Henry George Liddell (1811-1898) - Find a Grave Memorial

Educator. He was an English classical scholar who was the headmaster of Westminster School from 1846 to 1855 and Dean of Christ Church in Oxford from 1855 to 1898. Born Henry George Liddell, the son of a rector with the same name, his grandfather was Sir Henry Liddell, 5th Baronet, and on his maternal line, his great-grandfather was Thomas Lyon, 8th Earl of Strathmore. He was famous for being one of the co-editors of the "Liddell and Scott's Lexicon" in 1843. Although there were several editors for the first edition and revisions, Liddell and Robert Scott were the principal editors. The textbook immediately became the standard Greek-English dictionary and is widely used in an updated 9th edition in the 21st century. A tutor at Balliol College in Oxford from 1836 to 1845, Liddell was ordained in the Church of England in 1838 and, in 1846, was appointed domestic chaplain to Prince Albert. As Dean Henry Liddell of Christ Church College at Oxford, he and his wife Lorina Hanna Reeve had ten children. They were married in July 1846. While dean of Christ Church, one of his mathematics teachers was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who elected to use the pen name of "Lewis Carroll." His daughter Alice was the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland." When his daughter Edith died in 1876 at age 22, he became depressed to the point that her name could not be mentioned in the household. He also wrote a two-volume textbook, "History of Ancient Rome," in 1855 and an abridged edition in 1871 under the title "The Student's Rome: A History of Rome from the Earliest Times to the Establishment of the Empire." His texts were widely used by Greek students. His portrait is located at the National Gallery. His memoirs were published posthumously in 1899.

Bio by: Linda Davis