The writer's youth

Home life


During his early youth, Dodgson was educated at home. His "reading lists" preserved in the family archives testify to a precocious intellect: at the age of seven, he was reading books such as The Pilgrim's Progress. He also suffered from a stammer – a condition shared by most of his siblings– that often influenced his social life throughout his years. At the age of twelve, he was sent to Richmond Grammar School at nearby Richmond
Rugby




In 1846, Dodgson entered Rugby School where he was evidently unhappy, as he wrote some years after leaving:


I cannot say ... that any earthly considerations would induce me to go through my three years again ... I can honestly say that if I could have been ... secure from annoyance at night, the hardships of the daily life would have been comparative trifles to bear.


Scholastically, though, he excelled with apparent ease. "I have not had a more promising boy at his age since I came to Rugby", observed mathematics master R. B. Mayor.
Oxford


He left Rugby at the end of 1849 and marticulated at the University of Oxford in May 1850 as a member of his father's old college, Chris Church. After waiting for rooms in college to become available, he went into residence in January 1851. He had been at Oxford only two days when he received a summons home. His mother had died of "inflammation of the brain" – perhaps meningitis or a stroke – at the age of 47.

His early academic career veered between high promise and irresistible distraction. He did not always work hard but was exceptionally gifted and achievement came easily to him. In 1852, he obtained first-class honours in Mathematics Moderation and was shortly thereafter nominated to a Studentship by his father's old friend Canon Edward Pusey In 1854, he obtained first-class honours in the Final Honours School of Mathematics, standing first on the list, graduating Bachelor of Art.

He remained at Christ Church studying and teaching, but the next year he failed an important scholarship through his self-confessed inability to apply himself to study. Even so, his talent as a mathematician won him the Christ Church Mathematical Lectureship in 1855, which he continued to hold for the next 26 years. Despite early unhappiness, Dodgson was to remain at Christ Church, in various capacities, until his death.