Born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (pro-nounced "Dod-son") on January 27, 1832, in Daresbury, Cheshire, Lewis Carroll was the eldest son of Reverend Charles Dodgson and Frances Jane Lutwidge. His parents were socially well-connected cousins who belonged to families with strong traditions of service to the Anglican Church and to the Crown. Together they had four sons, including Carroll, and seven daughters.

Carroll's father, Rector of Daresbury, held a zealous sense of obligation for the church. He worked for the parish poor, ran a Sunday school, organized lectures, increased the congregation's size, and started a mission among the barge folk working on a canal. As a classical scholar, Carroll's fatherpublished religious books and became the appointed Chaplain to the Bishop of Ripon. Later he became the Bishop of Ripon and finally a Canon of Ripon Cathedral. A powerful figure, Carroll's "Papa" bestowed on him a sense of wit...