John Dickens
| John Dickens | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | 21 August 1785 |
| Died | 31 March 1851 (aged 65) |
| Nationality | Great Britain |
| Known for | Father of novelist Charles Dickens. |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Barrow |
| Children | Frances Charles Letitia Harriet Frederick Alfred Augustus |
| Parent(s) | William Dickens (father) Elizabeth Ball (mother) |
John Dickens (21 August 1785 – 31 March 1851) was the father of English novelist Charles Dickens and was the model for Mr Micawber in his son's semi-autobiographical novel David Copperfield.
The son of William Dickens (1719–1785) and Elizabeth Bal (1745–1824), John Dickens was a clerk in the Royal Navy Pay Office at Portsmouth in Hampshire. On 13 June 1809 at St Mary le Strand, London, he married Elizabeth Barrow, with whom he had eight children. He was later transferred to London and then to Chatham, returning to live in Camden Town in London in 1822 to work in Somerset House. John Dickens found it difficult to provide for his growing family on his meagre income. Soon his debts had become so severe that all the household goods were sold in an attempt to pay his bills, including furniture and silverware.
Described by his son Charles as "a jovial opportunist with no money sense", unable to satisfy his creditors, on 20 February 1824 John Dickens was imprisoned in the Marshalsea Debtors' Prison under the Insolvent Debtors Act of 1813, because he owed a baker, James Kerr, £40 and 10 shillings. In April 1824 his wife, Elizabeth, joined her husband in the Marshalsea with their four youngest children. John Dickens was released after three months, on 28 May 1824, as a result of the death of his mother, Elizabeth Dickens, of the parish of St George, Hanover Square, who had left him the sum of £450 in her will. On the expectation of this legacy, Dickens petitioned for, and was granted, release from prison. Under the Insolvent Debtors Act, Dickens arranged for payment of his creditors, and he and his family left Marshalsea for the home of Mrs. Roylance, with whom his 12-year-old son Charles was lodging.
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