Editing David Dickinson (section)

==Early life==
Dickinson began an apprenticeship at an aircraft factory when he was 14, but quickly left to work in the cloth trade in central Manchester. At 19, Dickinson served three years of a four-year prison sentence for mail-order fraud. The majority of his sentence was spent at [[Strangeways]] in Manchester.<ref>[http://www.david-dickinson.net/david-dickinson-bargain-hunting-books/david-dickinson-bargain-hunting-books.htm David Dickinson Bargain Hunt] – Books by David Dickinson</ref>

Dickinson set up in Manchester with the assistance of an old customer as silent partner, and the business ran until 1991 when, in light of forthcoming recession, the shop was closed. Dickinson decided to concentrate on selling antiques at prestigious fairs, taking stands at [[Olympia, London|Olympia]] and other major antiques fairs three or four times a year, dealing in 18th- and 19th-century furniture and works of art.