his father behind bars Charles was sent to work at Warren’s blacking factory, earning just six shillings a week. The appalling conditions of the factory, long thankless work and being separated from his family made a huge impression on the teenage Charles Dickens, later influencing his novels and essays – Little Dorrit was set around Marshalsea Prison and his experiences in the workhouses had a major bearing on David Copperfield, Great Expectations, and most notably Oliver Twist.

Once his father was released from prison Charles went back to school before starting his working life