Lewis Carroll
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Who Was Lewis Carroll? Children's writer and mathematician. (Real name Charles Lutwidge Dodgson).

Date and Place of Birth: 27th January 1832, Daresbury, Cheshire, England.

Family Background: Eldest son and third child of Reverend Charles Dodgson and Frances Jane Lutwidge in a family of seven girls and four boys.

Education: Richmond Grammar School, Rugby School (where he begins to write early works later to be included in "Alice in Wonderland"). Christchurch, Oxford.

Chronology:

1851: 24th January, moves to Oxford, which will be his home for the rest of his life. His mother dies a few days later.

1852: Passes the first part of his examinations at Christchurch and gains a studentship (a teaching position) which allows him to be a life member of the college.

1854: Carroll takes BA and prepares for ordination into the Church.

1855: Liddell is elected as Dean of Christ Church. His daughter Alice is three years old at this point. Dodgson offers a few short stories and poems to the "Comic Times".

1856: Edmund Yates, The editor of the "Comic Times" opts to call Dodgson by the pseudonym "Lewis Carroll for the first time. Meets Alice Liddle for the first time.

1856-61: Uneventful teaching life in Oxford. Takes up photography and uses Alice Liddell as a subject frequently.

1861: 22nd December. Ordained as a Deacon but decides to go no further in the Church.

1862: Rowing trip on the River Isis (Thames at Oxford) where the story of Alice is heard for the first time.

1863: The MacDonald’s, his friends, urge him to publish the manuscript of "Alice". Macmillans agree to publish it and John Tenniel to illustrate it.

1865: Publication of "Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland". Falls out with the Liddells.

1867: Begins work on "Through the Looking Glass" and spends the summer months travelling through Europe as far as Russia with his friend Liddon.

1868: Death of his father, now Archdeacon of Ripon. Finds a house for his family especially his sisters, in Guildford, Surrey.

1869: First Chapter of "Through the Looking Glass" is sent to Macmillans.

1871: Finishes "Through the Looking Glass" in time for Christmas". Tenniel reluctantly agrees to illustrate it.

1875: Meets Gertrude Chataway who is to become one of his most faithful child friends.

1876: Publication of "The Hunting of the Snark" illustrated by Henry Holiday. Becomes interested in logic.

1877: Spends the summer by the sea at Eastbourne where he is to spend every August from now on.

1878: Begins inventing word games.

1880: Gives up photography.

1881: Gives up lecturing at Christ Church.

1882: Elected Curator of the Common Room by his colleagues. Publishes another work on mathematics.

1883: Works on a stage adaptation of "Alice".

1884-5: Publishes several articles on proportional representation.

1886: Gives lectures at Lady Margaret Hall (one of the Women’s colleges in Oxford University).

1887: Teaches logic in a Girl’s Senior School in Oxford. Meets Isa Bowman, another favourite child friend.

1889: Publication of "Sylvie and Bruno" illustrated by Harry Furnis.

1890: Publication of the Nursery "Alice."

1891: Sees Alice Liddell again (now Mrs Hargreaves after a long separation and also makes peace with her mother.

1892: Resigns post as Curator and publishes several short texts on logic.

1897: Gives several sermons to congregations of children. Discovers a number of rules of rapid division and multiplication. Decides to send back all letters addressed to "Lewis Carroll, Christ Church" as "not known at this address".

Written Works:

  • 1865: "Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland". "The Dynamics of a Part-icle" (Satirical pamphlet).
  • 1869: "Phantasmagoria and Other Poems".
  • 1871: "Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There".
  • 1872: "The New Belfry of Christ Church, Oxford". (Anonymous pamphlet attacking Liddell’s architectural plans).
  • 1874: "Notes by an Oxford Chiel". (collection of his mathematical works)
  • 1876: "The Hunting of the Snark".
  • 1879: "Euclid and his Modern Rivals". (Under real name).
  • 1883: "Rhyme? And Reason?" (Verses).
  • 1885: "A Tangled Tale". (published in book form).
  • 1888: "Curiosa Mathematica, Part 1".
  • 1889: "Sylvie and Bruno".
  • 1893: "Sylvie and Bruno Concluded". "Syzygies and Lanrick" (word games). Curiosa Mathematica", Part 2". "Pillow Problems".
  • 1894: "What the Tortoise said to Achilles"
  • 1896: "Symbolic Logic".

Marriage: Never Married.

Places of Interest:

CUMBRIA: Keswick, Seathwaite, Lodore and Borrowdale.

OXFORD:

Christ Church College.

ISLE OF WIGHT:

Visited Tennyson at Farrington House.

Date and Place of Death: 14th January 1898, Guildford, Surrey, England of bronchitis.

Age at Death: 66.

Site of Grave: Guildford Cemetery, Guildford, Surrey, England.

Further Information: Further information and new research can be obtained by visiting Looking for Lewis Carroll.com