| White Rabbit Press | Alice Pleasance Liddell |
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2 - Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (biography, by Edward Wakeling) 3 - Sir John Tenniel (biography, by Edward Wakeling) 4 - Alice Pleasance Liddell (biography, by Edward Wakeling) 5 - Emily Gertrude Thomson (biography, by Edward Wakeling)) 6 - "The Nursery 'Alice' Illustrations" (by Brian Sibley, courtesy The Lewis Carroll Society, UK)
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by © © © Alice Pleasance Liddell was born on 4 May 1852 at Westminster School where her father was headmaster (appointed in 1846). She was the second daughter and fourth child of the Rev. Henry George Liddell and his wife, Lorina Hannah née Reeve. Alice had a brother, Edward Henry, known as Harry, and a sister named Lorina Charlotte. Another brother, James Arthur Charles, contracted scarlet fever when Alice was just eighteen months old, and did not survive. One of the disadvantages of living at a boarding school was that diseases quickly spread through the community. Drainage of the sewers into the nearby Thames made the environment around Westminster very unhealthy. Many people in the area lived in abject poverty and squalid conditions. Alice’s mother nearly died in 1848 when typhoid broke out. Two scholars at the school perished. Eventually, there were ten children in the Liddell family; five boys (Edward Henry, James Arthur Charles–but died in infancy, Albert Edward Arthur–also died in infancy, Frederick Francis, and Lionel Charles) and five girls (Lorina Charlotte, Alice Pleasance, Edith Mary, Rhoda Caroline Anne, and Violet Constance).
On 2 June 1855, the Dean of Christ Church, Thomas Gaisford, died. Henry Liddell was easily a contender to be his successor. He had been a distinguished scholar at Christ Church, gaining a double first in classics and mathematics, which resulted in his appointment as a tutor. He also held the post of sub-librarian jointly with Robert Scott. The two men undertook a major scholastic work when they compiled a Greek/English Lexicon. The task took nine years to accomplish, and the Lexicon was first published in 1843, but it brought academic recognition to both compilers (the Lexicon is still in print). Before bringing his family to Christ Church, Dean Liddell began a number of alterations and improvements at the Deanery. The Liddell household did not move in until 1856. One major change was the installation of a magnificent new wooden staircase with carved lion-posts and other elaborate decorations. Dean Liddell paid for this improvement with profits from the sale of the Lexicon, and it is known today as the Lexicon staircase.
The Liddell sisters had a governess, Miss Mary Prickett (known by Alice as "Pricks"), who organised their day-to-day activities, arranged their meals in the nursery, provided a basic education, and taught them how to behave in society. Alice was educated at home – a common practice in Victorian times. When she was older she had tutors for French and art, subjects in which she was particularly gifted. Alice had short dark straight hair cut into a fringe. Reports say she had blue eyes, although her passport described them as "dark" (she travelled widely in Europe as a young lady). During the early years of their occupancy at Christ Church, the Dean and his wife were frequently abroad for the sake of his health, which had deteriorated as a result of their time at Westminster. They spent winters on the island of Madeira, which had a warmer and drier climate. The children were left behind in the care of the governess. Dodgson often visited the Deanery and entertained the Liddell children during these months. He taught the children how to play indoor games, such as chess, and outdoor garden games, such as croquet. He invented a special version of the game, with children in mind, that he called "Castle Croquet." Another of his inventions was a new card game called "Ways and Means" that he played with the Liddell children. As the children grew older, the entertainment became more adventurous with walks around Christ Church and Oxford, and with boat trips on the river in the summer months.
Friends of Dodgson who had seen or heard the story beforehand strongly advised him to publish it, so he re–wrote the story for publication, taking out references that identified the Liddells and Oxford, and adding new episodes such as the Mad Tea–Party. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was first published in July 1865, with illustrations by John Tenniel, the famous Punch cartoonist. However, Tenniel was not satisfied with the printing of the first edition, and it was withdrawn. The book was re–printed and published in December 1865, although these copies have 1866 on the title page (the book has never been out–of–print since then).
The Prince and Princess of Wales visited the Deanery, Christ Church, in June 1863, a few months after their wedding, and this event became a feature of the sequel, Through the Looking–Glass, published in late 1871 (all copies of the first edition have 1872 on the title page). At the end of Looking Glass there is a poem, the first letter of each line spells out Alice’s name. When Alice was a little older she was, for a time, romantically linked with Queen Victoria’s youngest son, Prince Leopold. However, she married Reginald Hargreaves on 15 September 1880 at Westminster Abbey. She wore a brooch from Prince Leopold on her wedding–dress. The Hargreaves lived at "Cuffnells," a large country house at Lyndhurst in the New Forest, Hampshire. Alice had three sons; Alan, Leopold – known as Rex, and Caryl; Alan and Rex were both killed during the First World War. Alice sold her manuscript of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground at auction in 1928, for which she received £15,400 (a very high price for a literary manuscript in those days). Alice travelled to the United States of America in 1932, the centenary of Lewis Carroll’s birth, in order to support an exhibition at Columbia University, New York. She was awarded an honorary doctorate of literature while she was there. Alice Hargreaves died at Westerham, Kent, on 15 November 1934, aged 82; her ashes were buried at Lyndhurst in the Hargreaves family tomb. The manuscript of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground went to the U.S.A. after being sold at auction, but was presented to the British nation by a group of American benefactors in 1946, and it is now in the British Library. © Edward Wakeling: March 2008 For further reading on Alice Pleasance Liddell: ©Lenny's Alice in Wonderland Site ©Alice Liddell - the original Alice ©LibriVox - different recordings of Alice Pleasance Liddell by Lewis Carroll |
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