Charles Dickens was English.
Charles John Huffam Dickens ( [ ˈdɪkᵻnz ] 7 February 1812 -- 9 June 1870 ) was an English writer and social critic . Born in Portsmouth , Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors ' prison . Portsmouth . It is the United Kingdom 's only island city and has a population of 205,400 .