J. R. R. Tolkien's almost forgotten great-grandfather | George Tolkien (1784-1840)

 In the years 1827–1838 George Tolkien was a member of the Drury Lane Company by Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. This is the same theatre where two hundred years later 

we could watch and listen to "The Lord of the Rings" musical!

 

I want to present now the information about J. R. R. Tolkien's great-grandfather. This information is the result of my many years of genealogical and historical research. George Tolkien is a very interesting Londoner who has almost been forgotten. I am glad that I was able to extract his character from the depths of the archives.

 

John Benjamin I’s second son George Tolkien (1784-1840; according to the documents he was George, not George William as other authors write), J. R. R. Tolkien’s great-grandfather, was a house-agent and an auctioneer, a tool producer, a music teacher and music seller, and also a theater bass singer in Covent Garden. Towards the end of his life he was also an organist in St Pancras church (see "The London Tolkiens: even more information!"). 

 

"He was born on 20 October 1784 in Pentonville, Islington"

He was born on 20 October 1784 in Pentonville, Islington (Greater London; see "The Tolkien Family London addresses" and "Sackville vs. Pentonville") and he was baptized in the Savoy Lutheran Chapel on 7 November of the same year. His younger brother was John Benjamin Tolkien II (1788–1859), a gentleman and an insurance agent in Norwich Union (John Benjamin II was probably a member of the Moravian Church or Unitas Fratrum, Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine) in Bristol. 

 

The Tolkien family (Mr. M. Tolkien) is in the possession of the Bible from the eighteenth century which belonged to Mary Tolkien, née Wall (J. R. R. Tolkien's great-great-grandmother, wife of Gdańsk-born Johann Benjamin Tolkien, 1752–1819). Mary made the records of the births and baptisms of her sons in her Bible: Benjamin Tolkien (born 28 January 1782, baptized 17 February [?] 1782), George Tolkien (born 20 October 1784, baptized 7 November 1784; JRRT's great-grandfather) and John Benjamin Tolkien (born 2 January 1788, baptized 27 January 1788). Benjamin died in 1787, George in 1840 and John Benjamin in 1859.

 

Source: Geni.com and Ancestry.com

  

George as a child attended the violin lessons of a Mr Dando in London. In 1799 he became an apprentice in the furrier manufacture of his uncle, Daniel where he was supposed to stay for seven years. He had to finish his learning in 1805. On 5 September 1805 George Tolkien married “by licence” Eliza Lydia Murrell (1787–1863) in St Bartholomew the Great church in London (marriage „by licence” was typical for Non-Conformists in England). 

 

"He was baptized in the Savoy Lutheran Chapel on November 7, 1784"
(source: Ancestry.co.uk)

 

First son of George and Eliza, George William Tolkien (1805–1877) was born on 31 October 1805, two months after his parents’ wedding. The Tolkiens had fourteen children during twenty seven years of their marriage. One of their sons was J. R. R. Tolkien’s grandfather, John Benjamin Tolkien III (1809–1896). George’s family lived first in the family house at 77 White Lion Street, Pentonville, London. In 1822 they moved to 4 High Street in Islington. In the beginning George Tolkien had the same occupation as his father: he was a clock- and watchmaker (1813), china and glass seller (1814), music teacher (before and after 1827). In 1830 he is described as a gentleman. His family’s addresses were: Park Street (1826), Grove Street (1831), and at last 25 Bidborough Street, St Pancrace, where George died in 1840. After his death his wife Eliza Lydia lived with the children at Upper Seymour Street. See also "Tolkiens poor or rich? (UK Land Tax Redemption, 1796-1822)".

 

"In the years 1827–1838 we can find George Tolkien
as a member of the Drury Lane Company by Theatre Royal, Covent Garden"

 

In the years 1827–1838 we can find George Tolkien as a member of the Drury Lane Company by Theatre Royal, Covent Garden (this is the same theatre where two hundred years later we could watch and listen to The Lord of the Rings musical!). George Tolkien died on 1 June 1840 at the age of 56 years. He was buried on 7 June at the cemetery of St George the Martyr, Queen Square, Camden in London. His grave does not exist any more. 

 

145 Saint John Street, Clerkenwell

 

Second son of George Tolkien was John Benjamin Tolkien III (1807-1896), J. R. R. Tolkien’s grandfather. Here I have collected information about him.