Charles Dickens Timeline

  • Charles is born

    Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England.
  • The Dickens family moved out

    They moved out to Cathan, Kent.
  • They moved out, again

    They moved to Camden Town, a poor neighbourhood in London.
  • Charles Dickens' father is sent to prison

    Charles' father, John Dickens is sent to prison for debt.
  • Charles was forced to leave school

    Charles left school after his father went to prison. He worked at a boot-blacking factory to gain some money and support his family economically.
  • Period: to

    Charles was permitted to go back to school, but was to forced to leave school afterwards

    John Dickens received a family inheritance, which he used to pay off his debts. When Charles turned 15 years old, he had to leave school once again to work as an office boy to help his family's financial problems. That job was like a starting point for his writer career.
  • Charles began freelance reporting at the law courts of London

    A few years after that, he began working for two major London newspaper.
  • Charles began submitting sketches to magazines and newspaper

    He began submitting sketches under the pseudonym "Boz".
  • Charles' first book

    His clippings were released published in his first book, "Sketches by Boz".
  • Charles' first child

    Charles had his first child, one of his ten that he would have.
  • Charles and his wife travels to America

    Charles and his wife take a tour around America.
  • Charles releases the book A Christmas Carol

    A Christmas Carol was such a hit, that the first 6000 printings of it were sold out a few days later.
  • Charles Dicken's death

    He died at age 58 on June 9 1870, in his home country, Kent, England. Charles died by suffering a stroke. At the time of his death, his final novel, "The mystery of Edwin Wood", was unfinished.