Dickens' Early Years

In 1809 John Dickens and Elizabeth Barrow arrived in Portsmouth, Hampshire, soon after they married. John Dickens was in the Navy Pay Office staff at that time. They lived at 387 Mile End Terrace. Elizabeth gave birth to their first daughter who was named Frances (Fanny) Elizabeth Barrow in 1810. Two years later a son was born and named Charles John Huffam Dickens, on February 7, 1812. After Charles, there were still six more children, but for Charles, Fanny was always his closest sibling.

The house at  387 Mile End Terrace, Portsmouth, taken from here

After moving to London in 1815, John was transferred by the Navy Pay Office to Kent, in the city’s Chatham Dockyard. Charles Dickens loved the Kent countryside atmosphere, which would later inspire a lot of landscapes in his novels.

Dickens' home in Kent which now become a museum, taken from here