Charles Dickens

On April 2, 1836, the famous novelist got married to editor George Hogarth's daughter, Catherine. The couple had ten children in the course of twenty-two years of marriage.

In their house at Bloomsbury, the family was joined by Catherine's siblings, Frederick and Mary. The latter was idolized by the author and the character of Rose Maylie from 'Oliver Twist', was based on her.

In 1842, Georgina, Catherine's elder sister came to live with the Dickens family, taking responsibility of the children's upbringing.

Charles John Huffam Dickens was born in Portsea Island, England, on February 7, 1812, to John, a clerk at the 'Navy Pay Office', and his wife Elizabeth, an aspiring school teacher.

Three years later, the family moved to London, and finally settled down in Chatham, where Charles spent his childhood along with his siblings Frances, Letitia, Harriet, Frederick, Albert, and Augustus.

As a child, Charles was an avid reader, fond of books like 'Robinson Crusoe', 'The Arabian Nights', and 'Gil Blas'. His favourite writers were Scottish poet Tobias Smollett, and English author Henry Fielding. He pursued his elementary education from a private institution, and later at a school owned by a man named William Giles.

In 1824, John was arrested for not repaying £40 and 10 shillings to a baker named James Kerr. He was joined by his wife and all children except Charles. The boy started living with a distant relative, Elizabeth Roylance.

The child had no option but to drop out of school and start working at the 'Warren's Blacking Warehouse'. Here, he earned six shillings a week for labelling pots containing blacking substance.

In 1832, Dickens began working at the 'House of Commons' of the United Kingdoms, for 'The Mirror of Parliament', a journal that reported Parliamentary discussions. He also worked the 'Morning Chronicle', writing news articles on election activities in Britain.

The following year, in 1833, he published his first work of fiction, 'A Dinner at Poplar Walk', in 'Monthly Magazine', a publication managed by political editor, Richard Phillips.

Two years later, the editor of ‘Evening Chronicle’, George Hogarth, requested the budding writer to contribute his sketches. Charles began visiting Hogarth at the latter's house and became friends with the whole family.

In 1836, he published his first compilation, 'Sketches by Boz', a collection of short literary pieces accompanied by pictures drawn by caricaturist George Cruikshank. Boz was a pseudonym that was inspired by the nickname 'Moses', by which Charles would address Augustus, his brother.

The same year, the writer who had gained recognition by then, was employed by the literary magazine, 'Bentley's Miscellany', as its editor. In 1836, he also completed writing his novel, 'The Pickwick Papers', which was initially serialized, and became quite popular.

Amongst several popular, ‘David Copperfield’ is one of the most popular works penned down by Dickens. Considered to have several autobiographical elements, the author has used his debt-ridden father, John as the groundwork for the character Mr. Micawber, and his mother Elizabeth as the model for Mrs. Micawber.

The writer is also known for his story 'A Christmas Carol', which claims the highest number of movie adaptations.