What was J.R.R. Tolkien’s birthplace in South Africa?

J.R.R. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, in what was then the Orange Free State, on 3 January 1892.

His parents, Arthur Reuel Tolkien and Mabel Tolkien, were living in Bloemfontein because Arthur worked there as a bank manager. Tolkien spent his earliest years in South Africa before moving to England with his mother and younger brother, Hilary, after his father died in 1896.

The family later settled in Sarehole, near Birmingham. Tolkien remembered the rural landscape around Sarehole fondly, and its mills, trees, and countryside are often discussed as influences on his imaginative writing.

A common mix-up places Tolkien’s birth in England because he became an English author and spent most of his life there. His birthplace was actually Bloemfontein, while his education, academic career, and literary work were largely based in England.