Born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
Ancestors 
Daughter of John Suffield
and Emily Jane (Sparrow) Suffield
Sister of
John Suffield, Roland Suffield, Edith Mary (Suffield) Incledon, William Suffield and Rose Suffield
Wife of
Arthur Reuel Tolkien
— married
16 Apr 1891 in St. George's Cathedral, Cape Town, Cape Colony, South Africa
Descendants 
Died
at age 34
in Rednall, Worcestershire, England
Profile last modified
| Created 28 Nov 2009
This page has been accessed 2,163 times.
Mabel (Suffield) Tolkien migrated from England to Orange Free State S.A..
Biography
Mother of J.R.R. Tolkien. Mabel Suffield was born in Birmingham, one of six children of John Suffield, a draper who had become a commercial traveller, and his wife Emily (nee Sparrow.)
In March 1891, she sailed from Southampton to Cape Town to marry Arthur Tolkien. Their two sons, Ronald (1892) and Hilary (1894) were born in South Africa; but, while his wife and children were on a visit to Birmingham, Arthur died of a haemorrhage, and the family remained in England. In June 1900, Mabel and her sister May were received into the Roman Catholic Church, and her children were brought up in that faith. However, Mabel, like her husband, died young, of a diabetic coma.
Sources
- Tolkien Family entry on Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien_family
- "South Africa, Civil Marriage Records, 1840-1973", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZHB-4PZL : 21 September 2022), Arthur Renel Tolkien, 1891.
- Gravestone photograph at Findagrave.com, Find A Grave Memorial# 10841494 - https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10841494
- 1881 Census of England & Wales (RG11/2947 f45 p16), accessed at http://www.findmypast.com
See also:
- Wikidata: Item Q10322682
- Fern Cottage - Agent’s wording:
A three bedroom detached cottage, built around 1750, that lies at the foot of the popular Lickey Hills in Rednal. The property has been refurbished to a very high standard and is steeped in history, being the childhood home of J R R Tolkien.
Census Returns
1881 Census of England & Wales (RG11/2947 f45 p16)
Trafalgar Road, Kings Norton, Worcestershire, England
| First Name | Last Name | Relationship | Marital Status | Gender | Age | Occupation | Birth Place |
| John | Suffield | Head | Married | Male | 47 | Draper Wholesale | Birmingham, Warwickshire |
| Emily Jane | Suffield | Wife | Married | Female | 43 | Draper Wholesale | Oxford, Oxfordshire |
| John | Suffield | Son | Unmarried | Male | 22 | Draper Wholesale Warehouseman | Birmingham, Warwickshire |
| Roland | Suffield | Son | Unmarried | Male | 16 | Brass Founder | Yardley, Worcestershire |
| Edith M | Suffield | Daughter | Unmarried | Female | 15 | Scholar | Yardley, Worcestershire |
| Mable | Suffield | Daughter | Unmarried | Female | 11 | Scholar | Yardley, Worcestershire |
| William | Suffield | Son | Unmarried | Male | 7 | Scholar | Kings Norton, Worcestershire |
| Rose | Suffield | Daughter | Unmarried | Female | 2 | - | Kings Norton, Worcestershire |
| Elizabeth | Oliver | Servant | Unmarried | Female | 27 | Nurse | West Bromwich, Staffordshire |
| Jemima | Cotterell | Servant | Unmarried | Female | 27 | Serv Domestic | Darlaston, Staffordshire |
Is Mabel your ancestor? Please don't go away!
Login to collaborate or comment, or
contact
the profile manager, or
ask our community of genealogists a question.
Login to collaborate or comment, or contact
the profile manager, or ask our community of genealogists a question.
Sponsored Search by Ancestry.com
DNA
No known carriers of Mabel's DNA have taken a DNA test. Have you taken a test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
No known carriers of Mabel's DNA have taken a DNA test. Have you taken a test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Comments
Leave a message for others who see this profile.
There are no comments yet.
Login to post a comment.
This week's featured connections are New York architects: Mabel is 22 degrees from Daniel Burnham, 31 degrees from David Childs, 34 degrees from Frank Gehry, 22 degrees from Cass Gilbert, 24 degrees from Henry Hardenbergh, 40 degrees from Maya Ying Lin, 22 degrees from Frederick Olmsted, 33 degrees from I. M. Pei, 25 degrees from John Roebling, 22 degrees from Stanford White, 23 degrees from Frank Wright and 26 degrees from Minoru Yamasaki on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.