Birth of JRR Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, was born in Bloemfontein on 3 January 1892. His parents had traveled to South Africa because there were better prospects for his father, Arthur Reuel Tolkien, to gain promotion in his job as bank clerk. When his father died on 15 February 1896, Tolkien's mother, Mabel, took the family back to Britain to settle in the rural hamlet of Sarehole.

JRR Tolkien claimed to have few memories of South Africa, except for a vivid and scary encounter with a large spider - an experience he put to good use later on.

Find out more about JRR Tolkien:
• Top 10 JRR Tolkien Books from About's Guide to Classic Literature
• A brief Biography of JRR Tolkien by About's Guide to Contemporary Literature