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A Selective Inklings Chronology
1886 (Sept. 20) Charles Williams is born. 1889 Williams' sister Edith is born. 1892 (Jan. 3) John Ronald Reuel Tolkien born in Bloemfontein, South Africa where his father was a branch manager with The Bank of Africa. 1893 Dorothy Sayers is born. 1894 Williams' family moves from London to St. Albans, a small town 20 miles north-west of London in Hertfordshire.
Tolkien's brother Hilary is born. 1895 (June 16) Warren Hamilton Lewis is born near Belfast, Ireland.
Tolkien's mother (Mabel) takes him and his brother to England for a holiday. 1896 (Feb.) Tolkien's father (Arthur) dies of rheumatic fever in South Africa. Tolkien's mother sets up housekeeping near Birmingham & undertakes her son's educations. 1898 (Nov. 16) Clive Staples Lewis is born near Belfast, Ireland.
(Nov. 9) Owen Barfield is born in London. 1900 Tolkien's mother & her two sons enter the Roman Catholic Church. 1901 (Fall) Williams begins study at University College, London, commuting by train from St. Albans. 1903 Tolkien wins a scholarship to King Edward VII school in Birmingham. 1904 Williams leaves University College (unfinished) because of lack of finances.
(Fall) Tolkien's mother dies; he is 12 years old. The two brothers live with their Aunt Beatrice, & Fr. Francis Morgan becomes their guardian. 1905 (April 21) Lewis family moves into “Little Lea”. 1907 G. K. Chesterton publishes The Man Who Was Thursday. 1908 Williams begins work at Oxford Press, London (at Amen Corner). First meets his future wife Florence Conway.
Tolkien goes to live at a boarding house where he meets his future wife Edith Bratt, beginning a difficult courtship through part of which they were forbidden to see each other.
(Aug. 23) Lewis’ mother (Florence) dies; he is 10 years old.
G. K. Chesterton publishes Orthodoxy. 1909 Warren Lewis begins studies at Malvern College, lasting until the summer of 1913. 1911 (Fall) Tolkien begins study at Exeter College, Oxford University.
Lewis attends Cherbourg Preparatory School in Malvern until 1913. 1912 As a hobby Tolkien begins to work on two Elven languages (Quenya & Sindarin) derived from a common antecedent (Eldarin).
Publications Williams / The Silver Stair. 1913 Humphrey Milford becomes head of Oxford Press.
(Sept.) Warren studies with W. T. Kirkpatrick in Surrey until December. (Sept. 18) Lewis is enrolled at Malvern College, but stays only one year. 1914 (Jan.) Tolkien's future wife Edith enters the Roman Catholic Church. The two become formally engaged.
(Jan. 3) Warren Lewis enters the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst
[World War I begins June 28, 1914]
(Sept. 19) Lewis begins private studies with W. T. Kirkpatrick, continuing for three years. 1915 Williams' first contact with A. E. Waite when six of his poems are included in the Oxford Book of Mystical Verse. Williams sends him his own book The Silver Stair.
Tolkien finishes his Oxford studies & is commissioned as a temporary lieutenant in the 13th Reserve Batallion of the Lancaster Fusiliers. 1916 (March 22) Tolkien marries Edith Bratt. (June) He leaves for the war in France. (Nov. 9) Returns to England suffering from trench fever, recovering and serving the rest of the war in various places in England. 1917 (Jan.) Tolkien begins writing the stories which will become The Silmarillion.
(April 12) Williams marries Florence Conway (nicknamed Michal) in St. Alban's Abbey.
(April 26) Lewis begins study at Oxford University.
(May) Lewis volunteers for army service, where he meets Paddy Moore.
(Sept. 17) Williams joins A. E. Waite's offshoot group from the “Golden Dawn”, remaining active for about five years.
(Nov.) Tolkien's 1st child John is born.
(Nov. 7) Lewis is sent to France.
Publications Williams / Poems of Conformity. 1918 (Feb.) Lewis contracts trench fever, spending the month in a French hospital. (April 15) Lewis is wounded during Battle of Arras, spending the rest of the war recovering. (Sept.) Paddy Moore declared dead, after having been reported missing since March.
[World War I ends November 11, 1918]
(Nov.) Tolkien moves with his family to Oxford. 1919 (Jan.) Lewis returns to Oxford as a student.
(Feb.) Tolkien begins work on the staff of the Oxford English Dictionary.
Publication Lewis / Spirits in Bondage. 1920 (Fall) Tolkien is appointed as a reader in English at Leeds University. Second child Michael is born.
Publications Williams / Divorce. 1921 (Summer) Lewis has set up housekeeping with Mrs. Moore (nicknamed Minto), and her daughter Maureen, lasting 30 years until her death in 1951. 1922 (July 7) Lewis meets Owen Barfield.
Williams' only child Michael is born. He begins to give evening lectures to supplement his income (a practice he continues throughout his life).
Barfield joins the Anthroposophical Society. 1923 Williams writes his Outlines of Romantic Theology, which is published posthumously. 1924 Oxford Press moves down the street to Amen House. Phyllis Jones becomes object of Williams' platonic affections for over a decade.
Tolkien appointed professor of English language at Leeds. Third child Christopher is born.
Publications Williams / Windows of Night. 1925 (Fall) Tolkien appointed Rawlinson & Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University, lasting until 1945.
Barfield leaves the Oxford area for London where he eventually practices the law.
Publications Tolkien / Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Edited with E. V. Gordon). 1926 (May) Lewis appointed to a fellowship in English language and literature at Magdalen College, Oxford University, until 1954. Lewis meets Tolkien.
Lewis becomes friends with Tolkien and joins his group called the Kolbitar (Coalbiters) reading through the Icelandic Sagas in the original language.
Publications Barfield / Poetic Diction 1929 Williams' father (Walter) dies.
Tolkien's 4th child Pricilla born.
(Sept. 25) Lewis' father, Albert, dies. 1930 (July) Lewis purchases new home, "The Kilns", with Mrs. Moore and Maureen. Agreement is made that Warren Lewis will move in also upon his retirement from the army.
Tolkien begins writing: The Hobbit.
Publications Williams / Heroes and Kings, War in Heaven, Poetry at Present. 1931 (Sept. 28) Lewis becomes a Christian.
Publications Williams / Many Dimensions, The Place of the Lion. 1932 The text of The Hobbit is in existence (at least up until the death of Smaug), but it is not submitted to a publisher until 1936, & not published until 1937.
(Dec.) Warren Lewis retires from the army, and moves into The Kilns.
Publications Williams / The Greater Trumps, The English Poetic Mind. 1933 When an undergraduate literary club breaks up, Lewis transfers the name (The Inklings) to his circle of friends that began gathering in his rooms at College, lasting until 1949.
Publications Williams / Shadows of Ecstasy, Reason & Beauty in the Poetic Mind. Lewis / The Pilgim's Regress. 1934 Phyllis Jones marries and moves with her husband to Java.
Publications Tolkien / Chaucer as a Philologist. 1936 Williams and Lewis meet when Oxford Press publishes Lewis' Allegory of Love.
Writing and production of Williams' verse play Thomas Cranmer at Canterbury Cathedral.
Publications Lewis / Allegory of Love. 1937 Tolkien asked by publisher to produce a sequel to The Hobbit.
Publications Williams / Descent into Hell. Tolkien / The Hobbit, Beowulf: The Monster & the Critics. 1938 Publications Williams / Taliessin Through Logres, He Came Down from Heaven. Lewis / Out of the Silent Planet. 1939 [World War II starts in Europe September 1, 1939]
Oxford Press moves to Southfield House, Oxford. (Sept. 7) Williams takes a room in Oxford, while his wife Florence decides to remain in London.
Tolkien gives lecture entitled "On Fairy-Stories" at St. Andrews University, which was not published until 1947.
Publications Williams / The Descent of the Dove. Lewis / Rehabilitations & other Essays. 1940 (Jan.) Williams gives a series of lectures at Oxford on Milton.
(Aug.) Maureen Moore marries Leonard J. Blake.
Publications Lewis / The Problem of Pain. 1941 (May 2—Nov. 28) Lewis's "Screwtape Letters" is serialized in The Guardian. (Aug. 6—Sept. 6) Lewis gives 5 talks on BBC radio entitled “Right & Wrong: A Clue to the Meaning of the Universe”
Publications Williams / Religion & Love in Dante, Witchcraft. 1942 (Jan. 11—Feb. 15) Lewis gives 5 talks on BBC radio entitled "What Christians Believe"
(Sept. 20—Nov. 8) Lewis gives 12 talks on BBC radio entitled "Christian Behavior"
Publications Williams / The Forgiveness of Sins. Lewis / The Screwtape Letters, Preface to Paradise Lost, Broadcast Talks. Tolkien / Leaf by Niggle. 1943 Oxford University gives Williams an honorary degree.
(Feb.) Lewis gives Riddell Memorial Lecture at Durham (later published as The Abolition of Man).
Publications Williams / The Figure of Beatrice. Lewis / Perelandra, The Abolition of Man, Christian Behavior. 1944 (Feb. 22—April 4) Lewis gives 7 talks on BBC radio entitled “Beyond Personality: The Christian View of God”
Publications Williams / The Region of the Summer Stars. Lewis / Beyond Personality. 1945 [World War II ends in Europe May 9, 1945]
(May 15) Charles Williams dies.
Tolkien appointed Merton Professor of English language and literature at Oxford University, lasting until his retirement in 1959.
[World War II ends in the Pacific September 2, 1945]
Publications Williams / All Hallow’s Eve. Lewis / That Hideous Strength, The Great Divorce. 1946 (June) Lewis receives honorary Doctorate of Divinity from St. Andrews University. 1947 Lewis rejected for the Merton Chair of English Literature at Oxford University.
Publications Tolkien / The Fellowship of the Ring. Lewis / Miracles, George MacDonald: An Anthology. 1948 Williams' mother dies. 1949 Tolkien completes a final version of The Lord of the Rings after over 10 years of work. It will not be published until 1954-55.
(Oct.) Last recorded Thursday evening meetings of The Inklings.
Publications Lewis / The Weight of Glory. 1950 (Jan.) Lewis receives first letter from Joy Davidman Gresham. (April) Mrs. Moore admitted to a nursing home.
Publications Lewis / The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe. 1951 (Jan. 12) Mrs. Moore dies.
(Feb.) Lewis in nominated, but narrowly beaten by Cecil Day-Lewis for the Oxford Chair of Poetry.
Publications Lewis / Prince Caspian. 1952 (Sept. 24) Lewis meets Joy for the first time in Oxford.
Publications Lewis / The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Mere Christianity. 1953 (Dec.) Joy stays at The Kilns with her two sons.
Publications Lewis / The Silver Chair. 1954 (June) Lewis appointed to the chair of Medieval and Renaissance English at Magdalene College, Cambridge University, but not leaving Oxford until the end of the year.
(Aug.) Joy divorces her then husband William Gresham.
Publications Lewis / The Horse & His Boy, English Literature in the 16th Century. Tolkien / The Fellowship of the Ring. 1955 (Aug.) Joy and her two sons move to England.
Publications Lewis / The Magician's Nephew, Surprised by Joy. Tolkien / The Two Towers, The Return of the King. 1956 (April 23) Lewis marries Joy at the Oxford registry office in a civil service. (Oct.) Joy diagnosed with cancer.
Publications Lewis / The Last Battle, Till We Have Faces. 1957 (March 21) Lewis and Joy are married by Anglican clergyman Peter Bide in her hospital room in Oxford. (Sept.) Joy's health begins to improve.
(Dec. 17) Dorothy Sayers dies. 1958 Publications Lewis / Reflections on the Psalms. 1959 Tolkien retires. 1960 (April) Lewis and Joy take a trip to Greece, with Roger L. Green & wife.
(July 13) Lewis' wife Joy dies.
Publications Lewis / The Four Loves, Studies in Words, The World's Last Night. 1961 Publications Lewis / A Grief Observed, An Experiment in Criticism. 1962 Publications Lewis / They Asked Me for a Paper. Tolkien / Ancrene Wisse. 1963 (Nov. 22) Clive Staples Lewis dies at The Kilns.
Publications Williams / Collected Plays 1965 Unauthorized Ace Books publication of: The Lord of the Rings. 1967 Publication Tolkien / The Lord of the Rings (Standard Ed.) 1968 Tolkien and family move to a house near Bournemouth to escape the flood of fans. 1971 (Nov.) Tolkien's wife Edith dies. 1972 Tolkien made CBE. 1973 Tolkien made an honorary fellow of Merton College, Oxford University.
(April 9) Warren Lewis dies at "The Kilns".
(Sept. 2) J. R. R. Tolkien dies. 1977 Publications Tolkien / The Silmarillion (which he wanted published before The Lord of the Rings).
PJS [rev. 7/06]
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