Charles Dickens the lower reaches of the Thames, all aspects of the capital are described over the course of his body of work. Authors frequently draw their portraits of characters from people they have known in real life. "David Copperfield" is regarded by many as a veiled autobiography of Dickens. The scenes of interminable court cases and legal arguments in "Bleak House" reflect Dickens's experiences as a law clerk and court reporter, and in particular his direct experience of the law's procedural delay during 1844 when he sued publishers in Chancery for breach of copyright. Dickens's father was sent to prison for
Elizabeth Dickens Prison for debt, with Elizabeth Dickens and their four youngest children joining her husband there in April 1824. John Dickens was released after three months, on 28 May 1824, on the death of his mother who had left him the sum of £450 in her will, allowing him to clear his debt. When John Dickens was released from prison Charles' mother did not immediately remove him from the boot-blacking factory which was owned by a relation of hers, James Lamert. However, a disagreement between John Dickens and Joseph Lamert, Charles' employer, resulted in his being removed from the blacking factory.