J. R. R. Tolkien

Birth Name: John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

Date of Birth: 3 January, 1892

Place of Birth: Bloemfontein, Orange Free State (now South Africa)

Date of Death: 2 September, 1973

Place of Death: Bournemouth, England, U.K.

Ethnicity: English, as well as 1/16th German

J. R. R. Tolkien was an English writer, poet, philologist, and academic. He is known for his The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings works.

J. R. R. was the son of Mabel and Arthur Reuel Tolkien, a bank manager. He was born in Bloemfontein, in present-day South Africa, to English parents, with his father having been born in Staffordshire and his mother in Birmingham. His father had been promoted to head the office of the bank he worked for in Bloemfontein. J. R. R. was married to Edith (Bratt) Tolkien, until her death, with whom he had four children, including academic editor Christopher Tolkien and literary preservationist Priscilla Reuel Tolkien.

J. R. R.’s paternal grandfather was John Benjamin Tolkien (the son of George William Tolkien and Eliza Lydia Murrell). John was born in Islington, Middlesex. George’s father, John/Johann Benjamin Tolkien, was born in Petershagen, Danzig, Gdańsk, now Poland, the son of Christian Tolkien and Anna Euphrosina Bergholtz. George’s mother, Mary Wall/Warner, was from London. Eliza was the daughter of Stephen Murrell and Elizabeth Hayes.

J. R. R.’s paternal grandmother was Mary Jane Stowe (the daughter of John Sutcliffe Stowe and Mary Bindley). J. R. R.’s grandmother Mary Jane was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire. John was the son of John Stowe and Ann Kite. J. R. R.’s great-grandmother Mary Bindley was the daughter of John Bindley and Sarah Riles, or Mary Cooper.

J. R. R.’s maternal grandfather was John Suffield (the son of John Suffield and Mary Jane Oliver). J. R. R.’s grandfather John was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire. J. R. R.’s great-grandfather John was the son of William Suffield and Lucy Luckman. Mary Jane was the daughter of Mark Oliver and Mary Hamilton.

J. R. R.’s maternal grandmother was named Emily Jane Sparrow (the daughter of James Henry Sparrow and Marianna). Emily was born in Oxford, Oxfordshire. James was the son of John Sparrow and Phyllis Ely.

Sources: Genealogies of J. R. R. Tolkien – https://www.geni.com
https://www.wikitree.com

Notes on J. R. R.’s German ancestry – http://tolkniety.blogspot.se