– The Windsor Connection
Published in Windlesora 15 (1997)
© WLHG
In July 1862 Lewis Carroll began to tell Alice’s Adventures Under Ground to the three Liddell girls, Lorina, Edith and Alice, as Canon Robinson Duckworth rowed them on the river from Oxford to Godstow, where they had tea on the bank. He was telling the first fairy tale of Alice’s adventures, which he undertook to write out for Alice. She was 10 years old and was his favourite. This story became Alice in Wonderland. He had barely started the manuscript when it was arranged for him to come to Windsor where his purpose was photography. As usual his sitters were expected to be little girls, the daughters of the Vicar of Windsor Revd Henry Ellison and his wife Mary.
Carroll was then 30 years old and his real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. He had entered into residence at Christchurch Oxford in January 1851 and was nominated student on 24th December 1852. No definite work was entailed in the studentship, but two conditions were attached. The student should remain unmarried and proceed to Holy Orders. He complied with the latter when he was ordained deacon in December 1861.
In 1856 he became active in photography, and portraiture was his main field of interest, especially beautiful little girls. These were mainly the daughters of clergymen, Oxford professors, writers and artists, but attractive working class children were acceptable. He once said: “I am fond of children – except boys.” He photographed boys only when they were pretty in a girlish way, or when they were the brothers of his girl sitters and could not be left out. He particularly enjoyed posing his little sitters in fancy dress.
He travelled a great deal, complete with heavy paraphernalia: camera, lens, tripod, bottles of chemicals, glass plates, dishes, scales and weights, a portable dark tent and a case of fancy dress costumes. He was fastidious in packing and everything was wrapped separately in paper twice its bulk. He employed porters, of course, and usually sent the apparatus “luggage in advance” by rail.
Carroll had heard from his aunt of the beauty of the children of the Ellisons of Windsor, who lived in the great stone house opposite the Henry VIII gateway to the Castle. However, his diary records: “Mrs. Ellison had written to say that she was quite willing to have the children photographed, but that they were leaving for Malvern.”
He packed up his photographic outfit and left for Malvern, where he found difficulty in finding a studio and darkroom. He had to move his equipment three times in four days. Nevertheless, his diary for 23rd August reports that he had been “photographing the Ellisons daily and concluded with one of Constance as Red Riding-hood.” (This costume was one of his favourites, but the photograph of Constance has not been traced.) Five pictures have been found in the library at Princeton University.
Eventually Carroll did come to Windsor in 1865 as his diary for that year records: “25th July: Went down to Windsor with camera etc. and drove over to the Ellises at Cranbourne, where I found they were able to house me, so I got the camera out and began at once with a good picture of Dymphna.”
It was not easy to transport all the apparatus from Windsor to Cranbourne and back. The roads were appalling, with great potholes, muddy when wet, dusty when dry, and overshadowed by the great trees of High Standing Hill in the wooded heights of St Leonard’s Hill.
His host was Revd Conyngham Ellis, vicar of Cranbourne who had four daughters in 1862 including Dymphna who was born on 10th May 1854 and Katherine, born 25th February 1861.
On this occasion the photographer did not have with him the album in which he would ask his sitters to sign their names and later paste the photograph above. He had to post it to the Ellises for Dymphna’s and her sister’s signatures, and it was duly returned, but not by registered post. This brought forth a gentle reproof in Lewis Carroll’s inimitable manner.
“August 3rd 1865
My dear Dymphna
The photograph-album arrived safe, autographs and all – only the Railway people (who had carefully read it) said that your signature made the book ‘above £10 in value’ and that it ‘ought to have been registered’. I told the clerk that was nonsense, and that down in Cranbourne your signature wasn’t thought worth 2d., but he shook his head gravely, and said ‘he knew better than that.’…
There is a memorial to the four Ellis girls, Jane, Bertha, Dymphna and Katherine in Cranbourne Church.
Gordon Cullingham
Bibliography:
GERNSHEIM, Helmut Lewis Carroll, Photographer Max Parish & Co 1949
The four photographs of the Ellison Family are reproduced by kind permission of Alexander D. Wainright, Curator of the Library at Princeton University, New Jersey, USA.
Windsor Local History Group 