Frances Elizabeth “Fanny” Dickens (28 August 1810 – 2 September 1848) was an English pianist and singer who trained at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools 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 firs ...

. She was the elder sister of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

Early life and career

Born in

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 Stati ...

in Portsea Island (

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

) on 28 August 1810 and baptised on 23 November at St Mary's Church, Portsea, she was the eldest of eight children of Elizabeth Dickens, ''née'' Barrow, and John Dickens, a clerk in the Navy Pay Office.

was the second child of the family, born in 1812. Dickens showed musical ability and in 1823 gained a place at the

which had opened the year before in Tenterden Street, off Hanover Square. The fees were thirty-eight guineas a year which her family could ill afford but, unusually for the time, they paid for a daughter to be educated rather than their sons. Dickens studied singing, and piano with Ignaz Moscheles, a former pupil of

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

. In her second year she received a prize for ‘good conduct and improvement in music’ and a silver pencil case as 2nd prize in piano. In 1835 she sang in a concert as part of a group which included Henry Burnett, who had studied at the Academy. They married on 13 September 1837 at

St Luke's Church, Chelsea The Parish Church of St Luke, Chelsea, is an Church of England, Anglican church (building), church, on Sydney Street, Chelsea, London, Chelsea, London SW3, just off the King's Road. Ecclesiastically it is in the Deanery of Chelsea, part of the D ...

, where Charles Dickens had married Catherine Hogarth the year before.

Personal life

The couple had two sons: Henry Augustus in 1839, and Charles Dickens Kneller in 1841, both born in London. Henry Jr was a disabled and sickly child and is said to have been the inspiration for Tiny Tim in Charles Dickens’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. It recounts the ...

''. The family moved to Manchester, where Dickens and Henry continued their singing, although "once Fanny Dickens had married and become a mother, her career declined, gifted and musically educated as she was". She developed

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

and moved, with the family, back to London for treatment, but died on 2 September 1848 after a lingering illness at the age of 38. She was buried in the dissenters section of the western side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...

. Their son Henry died soon after in 1849 and is buried with his mother. Her parents are buried nearby in the cemetery, as are other members of the Dickens family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickens, Fanny 1810 births 1848 deaths Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music 19th-century British women singers Burials at Highgate Cemetery Dickens family

Early life and career

Personal life

See also

References