J.R.R. Tolkien was born in 1892 in Bloemfontein, in what was then the Orange Free State.
He was born John Ronald Reuel Tolkien on 3 January 1892. His father, Arthur Tolkien, worked as a bank manager there, while his mother, Mabel, had grown up in England. Tolkien spent his earliest years in southern Africa before returning to Britain with his mother and younger brother, Hilary, after his father died in 1896.
Tolkien is sometimes mistakenly described as having been born in England because he became closely associated with Oxford and English literature. His birthplace was instead Bloemfontein, now in South Africa. His childhood in England, including time near Sarehole Mill, later supplied memories and settings that readers connect with the rural atmosphere of the Shire.