One of his pupils was Leslie Stephen, the father of the author Virginia Woolf, who studied mathematics at Cambridge with Todhunter as his tutor. Stephen gave a delightful description of Todhunter as follows:
Isa sa kanyang mga nag-aaral ay Leslie Stephen, ang ama ng may-akda Virginia Woolf, na nag-aral ng matematika at Cambridge sa Todhunter bilang kanyang tagapagturo. Stephen ibinigay ng isang kaaya-aya paglalarawan ng Todhunter bilang mga sumusunod: