Charles Dickens' father, John Dickens, was arrested for debt. He was imprisoned in the Marshalsea debtors' prison when Charles was just 12 years old, an experience that deeply affected the future author and influenced his writing.
John Dickens was declared bankrupt and was sent to the Marshalsea. Before that he had moderate wealth as a clerk in the Navy Pay office, Portsmouth. He lived above his means. The Marshalsea was featured in the novel Little Dorrit.
When Charles Dickens was twelve years old his father John Dickens (having failed to pay the family's debts) was sent briefly to marshalsea debtor's prison in London.During his fathers imprisonment young Charles was sent to work in a rat infested blacking factory.
charles dicken what happen to his father and family
Charles Dickens' father was John Dickens, born 1786, died 1851. He was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office in Portsmouth. He married Elizabeth (née Barrow, 1789-1863). John Dickens went to debt prison, but when his mother died, she left him some money and he used that to get released.
Charles Dickens was 12 when his father went to prison; it was only a few months later that his father was released and Charles was released from his own private prison at Warrens Blacking Company.
The closest to a specfic date is Wikipedia, who says it was right before his father was arrested for debt (John Dickens certain saw it coming). Charles was 12 at the time, which would make the year 1824.
Charles Dickens father died at the age of seventy nine when he was in prison
He mostly spent his childhood and life in London, England. There he lived a happy life, until his father and family went to jail because of debt. Charles had to work off the debt for his family. The inspiration from "A Christmas Carol" came from this experience.
Charles Dickens had a difficult life as a child because of his father's financial problems. He was forced to cease his education in order work under terrible conditions in a boot blacking plant after his father went to debtor's prison.
In 1831, when he was about 20, Dickens became a shorthand reporter with the Mirror of Parliament. The publication gave accounts of the activity in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Dickens became known for his quick and accurate courtroom reporting. Source: PerryWeb.com
His father had been imprisoned in Marshallsea Debtors Prison and, at twelve, he was considered old enough to work at Warren's Blacking Company, applying labels to bottles of blacking (shoe polish).