the instruction printed in the Oxford University Gazette for 17 April that anyone wishing to attend Sisam’s classes should call on him at Merton College between 10.00 and 11.00 a.m.
27 April 1913 Rob Gilson replies to a letter from Tolkien in which the latter apparently had written of his Second Class in Honour Moderations and of his decision to change to the English School. Gilson had seen the Honour Moderations results announced in the papers but had not known whether to send congratulations or commiserations. His comments suggest that Tolkien might have earlier expressed an interest in the English School or a growing lack of interest in Classics. Gilson reports his father’s opinion that Tolkien ought to have got a First. He also remarks that a postcard he sent to Tolkien at Barnt Green had missed him, and refers to Tolkien having darted to and fro during the vacation.
28 April 1913 At a meeting of the Stapeldon Society Mr Mackarness is appointed to the post of Jester, with Tolkien as his deputy. The minutes note that ‘Mr Mackarness in thanking the house remarked that he was afraid that his repertoire was somewhat unfitted to the high standard of morals pertaining in the Society and Mr Tolkien to the general surprise endorsed the remark’ (Exeter College archives). Tolkien probably finishes his term of duty on the Kitchen Committee, as new members are elected.
1 May 1913 Tolkien inscribes this date in a copy of the Everyman edition of the Mabinogion, translated by Lady Charlotte Guest.
12 May 1913 At a meeting of the Stapeldon Society Tolkien describes confrontations between Town and Gown with which he had been involved the previous night. The Society minutes note that ‘the Deputy Public Orator [Tolkien] then went on to describe his arrest and subsequent release and told how on returning to college he had delighted the spectators by a magnificent, if unavailing, attempt to scale the Swiss Cottage and had spent the rest of the evening in climbing in and out of Mr Barnett’s window’ (Exeter College archives).
26 May 1913 At a meeting of the Stapeldon Society Tolkien, as Deputy Public Orator, is called upon to propose a vote of censure against the President of the Society for being absent from a meeting without giving notice.
31 May 1913 The Apolausticks meet for a six-course dinner at an unnamed venue. Tolkien’s menu card shows that Allen Barnett is now President. See note.
4 June 1913 Tolkien and Allen Barnett visit the charred ruin of Fred Rough’s Oxford boathouse, burned to the ground by militant suffragettes. See note.
5 June 1913 Christopher Wiseman writes to Tolkien, who has mentioned in a letter some injury to his foot. Wiseman wants Tolkien to get better so that they can both take part in King Edward’s School Sports as Old Edwardians.
9 June 1913 At a meeting of the Stapeldon Society R.H. Gordon and J.R.R. Tolkien are elected President and Secretary of the Society for the next term. Tolkien also proposes a vote of censure against the outgoing President for having attended only two meetings during his tenure of office. – G.B. Smith, still at King Edward’s School, replies to a letter from Tolkien he received that morning. Smith, who will go up to Oxford in Michaelmas Term 1913, having been awarded an exhibition at Corpus Christi College, asks Tolkien about obtaining furniture, etc. for his college rooms.
10 June 1913 Rob Gilson writes to Tolkien from his home at Marston Green near Birmingham, mentioning a long letter in which Tolkien has said how much he is enjoying the Oxford English School. Gilson asks him to play tennis on Saturday, 14 June, and if he will be in Birmingham for the King Edward’s School Sports on 28 June, and for Speech Day on 28 July. – Tolkien replies immediately, informing Gilson that he will be in Warwick until 28 June or 1 July.
12 June 1913 Gilson writes again to encourage Tolkien to visit him on 14 June, and sends him train times to Warwick from Marston Green.
14 June 1913 Trinity Full Term ends. – Tolkien probably travels to Marston Green to attend a tennis party at the Gilsons. Rob Gilson and other school friends are present. – In the evening, Tolkien probably travels to Warwick to visit Edith and Jennie Grove.
?14 June–28 June 1913 Tolkien stays in Warwick. A suitable house is found for Edith and Jennie to rent at 15 Victoria Road, Warwick, and they deal with many domestic details. Tolkien and Edith attend Benediction in the Catholic church together for the first time.
18 June 1913 Tolkien sketches the gardens of Pageant House, Warwick (Pageant House Gardens, Warwick, see Artist and Illustrator, fig. 14).
28 June–1 July 1913 Tolkien takes up Gilson’s invitation of 12 June that they attend the King Edward’s School Sports. He spends these days with the Gilson family at Marston Green. See note.
At least 2–12 July 1913 Tolkien stays at Barnt Green with the Incledons. He makes several drawings and watercolours, including views of the Incledons’ cottage and garden and of foxgloves in a nearby wood (Artist and Illustrator, figs. 17–18). He also paints the view King’s Norton from Bilberry Hill (Artist and Illustrator, fig. 16). Tolkien now begins to use a large sketchbook, at the beginning of which he copies, probably from postcards, views of Broad Street, Oxford and the Dining Hall at Exeter College, and makes a sketch of the cottage at Barnt Green.
?Late July 1913 Tolkien visits Phoenix Farm. He draws Phoenix Farm from Gedling, a view seen from a distance. Possibly at this time, though more likely in 1914, he draws another, closer view of the farm (Phoenix Farm, Gedling, see Artist and Illustrator, fig. 15). A third drawing of Phoenix Farm by Tolkien, Lamb’s Farm, Gedling, Notts (its title referring to the farmer who worked the land for years before Jane Neave), may date from 1913 as well. – Tolkien is hired by a Mr Killion to accompany two Mexican boys, Ventura and José Pablo Martínez del Río, to *France to join their brother, Eustaquio Martínez del Río, and their aunts, Ángela and Julia, who lived in Paris, and while in France to act as their escort and tutor. See note.
29 July 1913 At Charing Cross station Tolkien speaks with Mr Killion, but there seem to be no plans to govern the work he is about to do. He is introduced to Ventura and José, who attend the Roman Catholic school at *Stonyhurst in Lancashire. ‘They are quite jolly & good & most submissive and quiet especially little José who never speaks’ (letter to Edith Bratt, 29 July 1913, courtesy of Christopher Tolkien).
30 July 1913 Tolkien, Ventura, and José arrive in Paris. They are met by the boys’ aunts at the Gare du Nord, who weep and greet the boys so volubly that Tolkien must lose his temper to get them into a taxi. Their intended hotel, the Hôtel de l’Athenée, being closed, they go to the Hôtel Plaza. Later they will move to the Hôtel des Champs-Elysées. ‘The boys really are most excellent & the smallest one [Eustaquio] … who has just come from Mexico, is the nicest child I have ever met, I think’ (letter to Edith Bratt, 30 July 1913, courtesy of Christopher Tolkien).
31 July–12 August 1913 While in France and with the Mexican boys, Tolkien has to speak mainly Spanish or French, in neither of which is he fluent. Although he enjoys seeing Paris, the visit reinforces his pre-existing dislike for the inhabitants of France and their language. He feels a deep grudge against the Norman Conquest, which he thinks has done so much to destroy Anglo-Saxon culture and to adulterate the English language. On 5 or 6 August the aunts decide to go to Brittany, and Tolkien looks forward to visiting that Celtic area with its close ties to Wales and the Welsh language. But on 10 August Tolkien, the boys, and the elder of the aunts, Ángela, go only to Dinard, a fashionable seaside resort. Tolkien writes to Edith: ‘Brittany! And to see nothing but trippers and dirty papers and bathing machines’ (quoted in Biography, p. 67).
13 August 1913 Ángela is struck by a car and dies soon afterward. Her last wish is to be returned to her native Mexico. Tolkien sends the news to Mr Killion by telegram, and presumably also contacts Julia.
14 August 1913 Julia arrives in Dinard in the morning; Tolkien meets her at the station. Although the owners of the hotel in which they