This predicament caused Charles to leave school at the age of twelve to work in a factory, as he had become 'the man of the house' and the breadwinner in his father's absence.

John was released after three months, on 28 May 1824,[6] as a result of the death of his mother, Elizabeth Dickens, of the parish of St George, Hanover Square,[7] who had left him the sum of £450 in her will.

Under the Insolvent Debtors Act, Dickens arranged for payment of his creditors, and he and his family left Marshalsea for the home of Mrs. Roylance, with whom his 12-year-old son Charles was lodging.

Some years later, John was again briefly imprisoned for debt and was released only when his son Charles borrowed money from his friends based on the security of his salary.

However, on his release from prison, John Dickens immediately wrote begging letters to those same friends of his son also asking for money.

[5] By 1836 John, his wife and youngest son Augustus Dickens were lodging at Edward Street, just north of the City Road.

[11] Concerned about his father's financial problems, in March 1839 Charles Dickens rented Mile End Cottage in Alphington for his parents and youngest brother Augustus.