Elizabeth Dickens
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Elizabeth Culliford Dickens (née Barrow; 21 December 1789 – 13 September 1863) was the wife of
John Dickens John Dickens (21 August 1785 – 31 March 1851) was the father of famous English novelist Charles Dickens and was the model for Mr Micawber in his son's semi-autobiographical novel ''David Copperfield''. Biography The son of William Dickens (17 ...
and the mother of British novelist
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
. She was the source for Mrs. Nickleby in her son's novel ''
Nicholas Nickleby ''Nicholas Nickleby'' or ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'' (or also ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Containing a Faithful Account of the Fortunes, Misfortunes, Uprisings, Downfallings, and Complete Career of the ...
'' and for Mrs Micawber in ''
David Copperfield ''David Copperfield'' Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work, see is a novel in the bildungsroman genre by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from inf ...
''.A Transcription of Charles Dickens's "A Bundle of Emigrants' Letters" (30 March 1850) on Victorian Web
/ref>


Early years and marriage

One of eight children of Mary Culliford (1771–1851) and Charles Barrow (1759–1826), Elizabeth Barrow was introduced to John Dickens by her brother, Thomas Culliford Barrow, when the two men were working at the Navy Pay Office in nearby
Somerset House Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...
. When John Dickens first met Elizabeth she was "a small pretty girl of about sixteen, with bright hazel eyes, an inordinate sense of the ludicrous, and remarkable powers of comic mimicry, cheerful, sweet-tempered, and well educated". In 1810 Elizabeth's father, who also worked for the Navy Pay Office as Chief Conductor of Monies in Town, was found guilty of
embezzling Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...
£5,689 3 s 3 d and fled to the Continent, turning up 13 years later in the
Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...
. Elizabeth married John Dickens on 13 June 1809 in the church of
St Mary-le-Strand St Mary le Strand is a Church of England church at the eastern end of the Strand in the City of Westminster, London. It lies within the Deanery of Westminster (St Margaret) within the Diocese of London. The church stands on what was until rec ...
in London. Shortly after the marriage the couple moved to
Landport Landport is a district located on Portsea Island and is considered the city centre of modern-day Portsmouth, England. The district is centred around Commercial Road and encompasses the Guildhall, Civic Centre, Portsmouth and Southsea Statio ...
in
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
and here
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
, the second of their eight children, was born in 1812. As a young boy he was taught to read by his mother, and later also a little
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, awakening, as Charles later told his friend and biographer John Forster "his first desire for knowledge and his earliest passion for reading". According to Mary Weller, the Dickenses' servant when they were living in
Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...
, Elizabeth Dickens was "a dear, good mother and a fine woman". Another of her brothers, Robert Irving Barrow was an artist and architectural illustrator.


Marshalsea Prison

By 1822 her husband had fallen heavily into debt, and Elizabeth, like Mrs Micawber in ''
David Copperfield ''David Copperfield'' Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work, see is a novel in the bildungsroman genre by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from inf ...
'', tried to help his financial situation by setting up a school called 'Mrs Dickens's Establishment' in Gower Street in London; this despite the fact that she had no experience in teaching or administering a school. Unsurprisingly, no pupils materialised. As Charles Dickens later wrote, "Nobody ever came to the school, nor do I recollect that anybody ever proposed to come, or that the least preparation was made to receive anybody." To help support the family financially the 12-year-old Charles Dickens, to his great humiliation, was taken from school to work at Warren's Blacking Factory where his wages were 6 s a week. On 20 February 1824 John Dickens was imprisoned in the
Marshalsea Prison The Marshalsea (1373–1842) was a notorious prison in Southwark, just south of the River Thames. Although it housed a variety of prisoners, including men accused of crimes at sea and political figures charged with sedition, it became known, in ...
for debt, with Elizabeth Dickens and their four youngest children joining her husband there in April 1824. John Dickens was released after three months, on 28 May 1824, on the death of his mother, who had left him the sum of £450 in her will, allowing him to clear his debt. When John Dickens was released from prison, Charles's mother did not immediately remove him from the boot-blacking factory which was owned by a relation of hers, James Lamert. However, a disagreement between John Dickens and Joseph Lamert, Charles's employer, resulted in his being removed from the blacking factory. Elizabeth Dickens did all she could to patch up the quarrel so that her son could return to work; John Dickens, however, insisted that his son should return to school. For the rest of his life, Charles never forgave his mother for wanting to keep him in the factory. Charles Dickens was educated at Wellington House Academy until 1827 when his father again fell into debt and could not pay his school fees nor those of his sister Fanny at the
Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...
. At this time Elizabeth Dickens met Edward Blackmore, a young solicitor and a partner in the law firm of Ellis and Blackmore. When Blackmore thought the 15-year-old Charles Dickens "exceedingly good looking and clever", she persuaded him to take her son on as a law clerk. By the early 1850s Elizabeth Dickens had grown into a stout
matriarch Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property. While those definitions apply in general E ...
'with some affectations of youthfulness, particularly nthe "juvenility of her dress" and her semicomic confusions of speech'. Her son described her wardrobe as 'the attempt "of middle-aged mutton to dress itself lamb fashion"'.


Later years

When Charles Dickens gained fame as a writer,
John Dickens John Dickens (21 August 1785 – 31 March 1851) was the father of famous English novelist Charles Dickens and was the model for Mr Micawber in his son's semi-autobiographical novel ''David Copperfield''. Biography The son of William Dickens (17 ...
frequently embarrassed his son by seeking loans from Charles's friends and publishers behind his back, and by selling pages from his son's early manuscripts. Concerned about his father's financial problems, in 1839 Charles Dickens rented a cottage for his parents far from London, and, as he thought, far from temptation, at Alphington in Devon. However, John Dickens merely continued to write to Charles's friends and publishers asking for money. Charles received an "unsatisfactory epistle from Mother" and both parents wrote him "hateful, sneering letters", feeling that he had exiled them. "I do swear," Charles complained, "I am sick at heart with both her and father too." In 1842 John and Elizabeth Dickens returned to London and eventually Charles was reconciled with his parents. By early 1860 Elizabeth Dickens had become
senile Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...
, probably incontinent and in need of constant attention. Her son Charles took responsibility for her care and support. The death of her younger son
Alfred Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...
in August 1860 was beyond her understanding. Charles later wrote, "My mother, who was also left to me when my father died (I never had anything left to me but relations), is in the strangest state of mind from senile decay; and the impossibility of getting her to understand what is the matter, combined with her desire to be got up in sables like a female Hamlet, illumines the dreary scene with a ghastly absurdity that is the chief relief I can find in it." In her last years she became increasingly like Charles's portrait of her as
Nicholas Nickleby ''Nicholas Nickleby'' or ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'' (or also ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Containing a Faithful Account of the Fortunes, Misfortunes, Uprisings, Downfallings, and Complete Career of the ...
's mother.Kaplan, pg 424 Charles hired Alfred's widow to mind and take care of his mother.


Death

Elizabeth Dickens died on 13 September 1863. At that time she was described as "hopelessly senile". She is buried with her husband in
Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...
. For her gravestone her son Charles Dickens wrote the dispassionate
epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...
"HERE ALSO LIE THE REMAINS OF ELIZABETH DICKENS WHO DIED SEPTEMBER 13TH 1863 AGED 73 YEARS".


Legacy

Charles Dickens used his mother as the source for the vain, ineffectual and verbally comic Mrs. Nickleby in his novel ''
Nicholas Nickleby ''Nicholas Nickleby'' or ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'' (or also ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Containing a Faithful Account of the Fortunes, Misfortunes, Uprisings, Downfallings, and Complete Career of the ...
'' and for Mrs Micawber in ''
David Copperfield ''David Copperfield'' Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work, see is a novel in the bildungsroman genre by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from inf ...
''.


Children

* Frances (Fanny) Elizabeth Dickens (1810–1848) * Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) * Alfred Allan Dickens (1814-1814) * Letitia Dickens (1816–1893) * Harriet Dickens (1819–1824) *
Frederick Dickens Frederick William Dickens (4 July 1820 – 20 October 1868) was the son of John and Elizabeth Dickens and was Charles Dickens's younger brother, who lived with Charles when he moved on to Furnival's Inn in 1834. He was the inspiration for two di ...
(1820-1868) * Alfred Lamert Dickens (1822-1860) *
Augustus Dickens Augustus Newnham Dickens (10 November 1827 – 4 October 1866) was the youngest brother of English novelist Charles Dickens, and the inspiration for Charles's pen name 'Boz'. Early life Augustus Dickens was the son of Elizabeth (''née'' Barrow ...
(1827-1866)


In popular culture

Ger Ryan Ger Ryan is an Irish film and television actress, whose credits include '' Queer as Folk'', ''Family'', '' The War of the Buttons'', '' The Van'', ''Moll Flanders'', ''Intermission'' and '' Little Dog''. Career Ryan has twice been nominated for ...
portrayed Elizabeth Dickens in the 2017 film '' The Man Who Invented Christmas'', a story of the 1843 writing and production of her son Charles's ''
A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...
''.


See also

*
Dickens family The Dickens family are the descendants of John Dickens, the father of the English novelist Charles Dickens. John Dickens was a clerk in the Royal Navy Pay Office and had eight children from his marriage to Elizabeth Barrow. Their second child and ...


References


External links


'Charles Dickens: Family and Friends' on David Perdue's 'Charles Dickens Page'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickens, Elizabeth Charles Dickens Burials at Highgate Cemetery 1789 births 1863 deaths 19th-century English women