Greg Jenner talks about Charles Dickens' tough upbringing. 1. The Dickens family crest was not the Dickens family crest Charles was born in 1812, but his family were not in any way posh.

In 1822, the Dickens family—barring Charles, who remained at school—left Kent and the number of steadily rising debts they had accrued there for Camden Town, London. These debts, however ...