Charles Dickens lived from 1812 to 1870. He was born in London, England. Dickens's father worked in the office, he was a clerk. Charles had three brothers and two sisters. He was the youngest child. The family had little money, so their life was difficult. When Charles was at school, he was considered a very clever student. His life changed as he was eleven. His father was sent to prison for debts. Soon after that the same happened to the rest of his family. Charles had to live alone. He got a job in a factory. He washed the bottles there. Charles had to work ten hours each day. His salary was six shillings a week. He hated that work. He could never forget this experience. He described it in many of his novels, for example in "David Copperfield" and "Oliver Twist". He was sixteen years old, when he started to work in a newspaper. In his job he frequently visited courts and House of Parliament. He soon became one of the best journalists in "Morning Chronicles". He started to write stories and sent them to different magazines. Most of them were funny characteristics of people, whom he met. When he started writing novels, he immediately became popular. He started to travel all around the World. He visited Italy, America and Switzerland. Charles Dickens had 10 children. But his family life was not happy, his wife finally left him. Nevertheless he was a successful man. He was writing until he died in 1870.
