 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 Bengal Mounted Police and served in India for seven years.Following his father's death in 1870 he inherited some money, but he soon went through this, and his aunt, Georgina Hogarth (Catherine Dickens' sister) used her influence with family friend Lord Dufferin, then Governor General of Canada, to get Francis Dickens a commission in the North-West Mounted Police.