Character Development
It has been claimed that the character is based on the invalid son of a friend of Dickens who owned a cotton mill in Ardwick, Manchester. However, Dickens had two brothers both with "Fred" in the name; a younger called Frederick and an older named Alfred. Alfred died young. Dickens tried other names such as "Tiny Mick" after "Little Fred" but eventually decided upon "Tiny Tim".
Also, Dickens had a sister named Fanny who had a disabled son named Henry Burnett Jr. Tiny Tim did not take his name from Fanny's child, but the actual aspects of Tiny Tim's character are taken from Henry Burnett Jr.
Later, after dropping the name "Little Fred" Dickens instead named Scrooge's nephew "Fred".
Read more about this topic: Tiny Tim (A Christmas Carol)
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