What was the name of J.R.R. Tolkien’s father, who died in South Africa in 1896?

J.R.R. Tolkien’s father, who died in South Africa in 1896, was named Arthur Tolkien.

Arthur Reuel Tolkien worked for the Bank of Africa and became a branch manager in Bloemfontein. He had married Mabel Suffield in England before the couple moved to South Africa. Their first son, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, was born in Bloemfontein in 1892, followed by his younger brother Hilary.

Arthur stayed in South Africa when Mabel returned to England with the boys in 1895, hoping that the family would later reunite. He died of rheumatic fever on 15 February 1896, at the age of 39. Tolkien’s early loss meant that Mabel raised the children largely on her own. Arthur is sometimes confused with Tolkien’s son Christopher, who later edited and published many of his father’s posthumous works.