Whitburn, Tyne & Wear

Mathematical Gazetteer of the British Isles


The Misses Wilcox, cousins of Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) lived at Whitburn, near Sunderland. One evening, whose date is not recorded, they had a game of verse making and Jabberwocky was Carroll's contribution - based on the first verse that he had composed at Croft-on-Tees in 1855. [1]
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[2] says Jabberwocky was written on a visit in 1855, that Mrs Wilcox, the wife of the Collector of Customs at Sunderland, lived at High Croft, since burned down, that he probably composed The Walrus and the Carpenter walking on the beaches here or nearby, and that there is a statue of Carroll in Cornthwaite Park, Whitburn. Carroll also had other relatives here - the Collingwoods - whom he also visited. It is possible that from here, he visited nearby Sunderland, where there was a fine walrus in the museum, but it has decayed and only the head remains [2].
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References (show)

  1. Green, Roger Lancelyn. Alice - an excerpt from his: Lewis Carroll; Bodley Head, 1960; IN: Phillips, pp. 40-68. pp.54-54.
  2. Myers, Alan. Myers' Literary Guide The North East. Mid Northumberland Arts Group, Ashington, Northumberland and Carcanet Press, Manchester, 1995. p.16

The Mathematical Gazetteer of the British Isles was created by David Singmaster.
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