The Life of Charles Dickens Charles Dickens was an influential writer born on February 7, 1812 in Portsmouth, England. His father, John Dickens, was a minor clerk in the navy offices, a friendly man with a large family (Charles was the second of eight children) and they did not receive a very high income. The family drifted from one poor home in London to another, each worse than the last one. Soon Charles' father and family ended …showed first 75 words of 1791 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1791 total…out to be very successful, but also very tiring for aging Charles. Once he returned home to England, he continued on with his lectures, and made his last appearance in March of 1870. During his retirement, he put great effort and strife into finishing his last work, 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood.' The book, a tale of murder, was left unfinished on June 9, 1870, the day that England's most remarkable and creative writer, Charles Dickens, died.