Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) was an English writer, mathematician, and Anglican clergyman ,who is remembered most for writing Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865). Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, or “Lewis Carroll”, as he would later be known, was born January 27 1832. Charles was born to a mostly conservative, High Church Anglican, northern English family with some Irish background. Many of Dodgson’s past relatives served as army officers or were clergyman of the Church of England. His mother’s name was Frances Jane Lutwidge and his father was Charles Dodgson. Both his parents were married cousins. His father was gifted in the science of mathematics which won him a double first degree. His father was much involved in the Anglican Church, and would raise his family with highly conservative standards which young Charles would later develop distaste for (Karoline Leach, Victoria Web).
Young Charles was born in the village of Daresbury, CheshireEngland. Young Charles was the oldest boy of the family of eleven children. Charles was eleven when his family moved to Rectory, which would be his home for the next twenty five years. Being taught at home as a child, he displayed an impressive intellect and was reading the Pilgrims Progress when he was only seven years of age. Like his siblings, Charles suffered from a stammer that would affect him socially throughout his life (Karoline Reach, Victoria Web). He would later be sent to a small private school in Richmond when he turned twelve. He immensely enjoyed his stay at Richmond, but to his disappointment, was sent to RugbySchool. Like his father, Charles was especially gifted in mathematics and was well liked by his professors at Rugby. After leaving Rugby in 1849, he went to Oxford, but after only being there two days, had to go back home after hearing that his mother had died of a stroke.
Charles had other interests other than just mathematics. He was deeply interested in the art of photography, which he became quite successful at. His primary subjects were small children, mainly focusing on little girls. He was also interested in theater.
Charles excelled at literature. His early work was mostly small satirical works, like short stories and poems, which he sent to magazines. In 1856 he published his first piece of work under the name that would make him famous. A romantic poem called "Solitude" appeared in the Train magazine under his pen name 'Lewis Carroll'. Charles had a drive to succeed academically, and succeed he did. He earned his B.A. in 1854 with First Class Honors in mathematics, Second in Classics, and in 1857 graduated with an M.A. Also in 1856, Charles was appointed Mathematical Lecturer at Oxford. He would hold this position for twenty-five years (C. D. Merriman, Online Literature). Around the time of his appointment at Oxford, he met a new Dean at Christ’s Church. This man was named Harry Liddell. Charles became very good friends with the Liddell family, especially Harry’s three daughters, Lorina, Edith and Alice. He entertained the children by drawing pictures for them and telling them stories. These stories marked the beginning of Alice’s adventure in Wonderland, which he would later publish, achieving great success.
Being from a religious family, Charles took deacons orders at the Christ Church Cathedral in1861 but was never made a priest. He believed becoming a priest would take time away from his cultural endeavors and hobbies. As stated previously, he had been writing small works for magazines, but until now, his friends urged him to put his Alice stories to paper. They were published in 1865 with great success. From 1865 till his death, he would write a number of works, including Through the Looking-Glass and Jabberwocky as well as books on mathematics and politics. Charles decided to focus his attentions solely on writing, and in 1881, he resigned from this lecturer position at Oxford. His next years would be spent writing and touring Europe and Russia with his friends. On 14 January 1898, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson died in GuildfordEngland by pneumonia, in his sister’s home. He is buried along side his siblings in The Mount cemetery in Guildford, Surrey, England.
