Charles Dickens's Children No.5 - Francis #charlesdickens

Francis was the third son of Charles Dickens – a difficult and undermining father.
Sent to Germany to train as a doctor, Frank decided to follow his brother out to India instead and served in the Bengal Mounted Police for seven years in the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion.
After his father's death, family connections got him a commission in Canda’s North-West Mounted Police, in which he served for 12 years, joining the force at a time of increased tensions with First Nation peoples and the United States after Sitting Bull crossed the border into Canadian territory.
Accounts vary as to his competence, some regard him as a hero for negotiating a peaceful end to the Siege of Fort Pitt, others as a drunken bigot who was partly responsible for the unrest by his heavy handed actions.
Ill health forced his early retirement and just as he was about to embark on a lecture of the US, he died of a heart attack at the age of 42.

[Leslie.]

Very interesting. Francis seems to have drifted in life and died young. Thanks for researching Dickens' children.

[lilykatmoon]

I’d listen to what the First Nations people have to say about his actions. If Canada was anything like how the US was towards its indigenous populations, my vote would be on heavy handed.

[monicacall]

Francis looks just like his mom. Perhaps if Dickens was my father I would have acted like his son!

[OokwaYikmagwa]

My selfish brain:
I too have an undermining father.
I am 41.
Therefore I have one year to live.