The Dickens family are the descendants of John Dickens, the father of the English novelist Charles Dickens. John Dickens was a clerk in the Royal Navy Pay Office and had eight children from his marriage to Elizabeth Barrow. Two were from other wife's and has ten children overall. John Dickens was according to his son Charles "a jovial opportunist with no money sense" and was the inspiration for Mr Micawber in David Copperfield. The family members include: Frederick Dickens was the inspiration for Fred, the dissolute brother of Little Nell in The Old Curiosity Shop.