Henry Liddell
Encyclopedia
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
, headmaster (1846–55) of Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
(where a house is now named after him), author of A History of Rome (1857), and co-author (with Robert Scott
Robert Scott (philologist)
Robert Scott was an English academic philologist, clergyman, and a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford...
) of the monumental work A Greek-English Lexicon, which is still used by students of Greek. Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...
for Henry Liddell's daughter Alice
Alice Liddell
Alice Pleasance Liddell , known for most of her adult life by her married name, Alice Hargreaves, inspired the children's classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, whose protagonist Alice is said to be named after her.-Biography:...
.
Biography
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
and Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
. He gained a double first
British undergraduate degree classification
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading scheme for undergraduate degrees in the United Kingdom...
degree in 1833, then became a college tutor, and was ordained in 1838.
Liddell was Headmaster of Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
from 1846 to 1855. Meanwhile his life work, the great Lexicon
Lexicon
In linguistics, the lexicon of a language is its vocabulary, including its words and expressions. A lexicon is also a synonym of the word thesaurus. More formally, it is a language's inventory of lexemes. Coined in English 1603, the word "lexicon" derives from the Greek "λεξικόν" , neut...
(based on the German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
work of Franz Passow
Franz Passow
Franz Ludwig Carl Friedrich Passow was a German classical scholar and lexicographer.He was born at Ludwigslust in Mecklenburg-Schwerin...
), which he and Robert Scott
Robert Scott (philologist)
Robert Scott was an English academic philologist, clergyman, and a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford...
began as early as 1834, had made good progress, and the first edition of Liddell and Scott's Lexicon appeared in 1843. It immediately became the standard Greek-English dictionary, with the 8th edition published in 1897.
As Headmaster of Westminster Liddell enjoyed a period of great success, followed by trouble due to the outbreak of fever and cholera in the school. In 1855 he accepted the deanery of Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
. In the same year he brought out his History of Ancient Rome and took a very active part in the first Oxford University Commission. His tall figure, fine presence and aristocratic mien were for many years associated with all that was characteristic of Oxford life. Coming just at the transition period when the "old Christ Church," which Pusey
Edward Bouverie Pusey
Edward Bouverie Pusey was an English churchman and Regius Professor of Hebrew at Christ Church, Oxford. He was one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement.-Early years:...
strove so hard to preserve, was inevitably becoming broader and more liberal, it was chiefly due to Liddell that necessary changes were effected with the minimum of friction. In 1859 Liddell welcomed the then Prince of Wales
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
when he matriculated at Christ Church, being the first holder of that title who had matriculated since Henry V
Henry V of England
Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....
. While he was Dean of Christ Church, he arranged for the building of a new choir school and classrooms for the staff and pupils of Christ Church Cathedral School
Christ Church Cathedral School
Christ Church Cathedral School is a Prep and Pre-Prep, fee-paying boarding and day school for approximately 140 pupils based in Oxford, England. Steeped in music and history, the School was founded by Henry VIII in 1546 to provide choristers for Christ Church Cathedral and College. Now a Church of...
on its present site. Before then the school was housed within Christ Church itself.
In conjunction with Sir Henry Acland, Liddell did much to encourage the study of art at Oxford, and his taste and judgment gained him the admiration and friendship of Ruskin
John Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
. In 1891, owing to advancing years, he resigned the deanery. The last years of his life were spent at Ascot
Ascot, Berkshire
Ascot is a village within the civil parish of Sunninghill and Ascot, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. It is most notable as the location of Ascot Racecourse, home of the prestigious Royal Ascot meeting...
, where he died on 18 January 1898.
Dean Liddell married in July 1846 Miss Lorina Reeve (d. 1910), by whom he had a numerous family.
Parents and grandparents
His father was Henry Liddell, RectorRector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of Easington
Easington, County Durham
Easington is a town in eastern County Durham, England. It comprises the ancient village of Easington Village and the ex-mining town of Easington Colliery, which are separate civil parishes. It is located at the junction of the A182 leading north-west to Hetton-le-Hole. Seaham Harbour and...
(1787–1872), the younger son of Sir Henry Liddell, 5th Baronet (1749–1791) and the former Elizabeth Steele. His father's elder brother, Sir Thomas Liddell, 6th Baronet
Thomas Liddell, 1st Baron Ravensworth
Thomas Henry Liddell, 1st Baron Ravensworth , known as Sir Thomas Liddell, 6th Baronet, from 1791 to 1821, was a British peer and Tory politician.-Life account:...
(1775–1855), was raised to the Peerage
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
as Baron Ravensworth
Baron Ravensworth
Baron Ravensworth, of Ravensworth Castle in the County Palatine of Durham and of Eslington Park in the County of Northumberland, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1821 for Sir Thomas Liddell, 6th Baronet...
in 1821.
His mother was the former Charlotte Lyon (1785–1871), a daughter of Thomas Lyon (1741–1796) (who was the youngest son of the 8th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Thomas Lyon, 8th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Thomas Lyon, 8th Earl of Strathmore was the son of John Lyon, 4th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and Lady Elizabeth Stanhope.On 20 July 1736, he married Jean Nicholsen, at Houghton-le-Spring. They had seven children:...
) and the former Mary Wren (died 1811).
Marriage and children
On 2 July 1846, Henry married Lorina Reeve (3 March 1826 – 25 June 1910). They were parents of ten children:- Edward Harry Liddell (6 September 1847 – 14 June 1911).
- Lorina Charlotte Liddell (11 May 1849 – 29 October 1930).
- James Arthur Charles Liddell (28 December 1850 – 27 November 1853).
- Alice Pleasance LiddellAlice LiddellAlice Pleasance Liddell , known for most of her adult life by her married name, Alice Hargreaves, inspired the children's classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, whose protagonist Alice is said to be named after her.-Biography:...
(4 May 1852 – 16 November 1934), for whom the children's classic Alice's Adventures in WonderlandAlice's Adventures in WonderlandAlice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...
was originally told. - Edith Mary Liddell (Spring, 1854 – 26 June 1876).
- Rhoda Caroline Anne Liddell (1859 – 19 May 1949).
- Albert Edward Arthur Liddell (1863 – 28 May 1863).
- Violet Constance Liddell (10 March 1864 – 9 December 1927).
- Sir Frederick Francis LiddellFrederick Francis LiddellSir Frederick Francis Liddell, KCB, KC, was a British lawyer and civil servant.He was born in 1865, the son of Henry Liddell, the Dean of Christ Church; his older sister, Alice, would become famous as "Alice in Wonderland". He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated in...
(7 June 1865 – 19 March 1950): First Parliamentary CounselParliamentary CounselParliamentary counsel are lawyers who prepare legislation that it is proposed to pass into law. The term Parliamentary draftsman is also widely used. These terms are used in relation to the United Kingdom parliament, and other parliaments on the Westminster system...
and Ecclesiastical Commissioner. - Lionel Charles Liddell (22 May 1868 – 21 March 1942).
External links
- A genealogical profile from thePeerage.com
- Two portraits, National Portrait Gallery