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Augustus Newnham Dickens (10 November 1827 – 4 October 1866) was the youngest brother of English novelist Charles Dickens, and the inspiration for Charles's pen name 'Boz'. Augustus emigrated to America and pursued various careers including as a land agent in Chicago. While he was described as social and cultured, with his home the center of lively gatherings, including artists and writers, there were rumors of alcoholism. He had also left his first wife in England to emigrate with another woman, who was known as his wife in America. He died aged 38, perhaps of tuberculosis and is buried in Graceland Cemetery.
In 1845 and 1847, Augustus performed in Charles Dickens's amateur theatricals while continuing to work for Chapman & Co. In 1848, Charles Dickens invited Thomas Chapman, his brother's employer, to Augustus's wedding and "to breakfast with us on the day of Augustus's marriage to Harriett Lovell at Trinity Church, Marylebone, on 5 December 1848.
I remember Augustus Dickens well," he said. "A more genial and whole-souled man never lived. His face bore a remarkable resemblance to portraits of his brother that I have seen. Augustus was small and spare and not at all striking in appearance. But his ready humor, his brilliant conversation, made him the life of whatever company he happened to be in, and he was probably the most popular man in the land office. His manners were most polished and he gave the impression of having had a splendid education... their house was the frequent gathering place of a coterie of people of refinement and culture and of musicians...of great ability. Mrs. Dickens' playing of classical music on the piano was grand...She was familiar with the music of all the great composers, and to hear her play at evening receptions and parties at her home was a great treat for her guests. She would often sing as she played, and I can remember clearly the rich, mellow sweetness of her voice. Mrs. Dickens was an exemplary wife, a woman of gentle breeding and fine education.
An article in Chicago Times in 1895 described Augustus as "inert, indifferent and thriftless. He was competent enough, but he was addicted to intemperance to a degree that practically blighted his usefulness. What he might have become, if of correct habits, no one dared to predict. As it was, he wasted his slender income on liquor". Article in Chicago Times 'DICKENS'S WAYWARD BROTHER; CAUSE OF THE NOVELIST'S SEEMINGLY HEARTLESS CONDUCT. Why the Pet of His Young Manhood Came to This Country and Prevented Him from Visiting Chicago' 19 February 1895 The paper claimed that several letters were written begging Dickens to come to Chicago to see his brother's plight, but that, to avoid having to meet his brother and his family, Charles Dickens avoided Chicago when he visited the United States on his reading tours. In reality, though, Augustus was already dead by the time Dickens's American tour was even announced.
His elder brother, Charles, provided financial support for both Augustus's first wife, Harriett Dickens—who by that time was "afflicted by blindness"—and Bertha, who was described as Mrs Bertha Philips sic Dickens in Augustus's will. Augustus Dickens on Charles Dickens Biography
Bertha Phillips died on 24 December 1868 due to an apparent overdose of morphine. This has been speculated to have been a suicide, although she was taking morphine for a medical condition at the time, so could have been accidental. Article in Chicago Times 19 February 1895 The Dickens-Kolle letters (1910) University of California Libraries
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