. New problems of food and public health were faced by a parliamentary and economicsystem which was better suited to the eighteenth century. On June 20, 1837, QueenVictoria came to the throne of England as the long period of middle class ascendancy wasgaining momentum (Kaste 8). The Victorian age, which this time period is often referred,comes from "Queen Victoria." In 1840, it was thought that only twenty percent of thechildren of London had any form of schooling. The 1840s were years of crises. Thecharacter on English life was being transformed by industrial expansion and by greatmovements of population towards urban life.Charles Dickens was born in Landport, Portsea, on February 7, 1812. He was thesecond son of John Dickens. John Dickens was a clerk in the Navy pay office. Hisimprovidence would eventually lead to imprisonment in the Marshalsea, a debtor's prisonfor debt (Hardy 41). As a child Charles Dickens explored London and the fascination thathe felt for this booming city remained with him throughout his life (Rooke 15). Dickensreceived his first instruction from his mother and later attended regular schools inChatham. When John Dickens, his wife, and their four children went to the debtor'sprison, Charles Dickens didn't go. He soon became intimate with his father's smallcollection of literary classics. He also revealed early signs of genius. Dickens'recollections of early life were centered in Kent and he often regarded himself as a memberof that region (Kaste 9). Dickens was sent to work at the age of twelve in Worren'sBlacking Warehouse. After his father's release he went back to school.. When school wascomplete he went to work in an attorney's office. He spent much of his time exploring thebusy and varied life of London and decided to become a journalist. He mastered a difficultsystem of shorthand and by March 1832, at the age of twenty, he was a general andparliamentary reporter. In 1829 he met and soon ...
