John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on the 3rd of January 1892
in Bloemfontein in South Africa. In 1895 his mother brought him and his brother to England
for a holiday, during this time his father died. He was brought up in Birmingham by his
mother, who became a Roman Catholic. He started school at King Edward's in 1900. In 1904
his mother died. In one of the houses he and his brother lodged in after that, he met
Edith Bratt who was also an orphan. He married her in 1916. He finished school
in 1911 and was accepted by Exeter College, Oxford.
Tolkien got a job at the Oxford English Dictionary. He first moved into 50 St Johns St.
Later moved round the corner into number 1 Alfred St. (now Pusey St.) with his wife
and son, John.
In 1920 he moved to the English department of the University of Leeds. He became professor
of English Language there in 1924. In 1925 he returned to Oxford.
In 1925 Tolkien was elected Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon. This post is
connected with Pembroke College.
Tolkien was a devout catholic. He normally went to St Aloysius church on Woodstock Rd.
Tolkien and C.S.Lewis and other friends formed a group called the Inklings. They met
regularly and read out passages from their current works. Their most famous meeting point
was the Eagle and Child pub, known as the Bird and Baby. There is a plaque inside
remembering the Inklings.
The Inklings also often met in C.S.Lewis's rooms in Magdalen. The room used in the film
'Shadowlands' was not the actual room (as the current occupant refused to let them film
there) but another identical room. "Shadowlands" is a film starring
Anthony Hopkins. It is about C.S.Lewis' life.
In 1945 Tolkien was elected Merton Professor of English Language and Literature. He liked
it much more than Pembroke.
Tolkien retired from his professorship in 1959. In 1968 he and his wife moved to
Bournemouth.
Edith, Tolkien's wife, died in 1971 and he moved back to Oxford where he lived in Merton
at 21 Merton St.
Tolkien died in 1973 while on holiday in Bournemouth. He was buried with his wife, in the
Wolvercote Cemetary in north Oxford. On the grave stone it says:
EDITH MARY TOLKIEN
LUTHIEN
1889 - 1971
JOHN RONALD
REUEL TOLKIEN
BEREN
1892 - 1973
1992 was the centenary of Tolkien's birth. The Tolkien Society and the Mythopoeic Society
bought two trees which were planted in the University Park. A memorial bench was placed
nearby. To honor him. The two trees are a Telperion, a silver-leafed Maple and
a Laurelin, a False Acacia.
Although Mr. Tolkien is no longer with us. His son Christopher has been so kind as to continue his fathers' works. I am very thankful to him for sharing.
Graphics by: Backgrounds by Debbie