Mabel (Suffield) Tolkien (1870 - 1904)

Born Jan 1870 in Birmingham, West Midlands, England

Ancestors

Wife of Arthur Reuel Tolkien — married 16 Apr 1891 in St. George's Cathedral, Cape Town, Cape Colony, South Africa

Descendants

Died 14 Nov 1904 at age 34 in Fern Cottage, Rednal, Birmingham, West Midlands, England

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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