CHAPTER 5
A Day on the River

In addition to teaching at Oxford, Charles also taught math to younger children in the town for extra money. He liked tutoring children better than teaching college students. The Oxford students often didn’t care about math. Some of them thought his lectures were boring. But with younger students Charles could see their excitement when they started to understand numbers.

Perhaps he still remembered that day when he had asked his father to explain math equations and was told he was too young to understand it. Charles really wanted to explain complicated math ideas in a way that ordinary people could understand. In 1860, Charles published a book about math. Then he published a series of study guides that were meant to help students pass their exams.

But life at Oxford wasn’t all numbers and tests. In December 1860, the Liddells invited a special guest to visit them at Christ Church: Queen Victoria herself! Her son Albert, the Prince of Wales, was then a student at Christ Church College. The Liddells hosted a party for the queen, and Charles was invited to show his photographs to the prince.

Queen Victoria (1819–1901)

Princess Alexandrina Victoria became queen when she was just eighteen years old. As Queen Victoria, she ruled the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign—known as the Victorian Era—was a time of peace and prosperity. It was also a time of many great advances in science, industry, engineering, and medicine.

When Charles accepted his studentship at Christ Church, he had agreed to first become a deacon. This is a lower job than a parson or priest in the church. And so Charles became a deacon in December 1861. He would now be called Reverend Dodgson.

Most deacons went on to become priests within a year. Everyone expected Charles to do that, too, especially his friend Dean Liddell. But in October 1862, Charles confessed to Dean Liddell that he just didn’t think he could become a priest.

Charles saw himself as an ordinary man. Although he loved the church very much, he didn’t think he was special enough to be a role model for others. Dean Liddell decided to bend the rules. He allowed Charles to keep his studentship and remain a deacon.

Reverend Robinson Duckworth

The following summer in 1862, Charles took Alice, Edith, and Lorina boating on the river. His friend the Reverend Robinson Duckworth, who was also a teacher, came with them. As they rowed, Charles told a story about Alice chasing a white rabbit down a rabbit hole into a strange and silly-sounding new world.

Robinson enjoyed the story as much as the children. He asked Charles where he had heard it and was surprised when Charles told him he was making it up as they went along. When they got home that day Alice asked Charles to write down the story that he had told them. Charles promised that he would. That promise would change his life forever.