James Steerforth at the school do, and a friendship begins to develop between the two. As Steerforth is several years older, David looks up to him as a sort of protector. Steerforth is said to be the only boy at the school bold enough to stand up to Mr Creakle, the school's strict headmaster, and to make Mr Creakle feel intimidated. Several years later, after moving to London, David encounters Steerforth, and the two resume their friendship. Steerforth takes David to his home in Highgate and introduces him to his mother, Mrs Steerforth, and her companion, Miss Rosa Dartle, an eccentric young
Francis Dickens Francis Dickens Francis Jeffrey Dickens (15 January 1844 – 11 June 1886) was the third son and fifth child of Victorian English novelist Charles Dickens and his wife Catherine Dickens née Hogarth. Francis Dickens was nicknamed "Chickenstalker" by his father after the character Mrs. Chickenstalker in the Christmas book "The Chimes" that he was writing at the time of Francis's birth; however he came to be called Frank by those who knew him. He was born in England and went to school in Germany to train to become a doctor. Giving up this ambition, he obtained a commission in the