Alfred Lamert Dickens (March 1822 – 27 July 1860) was an English railway engineer, and was the younger brother of the Victorian 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 ...

Biography

As a boy Alfred, nicknamed Enrique by friends, attended a school in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

with his brother

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 ...

for two years, until his father

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 ...

could no longer afford the fees. At the end of the school day the boys would be collected by their older brother,

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

. On 20 February 1824, John Dickens was imprisoned in the Marshalsea Debtors' Prison for debt under the Insolvent Debtors Act of 1813, because he owed a baker, James Kerr, £40 and 10 shillings."Why Dickens had a conscience"
BBC News, 3 December 2004.
His wife

Elizabeth Dickens Elizabeth Culliford Dickens (née Barrow; 21 December 1789 – 13 September 1863) was the wife of John Dickens and the mother of British novelist Charles Dickens. She was the source for Mrs. Nickleby in her son's novel ''Nicholas Nickleby'' and ...

, and her four youngest children, including the two-year-old Alfred, joined her husband in the Marshalsea in April 1824. John Dickens was released after three months, on 28 May 1824. Some years later, John Dickens was again briefly imprisoned for debt and was released only when his son

borrowed money from his friends based on the security of his salary. However, on his release from prison, John Dickens immediately wrote

begging letter A begging letter is a letter to a rich person or organisation, usually written by a poor person, or a person claiming to be poor, begging for money or help. Examples of begging letters include a variant of the Nigerian 419 scam, where a letter is s ...

s to those same friends of his son's also asking for money. He wrote to Thomas Beard claiming that his son Alfred "is walking to and from

daily in dancing Pumps". Charles Dickens wrote to his friend

Angela Burdett-Coutts Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts (21 April 1814 – 30 December 1906), born Angela Georgina Burdett, was a British philanthropist, the daughter of Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet and Sophia, formerly Coutts, daughte ...

asking her to help Alfred to find a position as an engineer, "knowing the kind interest you take in any application or design of mine." Alfred Dickens later became an engineer for the

Malton & Driffield Railway The Malton and Driffield Junction Railway, later known as the ''Malton and Driffield branch'' was a railway line in Yorkshire that ran between the towns of Malton, North Yorkshire and Driffield in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The line opened ...

. When the General Board of Health was established following the 1848 Public Health Act, Alfred Dickens became one of the group of civil engineers required by the Board to hold enquiries and produce reports investigating the petitions from individual local authorities (Local Boards) seeking town improvements and loans to fund them. One such in 1855, was Alfred Dickens's report which highlighted the terrible overcrowding suffered by many people in the

Canning Town Canning Town is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London. The district is located to the north of the Royal Victoria Dock, and has been described as the "Child of the Victoria Docks" as the timing and nature of its urbanisation ...

area of London. Among the other engineers at the General Board was Henry Austin, who had married Letitia Dickens, sister to Alfred and Charles Dickens, in 1837. The squalid conditions Charles Dickens described would have been influenced by these close family ties. Alfred Dickens died at the Mosley Arms Inn in Manchester on 27 July 1860, from

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...

. His widow, Helen, and their five children were living in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

at the time of his death, and Charles went there at once and brought them back with him to London. Alfred was buried on the western side of

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 ...

, near to his father

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, and then Charles took the family with him to his country home at

Gads Hill Place Gads Hill Place in Higham, Kent, sometimes spelt Gadshill Place and Gad's Hill Place, was the country home of Charles Dickens, the most successful British author of the Victorian era. Today the building is the independent Gad's Hill School. ...

in Kent, finding a farmhouse nearby for them to live in while he found them a home in London.Ackroyd, pg 880 Charles hired Alfred's widow, Helen, to care for and mind his mother,

(died 1863), for the remainder of his mother's life. Family grave of Alfred Lamert Dickens in Highgate Cemetery

Children

* Alfred Charles Dickens (1847/1848 – 1878) * Edmund Henry Dickens (1849 – 22 May 1910) * Florence Helen Dickens (1850 – 27 December 1941) * Katherine Louisa Dickens (1853 – 27 December 1921) * Augusta Maud Colls (née Dickens) (1854/5 – 1941)

Siblings of Alfred Dickens

* Frances (Fanny) Elizabeth Dickens (1810–1848) * Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812–1870) * Letitia Dickens (1816–1893) * Harriet Dickens (1819–1824) * Frederick William Dickens (1820–1868) *

Augustus Newnham 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)

Biography

Children

Siblings of Alfred Dickens

References

Further reading