Lewis Carroll

Birth Name:

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson

Birth Date:

January 27, 1832

Birth Place:

Daresbury, Cheshire, England

Death Date:

January 14, 1898

Place of Death:

The Chestnuts, Castle Hill, Guildford, Surrey, England

Age:

Cause of Death:

Pneumonia

Cemetery Name:

Count Cemetery

Claim to Fame:

Writers and Poets

Lewis Carroll, born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson in Daresbury, England, was an English writer, mathematician, logician, and photographer, best known for his iconic works Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871). Carroll was the eldest boy of 11 children and attended Rugby School and then attended Oxford University in 1850. He would remain at Christ Church as student, teacher and in various others roles until his death. Despite his academic success, his true passion lay in writing and storytelling. Under the pen name Lewis Carroll, he began writing stories and poems, blending fantasy, logic, and wordplay. His most famous works, the Alice books, originated from a storytelling session for the young Alice Liddell, the daughter of the Dean of Christ Church. These books became celebrated for their imaginative narratives, playful language, and deep philosophical undertones, earning Carroll a lasting place in literary history. Carroll was also a pioneering photographer, particularly known for his portraits of young girls, including Alice Liddell. His photography career, however, has been the subject of some controversy due to his obsession with young subjects. Though Carroll spent much of his life in relative obscurity, his works gradually gained fame, and he became a beloved figure in British literature.

Fun Facts

After paying your respects at the graves of Lewis Carroll and his family, you can follow the footpath further along to the far end of the cemetery. In the furthest corner of the plot, behind some graves and trees, there is an old locked tower. It doesn’t quite look like a mausoleum, more like a smokestack or tiny octagonal church. This spooky Victorian structure is the Bookers Tower, reportedly used by 19th-century scientist John Rand Capron as a laboratory for his experiments with lightning.

Carroll spent over 20 years taking photographs, mastering the art with (presumably) a huge investment of time and money. He created over 3,000 photos, though less than 1,000 have survived the passage of time and destruction. According to Lewis Carroll: Photographer, more than half of those surviving show young girls.

“I have not had a more promising boy at his age since I came to Rugby”, observed mathematics master R. B. Mayor. Francis Walkingame’s The Tutor’s Assistant; Being a Compendium of Arithmetic – the mathematics textbook that the young Dodgson used – still survives and it contained an inscription in Latin, which translates to: “This book belongs to Charles Lutwidge Dodgson: hands off!” Some pages also included annotations such as the one found on p. 129, where he wrote “Not a fair question in decimals” next to a question.

There are only 23 known copies in the world of the first edition of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.

Carroll suffered from chronic migraines, and epilepsy, stammering, partial deafness, and ADHD. He also wrote 11 books on mathematics in addition to 12 books of fiction.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Count Cemetery

The Mount, ,

Guildford GU2 4JB, ,

United Kingdom

Europe

Grave Location:

Plot U 14

Grave Location Description

As you enter the cemetery from the road called “The Mount,” make an immediate left turn and drive to the historic chapel on cemetery grounds. Park and look across from the chapel entrance and you will find the final resting place of writer, author, photographer and mathematician Charles Dodgson – better known as Lewis Carroll.