the following year he became a resident of the college, and “from that day to the hour of his death – a period of forty-seven years – he belonged to ‘the House,’ never leaving it for any length of time…” (120).Now I do not know if Dodgson’s matriculation to Christ Church provided him with his first view of Oxford. Perhaps he saw it from Magdalen Bridge, when one could look “straight across the Christ Church cricket-ground to the meadows beyond Cherwell…for an uninterrupted view of every tower in the city from Magdalen to the Cathedral…” (Morton 30). At Christ Church College, the undergraduates dining in the hall were divided into “messes.” Each mess consisted of about half a dozen men, who had a table to them. In Dodgson’s mess was Philip Pusey, the late Rev. G. C. Woodhouse, and among others, one who still lives in “Alice in Wonderland” as the “Hatter.” (Collingwood 47) The Dean of the College, Henry Liddell acquired a post of great influence. He spent thirty-six years at the College. Liddell married and had five children, two boys, one of which died of scarlet fever, and three daughters. Alice Liddell later became the reason for the writing of “Alice” (Morton 57).It was when writing for a paper, The Train, that Dodgson felt the need of a pseudonym. He suggested four names to the editor of the paper, Edmund Yates, Edgar Cuthwellis, Edgar U. C. Westhall, Louis Carroll, and Lewis Carroll. The first two were formed from the letters of his two Christian names, Charles Lutwidge; the others are merely forms of those names – Lewis = Ludovicus = Lutwidge; Carroll =Carolus = Charles. Mr. Yates chose the last, as is apparent, and that became Dodgson’s ordinary nom de plume (67). In 1855, he received the appointment of lecturer in mathematics at Christ Church College. He held that position until 1881. Six years...
