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First Day Of Life
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State (now Free State Province, part of South Africa) to parents Arthur Reuel Tolkien, an English bank manager, and his wife Mabel. -
Arachnids Are 8-legged Reincarnations of Satan
When Ronald was beginning to walk, he stumbled on a tarantula. It bit him, and he ran across the yard in terror to the nurse who then sucked out the poison. The memory of the spider faded, leaving no permanent dislike for spiders. -
Birmingham Bound
Mabel and her sons John and Hilary set sail for Birmingham in early April on the S.S Guelph. Three weeks later, Mabel's little sister Jane met them in South Hampton, then travelled a few hours to Birmingham, to stay at the crammed family house in King's Heath. -
A Man With An Awesome Mustache Dies
Mabel received a telegram saying that Arthur had suffered a severe haemorrhage, and that she should expect the worst. The next day, he was dead. By the time a full account of his last hours had reached his widow, his body had been buried in the Anglican graveyard at Bloemfontein, 5000 miles from his wife and children. -
Sarehole
By the summer of 1896 Mabel had found somewhere cheap enough for her and the boys to stay indepndently, a mile or so out of the city in the hamlet Sarehole. This move had a deep permanent effect on J.R.R Him and his brother would go on adventures around the mill and around the pond. -
A New Faith
In the spring of 1900, Mabel and her sister May received instruction at St. Anne's, and in June that same year were received into the Church of Rome. They both faced the wrath of their families. The Tolkiens provided Mab with a little financial support after Arthur's death, but not after her switch in faith, causing her additional stress and financial hardship. -
Beginning of Education
In the autumn of 1899 at the age of 7, Ronald took the entrance examination to King Edward's, his father's old school. He failed to obtain a place, probably due to his mother's easy-going teaching style. A year later, he passed and gained a place at the school. -
The Oratory
Mab discovered the Birmingham Oratory in early 1902, with the attached Grammar School of St. Phillip, under direction of the clergy. She decided to enroll the boys at ages 8 and 10 due to the fact that the fees were cheaper, and her sons could receive a catholic education. Conveniently there was a house available next door to the school that Mabel and the boys could move into. -
Sickness In The New Year
1904 did not start off well, John and Hilary were confined to bed with measles followed by whooping-cough, and in Hilary's case by pneumonia. The extra stress of nursing her sons proved to be too much for Mabel to handle. By April 1904, she was in the hospital diagnosed with Diabetes, before the invention of penicillin. -
Everyone Has That One Relative...
After Mab's death, Father Francis had to find somewhere for Ronald and Hilary to live, where they could still receive a Catholic education. This came in the form of a large room to share between the two of them in their aunt Beatrice's dark house. She provided board and lodging, but was deficient in affection, and showed little understanding to the boys' state of mind. -
Death
At the beginning of November, Mab collapsed in a way that seemed sudden and terrifying to them. She sank into a diabetic coma, and 6 days later passed away a tthe age of 34. Father Francis and sister May Incledon were the last people to see her alive. It had been appointed in her will that Father Francis be the guardians of Ronald and Hilary. -
With Intelligence Comes Creativity
Ronald made many friends at school, and was especially close with Christopher Wiseman. They had met in Fifth Class in autumn of 1905, Tolkien achieving first place in the class, followed secondly by Wiseman. Together they moved up class by class at school, and Ronald now clearly had a talent for languages. As a result of his love of words, he had started to invent his own languages such as "Animalic" and "Nevbosh". -
Edith
Father Francis had discovered the boys were not happy with the living situation with Beatrice. He had found them a place to live with Ms. Faulkner, in a room on her second floor. The other house occupants included: her husband Louis, their daughter Helen, Annie the maid, and another girl of 19 who lived beneath the boys' room and spending most of her time sewing. Her name was Edith Bratt. -
Young Love
Ronald and Edith (ages 16 and 19) struck up a friendship and would she would secretly feed him and his brother when the Old Lady was out. The two of them took to frequenting Birmingham teashops, especially one with a balcony. There they would sit and throw sugar-lumps into the hats of passers-by, moving to the next table when the sugar-bowl became empty. During the sumer of 1909, they decided that they were in love. -
The Beginning of The Rest of His Life
Ronald travelled by train to Cheltenham, and was met on the platform by Edith. They went for a walk and talked in the country. By the end of the day she declared she would give up George Field and marry Ronald Tolkien. She wrote to George and sent him back his ring, to the disappointment and anger of him and his family. They married on March 22, 1916, after Ronald's return from the war.
