Overview

Lewis Carroll is well known throughout the world as the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. Behind the famous pseudonym was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a mathematical lecturer at Oxford University with remarkably diverse talents.

Born in 1832, in Daresbury, Cheshire, he spent his early life in the north of England (at Daresbury, Cheshire and in Croft, Yorkshire). He spent his adult life in Oxford and died at Guildford in 1898. Besides the Alice books, he wrote many others including poems, pamphlets and articles. He was a skilled mathematician, logician and pioneering photographer and he invented a wealth of games and puzzles which are of great interest today. Through his range of talents he has acquired great respect and has a large following.

Click here for more details of Dodgson's family.

Brief Biographical Details

Glossary and Notes

Common Room

Common Room was a ‘club’ for graduates (with degree of M.A.) at Christ Church. The Curator (an honorary position) was responsible for the day-to-day running of Common Room.

Daresbury (Carroll's Birthplace)

The parsonage at Daresbury, Cheshire in the north of England, where Lewis Carroll was born no longer stands.
The site on which the house originally stood is now managed by the National Trust, and has the foundations of the house marked out.

Liddon, Henry Parry(1829-1890)

Student of Christ Church on the Old Foundation.
Renowned for his eloquent preaching.
Went on a tour to Russia with Dodgson 1867.
Later Canon of St Paul’s Cathedral.

Matriculation

Prospective undergraduates were required to sit an examination. Those who met the required standard were then enrolled into the University in a matriculation ceremony

Student

Prior to 1858, Christ Church had 101 Students in receipt of a small stipend. 40 were undergraduates (the equivalent of Scholars); the remainder were postgraduates. No new Students were appointed under the terms of the Old Foundation after 1858 and their numbers gradually dwindled. However, the system, revised by Liddell, remained for Junior Students (the equivalent of undergraduate scholarships).

Senior Student

In 1858, the eight Students who had become college Tutors/Lecturers were appointed Senior Students – the equivalent of fellows at other colleges. As Mathematical Lecturer, Dodgson automatically became a Senior Student. Subsequent Senior Students were elected through open competition.

Reginald Southey (1835-1899)

Student at Christ Church - studied science and medicine. Became doctor in skin diseases at St. Bartholomew’s, London. Fellow-photographer with Dodgson including skeletons in the Christ Church collection and the Liddell, Cameron and Tennyson children.