There is more to Tolkien than 'The Hobbit' and 'Lord of the Rings', the timeline below brings together some of the key events in his life.
1892
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa on January 3rd.
1895
John's mother took him and his younger brother to Sarehole, a rural village on the outskirts of Birmingham, and his father promised to follow when his commitments allowed.
1896
Johns father died on February 15th, without visiting his family in the West Midlands.
1900
Went to King Edwards School in Birmingham, his family had also moved to Kings Heath by then.
1904
John and his brother live with his aunt, and then boarding house ran by a Mrs Faulkner after their mother died from diabetes in the October.
1908
John became friends with his future wife, Edith Bratt.
1911
Once accepted to Exeter College, Oxford, John quickly built on his love of languages by studying Old English, Germanic, Gothic, Welsh and Finnish.
1915
John joined the Lancashire Fuiliers after receiving a first class degree in June.
1916
John & Edith are married in Warwick on March 22nd. He was also sent to active duty where he took part in the Somme offensive. By early November he had fallen ill with 'trench fever' and was sent to a hospital in Birmingham. By Christmas he was well enough to be discharged and spend time with Edith. Their first son, John Francis Reuel, was born November 16 1917.
1920
In the summer, John applied for and was appointed as Reader in English Language at the University of Leeds. A second son, Michael Hilary Reuel was born in October, followed by Christopher Reuel in 1924.
1925
John returns to Oxford as a Professor.
1929
Edith gives birth to their last child, and only daughter, Priscilla Anne Reuel.
1937
The Hobbit is published by Stanley Unwin (only after approval of the publishers 10 year old son Rayner). When asked if he had any more works for publication, Tolkien submitted The Silmarillion which was not recieved well. Not put off, the publisher commissioned a sequel to the Hobbit.
1954
It took 16 years to write but The Lord Of The Rings was finally published in 3 parts over 1954-55 by Rayner Unwin even though he expected it to make a loss. It soon became obvious that the appeal of the books had been underestimated.
1965
The Lord of The Rings finally achieved widespead recognition after a legal battle over publishing rights of a paperback version of the trilogy.
1969
John retires and moves with Edith to Bournemouth.
1971
Edith died on November 22nd and John moved back to Oxford.
1972
Received CBE from the Queen.
1973
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien died September 2nd and was buried next to his wife in Wolvercote cemetery in Oxford.
