| Augustus Dickens | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1827 |
| Died | 1866 Chicago in the United States |
| Nationality | Great Britain |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Known for | Brother of novelist Charles Dickens. |
Augustus Newnham Dickens (10 November 1827 – 4 October 1866) was the youngest brother of English novelist Charles Dickens, and the inspiration for his pen name 'Boz'. Because of the presence of Augustus Dickens and his family in Chicago, Charles Dickens never visited that city on any of his American reading tours.[1]
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Augustus Dickens was the son of John Dickens, a clerk in the Navy Pay Office at Portsmouth, and his wife, Elizabeth (née Barrow).[2] Charles Dickens's pen name, 'Boz', was actually taken from his youngest brother's family nickname 'Moses', given to him in honor of one of the brothers in The Vicar of Wakefield (one of the most widely read novels in the early 19th century), which when playfully pronounced through the nose became corrupted as 'Boses', and later shortened to 'Boz' - pronounced with a long vowel 'o' through the nose.[3]
In 1844 Charles Dickens wrote to Chapman & Co., a shipping merchant, trying to obtain a position for Augustus, saying "I have a young brother recently come up from a good school at Exeter, and now living, with his father, at Greenwich...He is quick and clever: has never given trouble to anybody: and has been well brought up."[4]
In 1845 and 1847 Augustus performed in Charles Dickens's amateur theatricals while continuing to work for Chapman & Co. In 1848 Charles Dickens invited Thomas Chapman, his brother's employer, to Augustus's wedding and "to breakfast with us on the day of Augustus' marriage to Harriett Lovell at Trinity Church, Marylebone, on 5 December 1848.[4]
Later, when his wife became blind Augustus callously left her, moving to Chicago in the United States with Bertha Phillips (1829–1868),[5][6][7] the daughter of James Phillips, an English solicitor. They lived together as man and wife.[8] Moving to Amboy, Illinois, in February 1855 he became the editor of the 'Lee County Times', a position he only held until August 1 of that year, when it passed into the hands of H. B. Judkins.[9] Augustus Dickens placed an advert in the Amboy Times of 4 June 1857 announcing the opening of his "People's Cheap Store." He later sold the store and bought a small farm in the same area.[4]
In June 1860 Dickens moved back to Chicago where he obtained a job with the Illinois Central Land Department. Once settled he sent for Bertha and his three children, Bertram, Adrian and Amy Bertha Dickens. Frederick Barnard, a neighbour of Augustus Dickens at this time later wrote:
An article in The Chicago Herald in 1895 described Augustus as "...inert, indifferent and thriftless. He was competent enough, but he was addicted to intemperance to a degree that practically blighted his usefulness. What he might have become, if of correct habits, no one dared to predict. As it was, he wasted his slender income on liquor..."[1] The paper claimed that several letters were written begging Dickens to come to Chicago to see his brother's plight, but that, to avoid having to meet his brother and his family, Charles Dickens avoided Chicago when he visited the United States on his reading tours. In reality, though, Augustus was already dead by the time Dickens' American tour was even announced.
Augustus Dickens died from tuberculosis in America aged 39 and was buried in Graceland Cemetery in Chicago.[10][11][12] His older brother Charles Dickens supported both of Augustus's wives financially.[8]
Bertha Phillips Dickens committed suicide on 24 December 1868 by taking an overdose of morphine.[13][14]