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Lewis Carroll, whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, was an intriguing, enigmatic character. An accomplished man, he was a deacon, author, logician, mathematician, photographer, and a childless bachelor. Born January 27, 1832, at Daresbury in Cheshire, England, Carroll was the son of an Anglican clergyman and one of eleven children. He was educated at Richmond School and Rugby School and attended Christ Church College,
Oxford. In 1852, he received a scholarship to continue his studies at Oxford. The scholarship stipulated that Dodgson remain unmarried while he studied for the priesthood. Later, he was ordained as a deacon in the Church of England, but Dodgson felt he was not suited to the priesthood and did not pursue it. He became a lecturer in mathematics at Christ Church and remained there until 1881. After he resigned from his position at the school, he turned to writing full time until his death in 1898. Carroll's bachelor status, his photographs, and his relationships with children have led to speculation. He was friendly with the children of the writer
George Macdonald and the sons of poet Alfred Lord Tennyson. But it was his friendship with Alice Liddell, his inspiration for the character of Alice in his books, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, that was the most controversial. Henry Liddell was the Dean of Christ Church, whom Carroll met while he was continuing his studies there. He was quite taken with the Liddell girls, particularly young Alice, and photographed her frequently. Too frequently, according to her mother, who asked him to refrain from photographing the girl. A recent book
seeks to clear Carroll's muddied reputation -- it alleges that he was interested not in Alice Lidell, as many believe, but in Lorina Lidell, her mother. "'Curiouser and curiouser!,' cried Alice."
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