It was a humiliating trial that left an indelible impression on the proud and sensitive boy. In addition to degrading labor, Charles endured the indignities of insufficient food, shabby quarters, and the association of rough companions. The next four or five months were a painful ordeal. During that difficult time, young Charles had only irregular relations with his family. Dickens and their four smallest children joined him. Two weeks later, his father was sent to a debtors' prison, where Mrs. To lessen the strain, Charles, then twelve years old, was put to work in a shoe-polish factory at low wages.

Dickens tried to help by starting up a school, but this only drew the family deeper into debt. He was in debt beyond the point where his creditors would cut him slack. The elder Dickens's fondness for luxuries beyond his means had caught up with him. The pleasant times came to an end in 1822, when John Dickens was ordered back to London. Having his father's approval encouraged Charles to work at his studies. The youngster also revealed early signs of genius, which John Dickens delighted in showing off. He soon began reading his father's small collection of literary classics. He later attended regular schools in Chatham. Young Charles received his first schooling at home from his mother. When Dickens was forty-four years old, he was able to afford to purchase the property it became his permanent residence for the rest of his life. One of Charles's fancies was to own Gad's Hill Place, a stately old dwelling near Rochester. Later in his life, he spoke of himself as coming from that region. His recollections of early life were centered in Kent. By 1817, the family was established in Chatham, near the naval dockyard, marking the beginning of the happy years of Charles's childhood. In 1814, John Dickens was transferred to London for a tour of duty of unknown duration. He was a man of some ability and he did advance in the service, but his tastes for living beyond his means eventually led to disaster.

The father, John Dickens, was a clerk in the navy pay office. Although the Dickens family was from the lower middle class, it tried to maintain an air of respectability. Charles Dickens was born February 7, 1812, in Portsea, on the south coast of England, while his father was stationed nearby at Portsmouth.

Oliver charles dickens