Charles Dickens was born on 7 February 1812, the son of John and Elizabeth Dickens. John Dickens was a clerk at the naval pay office. He didn't have a good head for finances and in 1824 found himself in debt prison. His wife and children, with the exception of Charles, who was put to work at Warren's Blacking Factory, joined him in Marshal Sea Prison. When the family's finances were at least partially restored and his father was released, the twelve-year-old mother he insisted that he continue working in the factory. His father, however, saved him from that fate and between 1824 and 1827 Dickens was an external pupil at a London school. At fifteen he found work as a messenger for a lawyer, while at night he studied shorthand. His brief experience at the Blacking Factory haunted him throughout his life - he spoke about it only to his wife and his closest friend, John Forster - but the dark secret became a source of both creative energy and concern for the world. themes of alienation and betrayal that would emerge, in particular, in David Copper Field and Great Expectations. In 1829 he became a freelance reporter at the Doctor's Commons Courts and in 1830 he met and fell in love with Maria Bead Nell, the daughter of a banker. In 1832 he became a highly successful shorthand reporter of parliamentary debates in the House of Commons and began working as a newspaper reporter. In 1833 his relationship with Maria Bead Nell ended, probably because his parents did not consider him a good match. (an unflattering version of her would appear years later in Little Dorrit). In the same year his first published story appeared, followed shortly thereafter by a series of other stories and sketches. In 1834, still a journalist, he adopted the soon-to-be famous pseudonym "Boz". His poor father (who was the original of Mr. Micawber in David Copperfield, for Dickens's mother was the original of the querulous Mrs. Nickleby) was again arrested for debts, and Charles, much to his chagrin, was forced to return home its. help. Later in his life both his parents (and his brothers) often sought him out for money. In 1835 he met and became engaged to Catherine Hogarth. The first series of Boz's Sketches was published in 1836, and that same year Dickens was hired to write short texts to accompany a series of humorous sports illustrations by Robert Seymour, a popular artist..