John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born of British parents in Bloemfontein, South Africa in January of 1892, but moved with his mother, Mabel Tolkien, to England, at the age of three. Tolkien lost his father when he was very young. In 1904 Tolkien's mother died, and the young John Ronald Reuel moved with his brother Hilary to his aunt's home in England (the West Midlands).
In the run-up to the Second World War, Tolkien was earmarked as a codebreaker.[71][72] In January 1939, he was asked whether he would be prepared to serve in the cryptographic department of the Foreign Office in the event of national emergency.[71][72] He replied in the affirmative and, beginning on 27 March, took an instructional course at the London HQ of the Government Code and Cypher School.[71][72] However, although he was "keen"[73] to become a codebreaker, he was informed in October that his services would not be required at that time.[71][72] Ultimately he never served as one.[71][72] In 2009, The Daily Telegraph claimed Tolkien turned down a £500-a-year offer to become a full-time recruit for unknown reasons.[73]
In 1945, Tolkien moved to Merton College, Oxford, becoming the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature,[62] in which post he remained until his retirement in 1959. He served as an external examiner for University College, Dublin, for many years. In 1954 Tolkien received an honorary degree from the National University of Ireland (of which U.C.D. was a constituent college). Tolkien completed The Lord of the Rings in 1948, close to a decade after the first sketches.