Christina Scull - The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide - Volume 1 - Chronology

1905

1905Aunt Beatrice gives the boys board and lodging but little affection or consideration for their feelings; one day Ronald discovers that she has burned their mother’s personal papers and letters. In many ways, the Oratory is Ronald and Hilary’s real home. In the morning, they serve Mass for Father Francis, and they eat breakfast in the refectory before leaving for school, either on foot or by horse-bus or bicycle. Ronald will later describe this period in his life as having ‘the advantage of a (then) first rate school and that of a “good Catholic home” – “in excelsis”: [I was] virtually a junior inmate of the Oratory house, which contained many learned fathers (largely “converts”)’ (letter to *Michael Tolkien, begun after 25 August 1967, Letters , p. 395). – Having access to books in Spanish belonging to Father Francis Morgan (who is half Spanish), Ronald tries to teach himself that language.

Spring and summer terms 1905With the permission of the Oratory, for otherwise they would have to go to St Philip’s, Ronald continues to attend King Edward’s School, now together with Hilary, who enters in January 1905 in Class XIII, Section D7. Ronald is still in the Sixth Class under George Brewerton, in Section B6. He is also now in the Third Division (b) of the French course taught by Assistant Master A.L. Rothe. Father Francis will also allow Ronald to attend classes on the New Testament in Greek, offered by the Head Master of King Edward’s School, *Robert Cary Gilson.

6 and 8 July 1905Athletic Sports are held at the King Edward’s School Grounds.

August 1905Jane Suffield and Edwin Neave are married in Manchester. They settle in *Gedling, near Nottingham, where Edwin now holds a more senior position with Guardian Assurance.

2 August 1905Speech Day and prize-giving at King Edward’s School. Ronald, who has tied for first place among fifteen boys in the Sixth Class, receives as a prize the book Roman History by W.W. Capes (1879).

Summer 1905According to Humphrey Carpenter, Father Francis Morgan took Ronald and Hilary on holiday to *Lyme Regis, on the south coast of England, every summer after their mother’s death; and ‘later in childhood’ Ronald went on a railway journey to *Wales ( Biography , p. 26).

Autumn term 1905Ronald is now in the Fifth Class at King Edward’s School, under Assistant Master C.H. Heath. There he meets Christopher Wiseman, who will become a close friend and friendly rival. At the end of term Ronald is placed first and Wiseman second in the class of nineteen boys. Other pupils who also will become close friends are *Robert Q. ‘Rob’ Gilson, the son of the Head Master, and *Vincent Trought. During this term Ronald is in Section B5 for Mathematics and Arithmetic under Assistant Master Charles Davison, and in the French Third Division (a) under Assistant Master J.W. Smyth. Hilary Tolkien continues in Class XIII, Section D7.

1906

c. 1906–1907On a later visit to his Incledon cousins, Ronald discovers that Marjorie has lost interest in Animalic. He and Mary begin to create a new, more sophisticated language, ‘Nevbosh’ or ‘New Nonsense’.

Spring and summer terms 1906Ronald enters the Fourth Class under *R.W. Reynolds. He thinks that Reynolds makes Greek and Roman history boring, but likes him as a person. Ronald is in Section B4 for Mathematics and Arithmetic, in which he will be ranked second, and in the French Third Division (a) under Assistant Master J.H. Manton, in which he will be ranked third. Hilary Tolkien is now in Class XI, Section D5. At the end of the summer term Ronald is placed second in a class of nineteen boys (Christopher Wiseman is sixth) and is awarded a joint prize for Grammar.

28 and 30 June 1906Athletic Sports are held at the King Edward’s School Grounds.

27 July 1906Speech Day and prize-giving at King Edward’s School.

Summer 1906Father Francis takes Ronald and Hilary on holiday to Lyme Regis. They stay at the Three Cups Hotel in Broad Street. Ronald enjoys exploring the countryside and shore, sketching, and searching for fossils in the cliffs; on one of his visits to Lyme Regis he finds a prehistoric jawbone and pretends that it came from a dragon. He draws a view of the harbour from the window of the hotel ( Lyme Regis Harbour from the Drawing Room Window of the Cups Hotel , see Artist and Illustrator , fig. 8).

Autumn term 1906Ronald enters the Third Class at King Edward’s School under Assistant Master A.E. Measures, and in Section A6 for Mathematics and Arithmetic under W. Sneath. At the end of term he is placed fourth out of twenty in the class (Christopher Wiseman is eighth). Hilary Tolkien is now in Class X, Section D5.

1907

Spring term 1907Ronald enters the Second Class at King Edward’s School, under both Robert Cary Gilson, the Head Master, and his assistant A.E. Measures, and in Section A5 for Mathematics and Arithmetic under Assistant Master P.M. Marples. Hilary Tolkien is now in Class IX, Section D4.

4 April 1907Field Marshal Earl Roberts visits King Edward’s School, as one of four public engagements in Birmingham. He inspects the newly formed Cadet Corps (*Societies and clubs), of which Tolkien is now a member. A photograph is taken of the assembled group of some 120 cadets. See note . After the inspection, Lord Roberts gives an address in the School hall, encouraging the boys to learn to shoot and to understand that it is not only his duty, but an honour and privilege, to defend his country.

27 and 29 June 1907Athletic Sports are held at the King Edward’s School Grounds.

31 July 1907Speech Day and prize-giving at King Edward’s School. Now at the end of the summer term, Ronald is placed fourth out of twenty in his general class, and eighth in Section A5.

Summer 1907Father Francis again takes Ronald and Hilary to Lyme Regis. He learns from them that they are not happy living with their Aunt Beatrice.

Autumn term 1907Ronald enters the First or Senior Class, under Robert Cary Gilson and A.E. Measures; he will remain in this uppermost class, under the same instructors, for the rest of his years at King Edward’s School. There are twenty-two boys in the class, listed by seniority rather than by term work or examination results; among these is *Wilfrid Hugh Payton (known as ‘Whiffy’), who will be one of the members of the *T.C.B.S. during Ronald’s last term at school. Gilson is an inspiring teacher who tries to interest his pupils in classical linguistics and philology, but also encourages them to branch out in their studies. Ronald will later recall that on many occasions the Head Master imposed on him the writing of lines, such as ‘punctuality is the soul of business’ and ‘brevity is the soul of wit’. During this term Ronald is in Section A5 for Mathematics and Arithmetic, again under P.M. Marples, in which he will end the term ranked third. Hilary Tolkien is now in the Upper Remove, Section D3. – Apart from his official studies, Ronald is already pursuing interests in Old English (Anglo-Saxon) and Middle English. He feels a special sympathy and even a sense of recognition for Middle English works such as * Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and * Pearl , written in the West Midlands dialect which he thinks was spoken by his mother’s West Midlands ancestors. He even begins to learn Old Norse in order to read the story of Sigurd in the original. He also reads books on philology and the history of language, and begins to buy books secondhand. He is learning a lot, developing an interest in philology and a deep appreciation of the look and sound of words. He also discovers Esperanto and learns enough of its grammar and structure to be able to read works written in it. Probably at about this time he begins to create for himself a language to suit his own aesthetic tastes: Naffarin, influenced by Latin and Spanish. – He is not alone at King Edward’s School in his unusual interests: Christopher Wiseman is studying Egyptian and its hieroglyphics, while *Geoffrey Bache Smith, who will later become a close friend, is interested in Welsh.