Charles Dickens’ Children 🧒

Charles Dickens is regarded as one of the most influential novelists in the English language. He penned such classics as Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, The Pickwick Papers, and A Christmas Carol. He also spent twenty-two years married to his wife, Catherine Hogarth. She was the oldest daughter of George and Georgina Hogarth. She moved to England, from Scotland, with her family in 1834. Catherine met Dickens in 1834 after he had recently ended a relationship with Maria Beadnell. The two became engaged in 1835 and married in April of the following year. Less than a year later, their first child was born. Together, the two had ten children. 

The first years of their marriage were quite happy, but he grew disenchanted with his wife and the unavoidable fact that he had so many children to support, something he blamed on Catherine. He met and started a relationship with Ellen Ternan in 18 7. She would be his companion for the rest of his life. She outlived Dickens by forty-four years. 

Below, readers can explore facts about the ten children Charles Dickens and Catherine Hogarth had together. 

Charles Culliford Boz Dickens 

Charles was the first child born to Dickens and his wife. He was born in 1837 and started his working life in the banking and business industry. He went bankrupt in 1868 and worked at All The Year Round, having been hired by his father. He later wrote reference books like Dickens’s Dictionary of the Thames. He died when he was 59 in 1859. 

Mary Dickens 

Mary was the second child born to the Dickens’. She was born only a year after her older brother. Little is known about her life except that she lived with Dickens’ aunt, Georgina, after Dickens’ passed away. She wrote the book My Father as I Recall Him.

Kate Macready Dickens

Kate, the third child born to the Dickens’, was the only one of the ten to side with her mother when her parents split. She earned the nickname “Lucifer Box” throughout her life because of her temper. She married twice and passed away in 1929. 

Walter Landor Dickens 

The Dickens’ fourth child, Walter, was named for Walter Savage Landor. He was educated at Wimbledon and nicknamed “Young Skull.” He became a cadet in the East India Company and spent time in India when he was only 6. He earned the rank of lieutenant before dying of an aortic aneurysm in Calcutta, India, in 1863. He is buried in the South Park Street Cemetery. His father was left with many unpaid bills that Walter had accumulated throughout his life. 

Francis Jeffrey Dickens

Francis was Dickens’ fifth child and third boy. He was nicknamed “Chickenstalker.” A name that came from the character Mrs. Chickenstalker in a book The Chimes. He trained to become a doctor in Germany before deciding to join the Bengal Mounted Poli e. He spent seven years in Ind a. He later joined the North-West Mounted Police as a Sub Inspector in Canada in 1874. 

Alfred D’Orsay Tennyson Dickens

Alfred was the sixth child born to Charles and Catherine. He left England when he was twenty and moved to Australia, leaving behind unpaid bills. He was nicknamed “Sampson Brass” and “Skittles” by his father. Dickens hoped his son would make his own life in Austral a. He remained there for forty-five years. He eventually purchased Wangagong station and later moved to Victoria to work as a station agent. He lectured during his lifetime about his famous father. 

Sydney Smith Haldimand Dickens

Sydney was the Dickens’ seventh child. He was born in 1847 and had a successful career in the navy. But, like other Dickens’ children, he accumulated debt that fell on his father. He was given the nicknames “The Ocean Spectre” and “The Admiral” by his father. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1872. Despite being proud of his son’s career, at one point, he refused to let Sydney into the house because he had accumulated so much debt. He died in 1872 after being invalided on the Topaze. 

Henry Fielding Dickens

Henry, known sometimes as Harry, was the eighth child born to the Dickens. He is often cited as the most successful of the ten. He spent his life as a sportsman and was appointed a Knight Bachelor in 1922. He worked as a barrister and Common Serjeant of London. He outlived the rest of the Dickens children, dying in 1933. 

Dora Annie Dickens

The ninth child born to the Dickens. She was named for “Dora” from the novel David Copperfield. She sadly passed away as an infant. 

Edward Bulwer Lytton Dickens

The tenth and final child born to the Dickens. He was nicknamed “Plorn” and named for the author Edward Bulwer-Lytton. He moved to Australia when he was sixteen and entered politics. He served as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. He died at the age of 49. 

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