Of Charles Dickens’s ten children, his first born, Charles Junior, came only nine months after his marriage to Catherine Hogarth.
His initial excitement at having a son was followed by gradual disappointment and when his parents separated young Charley chose to live with his mother.
Despite showing promise as a writer, his father encouraged him to go into business, but he was not successful and ended up bankrupt, after which he was hired to work at his father’s magazine All the Year Round, which he eventually inherited.
He published several books, including Dictionaries of London and Paris and he wrote introductions to reprints of his father’s novels with personal biographical insights.
Against papa’s advice, he married the daughter of his former publisher and had eight children but when he died at 59 he left an estate of just £17.
His only son married a barmaid and was disowned, his daughter Mary became a writer but his others had to appeal for support when they were living in straitened circumstances.
Music: Antonio Vivaldi The Four Seasons Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, "L'inverno" (Winter) John Harrison, Violin. Wichita State University Chamber Players, Robert Turizziani, Conductor.
