DICKENS, Frederick (Charles´s brother)

In 1845 Frederick, then twenty-five and Dickens's junior

by eight years, was "transported to madness with love" 2 for
Anna Weller, who was only fifteen at the time. But, as
Frederick's friend, Thomas James Thompson, told Christiana,
Anna's eighteen-year-old sister to whom he was engaged, "Alas!
poor Fred's circumstances must condemn him for some time to
come to celibacy." 3 Yet it was possible for a man, even in 1864,
"to live and support a family upon a hundred [pounds] a year
without getting into debt"; and if he wished to live genteelly,
three hundred pounds a year would afford him and his family a
quite comfortable life. 4 Ever since Frederick was eighteen, he
had been clerking in the Treasury and was soon to work in the
War Office at the salary of £360 a year and, starting in 1847,
would earn an additional fifty as secretary to the Provident
Union formed by Dickens, Lemon, Jerrold, and Forster. 5 But
condemned he was, for Mr. Weller considered his daughter
much too young for marriage and he found Frederick's income
pitiable, as indeed it was compared to Thompson's, which con

-108-

Scenes of family harmony and cozy firesides in many of Dickens' stories seem in stark contrast to his own family life.
Growing up, the family situation was often precarious due to his father's trouble with debt, which landed him in debtors' prison
in 1824 when Charles was 12.

Later Dickens' own family was marked by strife as his relationship with his wife deteriorated and his sons seemed to have
inherited their paternal grandfather's trouble handling finances. Dickens once lamented that he had "brought up the largest
family with the smallest disposition for doing anything for themselves". Dickens' extended family's constant drain on his
finances, along with his built-in anxiety about money caused by his childhood, resulted in Dickens never feeling comfortable
enough about his financial situation.

Dickens' circle of friends consisted of people prominent in the arts, journalism, publishing, politics and public life. A loyal friend
who demanded loyalty in return, lines were drawn during Dickens' very public separation from Catherine. Those not
sympathetic to Dickens' side soon felt his wrath, in some cases, forever.

Parents
John Dickens (1785-1851) - Dickens' father, was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office. In 1809 he married
Elizabeth Barrow with whom he had eight children. John loved to live the good life but was frequently
unable to pay for it. He was imprisoned for debt in 1824 in the Marshalsea Debtor's Prison. After his
release from prison he returned to the Navy Pay Office, retired, and later worked as a reporter. His
money problems continued and when Charles gained fame as a writer he frequently embarrassed his
son by seeking loans from Charles' friends and publishers behind his back. Charles retained a warm
affection for his father while deploring his inability to manage money. John was the source of Charles'
character Mr. Micawber in the autobiographical novel, David Copperfield.

Gad's Hill Place

As a child Dickens would walk with his father by Gad's Hill Place, a large impressive mansion outside Rochester. His father
told him that with perseverance and hard work he could live in such a house.

Thirty-six years later, in 1856, Dickens bought it.

 Elizabeth (Barrow) Dickens (1789-1863) - Dickens' mother, married John Dickens in 1809. Charles was the
second of their eight children. Charles was taken from school to work at Warren's Blacking Factory to help
support the family during John's imprisonment for debt. When John was released and a quarrel with Charles'
employer resulted in Charles being removed from the Blacking Factory, his mother tried, unsuccessfully, to
patch things up and have Charles return to work. For the rest of his life Charles never forgave her. Charles
used her as the source of Mrs. Nickleby in Nicholas Nickleby.

Dickens' Siblings
Frances Elizabeth (Fanny) Dickens (1810-1848) Dickens oldest sister with whom he was very close in childhood. She
was a talented woman and studied music at the Royal Academy of Music. Fanny married Henry Burnett and had a
crippled son, Henry Jr, whom Dickens used as a model for both Paul Dombey and Tiny Tim. Fanny died of consumption
at age 38.
Read a letter Dickens wrote to his friend, John Forster, describing a visit to see his
terminally ill sister.
Alfred Allen Dickens (1813-1814) Dickens' younger brother who died in infancy.

Letitia Mary Dickens (1816-1893) Dickens' younger sister, Letitia married architect and artist Henry Austin in 1837.
When Henry died in 1862 Charles secured a government pension for Letitia.

Harriet Dickens (1819-?) Dickens' sister who died in childhood.

Frederick Dickens (1820-1868) Dickens' younger brother who lived with Charles when he moved to Furnival's Inn in
1834 and during the early years of Dickens' marriage to Catherine. Frederick married and fell into debt, using his
famous brother's name to obtain credit. Fred was later imprisoned for debt and spent the last years of his life an
alcoholic. When he died at age 48 Charles lamented Fred's "wasted life".

Alfred Lamert Dickens (1822-1860) Dickens' younger brother, a civil engineer and sanitary inspector. When Alfred
died in 1860 Charles helped support his family.

Augustus Dickens (1827-1866) Dickens' youngest brother. Dickens helped Augustus get a job with a shipping
merchant in London. Augustus' wife became blind and he left her and went to America with another woman with whom
he lived as man and wife. He died at age 39 in Chicago and Charles gave support to both wives.

Back to Top
Wife Catherine

Catherine (Hogarth) Dickens (1815-1879) - Dickens' wife, with whom he fathered 10 children. She was born in
Scotland on May 19, 1815 and came to England with her family in 1834. Catherine was the daughter of George
Hogarth, editor of the Evening Chronicle where Dickens was a young journalist. They were married on April 2, 1836 in
St. Luke's Church, Chelsea and honeymooned in Chalk, near Chatham. Dickens found Catherine an increasingly
incompetent mother and housekeeper and seemed to blame her for the birth of their 10 children. Their separation, in
1858, was much publicized and rumors of Dickens unfaithfulness abounded, which he vehemently denied in public.
Dickens and Catherine had little correspondence after the break, Catherine moving to a house in London with oldest
son, Charley, and Dickens retreating to Gad's Hill in Kent with Catherine's sister, Georgina, and all of the children
except Charlie remaining with him. On her deathbed in 1879 she gave her collection of Dickens' letters to daughter
Kate instructing her to "Give these to the British Museum, that the world may know he loved me once".

Back to Top

Dickens' Children
 Charles Culliford (Charley) Dickens (1837-1896) - Dickens' first child, educated at Eton and studied
business in Germany. Charley was the only child who lived with his mother after Dickens' separation with
Catherine in 1858. In 1862 he married Bessie Evans, daughter of Dickens' former publisher, Frederick
Evans, with whom Dickens had had a falling out. After a failed business venture, Dickens hired Charley as
sub-editor of All the Year Round.
Mary (Mamie) Dickens (1838-1896) - Dickens' second child, named for Mary Hogarth. She never married
and remained with Dickens until his death. She published a book of memoirs, My Father as I Recall Him.

Kate Macready (Katie) Dickens (1839-1929) Dickens' third child, named for Dickens' friend actor William
Macready. She had a talent for art and attended Bedford college. She sided with her mother in the
separation of her parents and married artist Charles Collins, brother of Dickens friend Wilkie Collins.
Dickens felt she married to get out of the home after the separation. When Collins, sickly for years, died
she married artist Carlo Perugini. She later revealed her father's relationship with Ellen Ternan in Gladys Storey's book
Dickens and Daughter.

Walter Savage Landor Dickens (1841-1863) - Dickens' fourth child named for English poet Walter Savage Landor. He
was nominated for a cadetship in the East India Company and went to India in 1857 where he advanced to the rank of
lieutenant in the 42nd Highlanders. He inherited his grandfather's problems with money and got into debt. He died of an
aortic aneurysm in Calcutta, his debts sent home to his father.

Francis Jeffrey (Frank) Dickens (1844-1886) - Dickens fifth child named for Dickens friend Lord Francis Jeffrey, editor
of the Edinburgh Review. He went to India in 1864 where he found his brother Walter had been dead a month. He
joined the Bengal Mounted Police, returned to England in 1871,the year after his father's death. He squandered his
inheritance and later went to Canada where he joined the Canadian Northwest Mounted Police. He died in Moline,
Illinois.

Alfred D'Orsay Tennyson Dickens (1845-1912) - Dickens' sixth child named for French artist Count Alfred D'Orsay
and English poet Alfred Lord Tennyson. He emigrated to Australia in 1865 where he remained for 45 years. Later he
lectured on his father's life and works in England and America, dying in New York on a lecture tour.

Sydney Smith Haldimand Dickens (1847-1872) - Dickens' seventh child embarked on a career with the navy which
pleased his father very much. He got into debt, asking his father for financial aid which Dickens finally refused. He died
at sea aboard the Malta.

Henry Fielding (Harry) Dickens (1849-1933) - Dickens eighth child named for English author Henry Fielding. Henry
was the most successful of Dickens children. Educated at Cambridge, he became a lawyer, judge, and was knighted in
1922. Later he performed readings of his father's works and published books on Dickens' life.

Dora Annie Dickens (1850-1851) - Dickens' ninth child was born during the writing of David Copperfield and was
named for David's wife. A sickly child, she died at eight months old.

Edward Bulwer Lytton (Plorn) Dickens (1852-1902) - Dickens 10th child and named for English Novelist and Dickens'
friend Edward Bulwer-Lytton. He joined his brother Alfred in Australia at 16 years of age. He became a Member of
Parliament in New South Wales, never returning to England

Back to Top

Catherine's Sisters
Mary Scott Hogarth (1819-1837) - Catherine's sister moved into the Dickens household in 1836, shortly after the
marriage. At 17 she took ill after attending the theater and died suddenly in Dickens' arms. Dickens was shattered and
took a ring from her finger which he wore the rest of his life. She was the model for Little Nell in The Old Curiosity Shop.
Dickens wrote the epitaph which appears on her gravestone: 'Young, beautiful, and good, God numbered her among his
angels at the early age of seventeen."

Georgina Hogarth (1827-1917) - Catherine's sister joined the Dickens household in 1844 helping to run the household
and raise the children. She remained with Dickens after the breakup of his marriage in 1858 prompting scandalous
rumors. After Dickens' death in 1870 she remained devoted to his children and worked to retain the integrity of Dickens'
reputation.

Back to Top
Friends and Associates

William Harrison Ainsworth (1805-1882) English novelist (Rookwood, Jack Sheppard) and influence on young
Dickens. Ainsworth brought Dickens into his literary circle that included Forster, Thackeray, and Carlyle.

Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) Danish writer and author of Fairy Tales. Dickens and Andersen admired each
others work. Andersen visited Dickens at Gad's Hill in 1857 and overstayed his welcome (he was there for 5 weeks)
after which the friendship waned. Dickens' daughter Kate later wrote that Andersen was "a bony bore and stayed on
and on".

Maria Beadnell (1810-1886) Youngest daughter of a London banker. Dickens fell in live with Maria in 1829 and courted
her unsuccessfully for 4 years as Maria's parents objected to the relationship. In 1855 Maria, now Mrs Henry Winter,
contacted Dickens and his infatuation with Maria was briefly rekindled...until they met and he saw that the matronly Mrs
Winter was not the Maria of his imagination. Dickens based Dora Spenlow (David Copperfield) and Flora Finching (Little
Dorrit) on Maria.

Thomas Beard (1807-1891) Journalist and Dickens' oldest friend. Dickens and Beard were reporters together at the
Morning Chronicle and Beard was best man at Dickens wedding. Beard's younger brother Francis was Dickens'
personal physician and was with him when he died.

Richard Bentley (1794-1871) Early Dickens publisher and owner of Bentley's Miscellany where Dickens served as
editor. Their stormy relationship ended in 1840 when Dickens bought the rights to Oliver Twist which Bentley owned by
a previous agreement.

William Bradbury (1800-1869) Partner in Bradbury and Evans, Dickens' printers when he was published by Chapman
and Hall, and then his publisher when he broke with Chapman and Hall in 1844. Dickens then broke with Bradbury and
Evans in 1858 when they refused to print his explanation for the separation with Catherine in their magazine, Punch.

Hablot Knight Browne (Phiz) (1815-1882) Dickens' major illustrator through most of his career. Browne took over the
illustration of Pickwick after the suicide of Robert Seymour. Browne and Dickens developed an excellent working
relationship and Browne took the nickname Phiz to complement Dickens' Boz. Browne would go on to illustrate Dickens'
work for 23 years. Dickens association with Browne cooled after the somewhat disappointing illustrations for A Tale of
Two Cities. He never worked for Dickens again.

Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) English novelist and playwright (Paul Clifford-It was a dark and stormy night...)
who, with Dickens, founded the Guild of Literature and Art. It was Bulwer-Lytton who persuaded Dickens to change the
ending of Great Expectations from one where Pip and Estella part, to one where they apparently live happily ever after.

Angela Burdett-Coutts (1814-1906) Wealthy philanthropist for whom Dickens helped to find suitable charitable
projects such as Urania Cottage, a home for homeless women, and support for the Field Lane Ragged School, which
provided education to the very poor.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish novelist and historian (History of the French Revolution) and a major influence
and close friend of Dickens. Dickens used Carlyle's work on the French Revolution as background for A Tale of Two
Cities.

Edward Chapman (1804-1880) Partner in Dickens publisher Chapman and Hall. Chapman was the more literary of the
partners and it was he who originated the idea to issue Pickwick in monthly parts, a method which Dickens used
throughout his career and contributed to his success.

Frederic Chapman (1823-1895) Cousin of Edward Chapman with whom he partnered after the death of William Hall in
1847. He took over the business when Edward retired in 1864.
 Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) English novelist and journalist (The Woman in White, The Moonstone) whom
Dickens met in 1851. Dickens and Collins became fast friends, literary collaborators (The Lazy Tour of Two
Idle Apprentices), and traveling companions (Italy, Paris). Collin's sickly brother, Charles, married Dickens'
daughter Kate.

George Cruikshank (1792-1878) Popular illustrator who became an early friend of Dickens, illustrating
Sketches by Boz and Oliver Twist. Cruikshank also acted in Dickens' amateur theatrical company. Their
friendship cooled when Cruikshank, formerly a heavy drinker, became a fanatical teetotaler in opposition to
Dickens' views of moderation. Cruikshank later claimed that the idea for Oliver Twist had been his.

George Dolby (-1900) Manager of Dickens' reading tours in England and America from 1866-1870. Wrote
Charles Dickens as I Knew Him in 1885.

George Eliot (1819-1880) English novelist (Adam Bede, Silas Marner, Middlemarch) born Mary Anne Evans,
the daughter of a Warwickshire carpenter. Mary Anne wrote fiction under the name George Eliot and lived for more than
20 years with author George Henry Lewes (1817-1878) while Lewes was still married to another woman. Lewes was an
old friend of Dickens and had been a member of Dickens' amateur theatrical troupe. Dickens enjoyed Eliot's first fiction,
Scenes of Clerical Life, recognizing immediately that it was written by a woman. Dickens approached Eliot for a piece
for his weekly, All the Year Round, in 1859 which Eliot had to decline due to other obligations. Both Eliot and Lewes
were physically unattractive and Dickens referred to them as 'the ugliest couple in London'.

Frederick Mullet Evans Partner in the firm of Bradbury and Evans, publishers of Dickens' works from 1844-1858.
When the firm refused to print a statement by Dickens concerning his separation with Catherine the angry Dickens
broke with the firm and went back to his original publishers, Chapman and Hall. When Dickens' son Charles married
Evans' daughter Bessie in 1862, Dickens refused to attend the wedding.

Augustus Egg (1816-1863) Artist and actor in Dickens theatricals for which he also designed costumes. He proposed
to Dickens' sister-in-law, Georgina, which she refused.

John Forster (1812-1876) An accomplished journalist, biographer, and historian, Forster was Dickens' best friend,
literary advisor, and biographer. Forster proof-read nearly all of Dickens' works in progress. A man of great common
sense, Forster provided the frequently impetuous Dickens sound personal, literary, and business advise. Dickens relied
heavily on Forster to take care of business during his frequent trips away from London. Forster was also one of the
players in Dickens' amateur acting troupe.

Forster was drama critic and later editor of the Examiner, putting him in the center of London literary life. After Dickens'
death in 1870, Forster published The Life of Charles Dickens, drawn heavily on hundreds of letters from Dickens
through the years and still the definitive Dickens biography although some facts about Dickens' life were suppressed.
Forster also wrote biographys of Goldsmith, Defoe, and Swift among others.

William Hall (1801-1847) Partner in the firm of Chapman and Hall, publisher of Dickens' works from 1840-1844 and
from 1858-1870. Hall was the business expert in the firm, his partner, Edward Chapman, was the literary expert.

George Hogarth (1783-1870) Dickens' father-in-law, educated in the law at Edinburgh, he once served as legal Advisor
to Sir Walter Scott. He met Dickens in 1834 when they worked together at the Morning Chronicle. Hogarth later edited
the Evening Chronicle for which Dickens contributed articles. Dickens married his daughter Catherine in 1836.

Washington Irving (1783-1859) First American author to gain worldwide recognition. Dickens was an admirer and early
Dickens' works were compared to Irving's writings. They met during Dickens' 1842 trip to America where Irving
supported Dickens' views on international copyright. The relationship cooled with the publication of Dickens' American
Notes, which was critical of America.

John Leech (1817-1864) Illustrator for the satirical magazine Punch, and for Dickens' Christmas books (A Christmas
Carol). Also an actor in Dickens' amateur theatricals.

Mark Lemon (1809-1870) Editor of the satirical magazine Punch. Lemon contributed articles to Dickens' weekly
Household Words and adapted several Dickens' stories for the stage. Dickens and Lemon's friendship was another
victim of Dickens' separation from Catherine, the two did not speak from 1858 to 1864 when they were reconciled at the
graveside of mutual friend Clarkson Stanfield.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) American poet and professor of modern languages at Harvard. Dickens
 met Longfellow during his first American visit in 1842 and the two became fast friends. Longfellow visited
Dickens in London later in 1842 and stayed at Dickens' home at Devonshire Terrace, Dickens took
Longfellow on a tour of the London slums. Longfellow visited Dickens in England again in 1856 and 1868.

Daniel Maclise (1806-1870) Artist and close friend of Dickens early in his career. He painted several
pictures of the Dickens family including the famous Nickleby Portrait, painted in 1839. He was commissioned
to provide frescos for the rebuilt Houses of Parliament. Maclise Painting: Merry Christmas at the Baron's
Hall-1838

William Macready (1793-1873) Distinguished actor and manager of the Covent Garden theater. An intimate friend of
the Dickens family, Macready took responsibility for Dickens' children when he and Catherine went to America in 1842.
He provided Dickens with instruction in the amateur theatricals.

John Macrone (1809-1837) Dickens first publisher (Sketches by Boz). After Dickens' fame skyrocketed be was able to
buy out his agreements with Macrone. Macrone died unexpectantly at age 28 and Dickens helped to publish a book
(Pic-Nic Papers) to benefit Macrone's widow and children.

Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849) American author and poet who met Dickens in Baltimore in 1842. Poe's admiration for
Dickens' work was an influence on his own writing. The relationship ended two years later when Poe was slighted in an
article about American Poetry written by Forster which Poe believed was the work of Dickens. Dickens' pet raven, Grip,
was the inspiration for Poe's poem, The Raven.

Clarkson Stanfield (1793-1867) English landscape and marine painter (The Abandoned) and friend of Dickens from
1838. Stanfield painted background scenery for Dickens' amateur theatricals and contributed illustration for the
Christmas books (Battle of Life, The Haunted Man). Stanfield, a Catholic, was invited to illustrate Pictures from Italy but
declined due to Dickens satirical treatment of Catholicism in the book. Dickens dedicated Little Dorrit to Stanfield.

Frank Stone (1800-1859) Illustrator and, from 1851 to 1860, a neighbor of the Dickens family. Stone contributed
illustrations to several of Dickens' works (The Haunted Man, later editions of Nickleby and Chuzzlewit) and was an actor
in Dickens' amateur theatricals.

Marcus Stone (1840-1921) Illustrator and Artist, son of artist Frank Stone. After the death of his father, Marcus was
invited to illustrate Great Expectations and Our Mutual Friend. Marcus later abandoned illustration to pursue painting.

Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd (1795-1854) Lawyer, Author, and Member of Parliament and supporter of Dickens' crusade
for copyright protection. Dickens dedicated Pickwick to Talfourd.

Ellen Ternan (1839-1914) Dickens' mistress, an 18 year old actress that Dickens met in 1857 when he hired her,
her mother, and sister to act in his production of The Frozen Deep. Dickens continued a secret relationship
with Ellen until his death and was not known to the public until 65 years later. There is still much speculation
about how intimate their relationship was.

William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863) English novelist (Vanity Fair, The Virginians). Dickens and Thackeray first
met when illustrator Robert Seymour committed suicide during the serialization of Pickwick and a new illustrator was
sought, Thackeray applied, unsuccessfully, for the job. Though never an intimate relationship, Dickens and Thackeray
shared mutual admiration for each other's work. Thackeray was from a higher social strata than was Dickens and
pointed this out on occasion. The two literary greats had a falling out over an incident at the Garrick Club in 1858 but
were reconciled shortly before Thackeray's death. Dickens eulogized Thackeray in Cornhill Magazine in February 1864

Frederick Dickens
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Frederick Dickens (1820 – 1868) was Charles Dickens' younger brother, who lived with Charles when he moved on to
Furnival's Inn in 1834. Fred was later imprisoned for debt, and spent the last years of his life as an alcoholic. When he died at
age 48, Charles lamented Fred's "wasted life". He is buried in Darlington in the North-East of England, within the grounds of
the town's West Cemetery.

Frederick Dickens (1820 – 1868) was Charles Dickens' younger brother, who lived with Charles when he moved on to
Furnival's Inn in 1834. Fred was later imprisoned for debt, and spent the last years of his life as an alcoholic. When he
died at age 48, Charles lamented Fred's "wasted life". He is buried in Darlington in the North-East of England, within the
grounds of the town's West Cemetery.

Category:1820 births

Category:1868 deaths