George MacDonald (the pen-name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson); it was MacDonald's advice, and the enthusiastic reception of "Alice" by MacDonald's many sons and daughters, that convinced Carroll to submit "Alice" for publication. Carroll, one of the finest Victorian photographers, also created photographic portraits of several of the MacDonald children. MacDonald was also friends with John Ruskin, and served as a go-between in Ruskin's long courtship with Rose La Touche. While in America he was befriended by Longfellow and Walt Whitman. As hinted above, MacDonald's use of fantasy as a literary medium for exploring the human condition greatly influenced a generation of notable
Edwin Dodgson of St James Church in Jamestown, St Helena. St James is the oldest Anglican place of worship south of the equator, having been consecrated in 1772. As at Tristan, so also at St James, Dodgson encouraged choral services and worked hard in the parish. Indeed, this was the only time in his ministry when Dodgson had his own parish church. It appears that his relationship with the elderly Bishop of St Helena was difficult. Another member of the clergy on the island wrote, "I am afraid that poor Mr. Dodgson is not the comfort to the Bishop that was anticipated".