"How easily Dickens moved from his fictional family to his real family, and how in giving them all nicknames he was in a sense turning them into fiction, too. But with them he was . . . always considerate, always gentle to them about their small troubles and childish terrors" [qtd. by Peter Ackroyd in Dickens, 452-53]
| 1. Charles Dickens, Jr. | ("Charley" or Charles Culliford Boz, 1837-1896) was educated at Eton, worked for Baring's Bank and in the China trade before serving as subeditor of All the Year Round, becoming Editor after CD's death in 1870. |
| 2. Mary Dickens | ("Mamie" or "Mild Glos'ter," 1838-1896) wrote the Dickens biography My Father, As I Recall Him (1897). |
| 3. Kate Macready Dickens | ("Katey," 1839-1929) studied art at Bedford College, and married Charles Allston Collins, and afterwards painter Carlo Perugini. Gladys Storey's interviews with her resulted in Dickens and Daughter (1939). |
| 4. Walter Savage Landor Dickens | (1841-1863) served as a cadet in the East India Company, became a lieutenant in the 42nd Highlanders (The Black Watch), and died in Calcutta of an aneurism. |
| 5. Francis Jeffrey Dickens | ("Frank," 1844-1886) served in both the Bengal Mounted Police in India and the Canadian Northwest Mounted Police. |
| 6. Alfred D'Orsay Tennyson Dickens | ("Skittles," 1845-1912) was named after his two godfathers, the poet laureate and his father's great friend, the dandy Count D'Orsay (1801-52). He emigrated to Australia at age 20, and died in New York in 1912 while on tour, lecturing about his father's life and works. |
| 7. Sydney Smith Haldimand Dickens | ("Ocean Spectre," 1847-1872) served as a naval officer, and died at sea. |
| 8. Sir Henry Fielding Dickens, Q. C. | ("Harry," 1849-1933), a Cambridge graduate, sportsman, and lawyer; father of novelist Monica Dickens. |
| 9. Dora Annie Dickens | (1850-1851), named after the first wife of David Copperfield, died in infancy on 14 April 1851. |
| 10. Edward Bulwer Lytton Dickens | ("Plorn," 1852-1902) at the age of 17 was sent to join his brother Alfred in Australia. He became an MP in New South Wales. |
Related Materials
- Catherine Dickens (née Hogarth), 1816-79: Dickens's Wife and Travelling Companion
- A Chronology of Dickens's Life
- Major Biographies of Dickens — a Critical Overview
- Mary Scott Hogarth, 1820-1837: Dickens's Beloved Sister-in-Law and Inspiration
- Where the Dickens: A Chronology of the Various Residences of Charles Dickens, 1812-1870
- Dickens's affair with Ellen Lawless Ternan
References
Ackroyd, Peter. Dickens. London: Sinclair-Stevenson, 1990.
Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts On File, 1999.
Nayder, Lillian. The Other Dickens: A Life of Catherine Hogarth. Ithaca, New York: Cornell U. P., 2011.
Schlicke, Paul (ed.). The Oxford Readers's Companion to Dickens. Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1999.
Created 3 October 2019