Lewis Carroll Timeline
Birth
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson is born in Daresbury, England to first cousins Charles and Frances Lutwidge Dodgson. He is the third of their eleven children.
Education
Charles attends the Rugby School in Warwickshire, a boys' boarding school.
College Interrupted
Charles enrolls at Christ Church College at Oxford University. Two days after he starts at Oxford, he receives news that his mother has died of a brain inflammation.
Studentship
Dodgson is named a Student of Christ Church. An Oxford Studentship - like a fellowship - awards outstanding scholars an annual stipend to support their studies. Dodgson's Studentship lasts until his death 46 years later.
Graduates from Oxford
Charles Dodgson graduates from Oxford with First Class Honors in Mathematics and Second Class Honors in Classics. He stays on at Christ Church for graduate studies.
Henry Liddell Becomes Dean
The Rev. Henry Liddell becomes dean of Christ Church College. The appointment is significant in Carroll's personal and professional life. Liddell makes Carroll a lecturer at Christ Church, and introduces him to his family, including his young daughter Alice.
Gets Into Photography
Dodgson takes up photography, then a difficult and time-consuming hobby. He devotes much of the next 24 years to mastering the art.
Master's Degree
Dodgson receives his master's degree from Oxford.
Ordination
Dodgson is ordained a deacon in the Church of England. As part of his orders, he takes a vow of celibacy.
Invents Alice
While on a summer boating trip with Alice Liddell and her sisters, Dodgson makes up a story for the sisters about a little girl named Alice who goes on fantastic adventures.
Alice Is Published
After presenting Alice Liddell with a handwritten copy of the book she inspired, Dodgson publishes Alice's Adventures in Wonderland under the pen name Lewis Carroll. The book is immediately successful, with Alice stationery and other merchandise appearing soon after its publication.
Russia Visit
On his only trip abroad, Dodgson travels to Russia. His journal of the voyage is published posthumously as Russian Journal.
Father Dies
Dodgson's father dies. Dodgson is depressed for several years after his father's death. He purchases a house for his unmarried sisters in Guildford, England.
Poetry Published
Dodgson publishes a book of trippy poems that appears under two different titles: Phantasmagoria and Rhyme? And Reason?
New Alice Book
Dodgson, as Carroll, publishes a sequel to Alice's Adventures entitled Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There.
The Hunting of the Snark
Dodgson, under the name of Carroll, publishes the nonsense poem The Hunting of the Snark. It is considered his last significant piece of nonsense fiction writing.
Euclid and His Modern Rivals
Dodgson publishes a book arguing for the superiority of the mathematician Euclid. True to Dodgson's style, the book is a blend of solid mathematical theory and a whimsical dialogue between two fictional narrators. It is published under his real name.
Quits Photography
After taking his last photograph on 15 July, Dodgson quits photography, the hobby he has mastered over 24 years. No one knows why.
Gives Up Lectureship
Dodgson resigns from his position as a mathematics lecturer at Christ Church. He remains affiliated with the college.
New Job
Dodgson takes an administrative position as Curator of the Christ Church Common Room.
"Knots"
Dodgson writes a series of magazine pieces for The Monthly Packet magazine that he called "knots." The tales, a combination of humor story and mathematical puzzles, are published together in a book called A Tangled Tale.
Resigns from Common Room
Dodgson resigns from his position as Common Room Curator.
Last Novel
Dodgson, as Carroll, publishes his last work of fiction, a two-part novel called Sylvie and Bruno. The confusing and unusual book is unpopular with readers.
Symbolic Logic
Dodgson publishes the first of an important two-part treatise on logic called Symbolic Logic. It is the last thing published during his lifetime.
Death
Dodgson dies of pneumonia at his sisters' home in Guildford. He is buried at Mount Cemetery in Guildford. The second part of his Symbolic Logic is published after his death.
