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Charles John Huffam Dickens was born February 7, 1812, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, but left it in infancy. His happiest childhood years were spent in Chatham, an area to which he often talks about in his stories. From 1822 he lived in London, until, in 1860, he ....

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.... of their life that informed his writings. Also, the images of the prison and of the lost, oppressed, or bewildered child recur in many novels. When his father and mother got out of jail his mother wanted him to stay at work. Happily the father's view prevailed. His schooling, interrupted and unimpressive, ended at 15. He became a clerk in a solicitor's office, then a shorthand reporter in the lawcourts, and finally, like other members of his family, a parliamentary and newspaper reporter. These years left him with a lasting affection for journalism and contempt both for the law and for Parliament. His coming to manhood in the reformist 1830s, and par ....