Was Tolkien rich during his lifetime?

Define 'rich'. As a university professor, he could be considered upper middle class, but he also had a large family (four children) to support. read more

He was especially grateful that his improved financial position gave him the opportunity to take care of his wife, Edith, as her health failed during the last decade of her life. Perhaps during those last few years, he might be described as “rich” in relation to contemporary British society. read more

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, on January 3, 1892, to Arthur Tolkien and Mabel Suffield Tolkien. After Arthur Tolkien died from complications of rheumatic fever, Mabel settled with four-year-old J.R.R. (then called Ronald) and his younger brother, Hilary, in the country hamlet of Sarehole, in Birmingham, England. read more

According to his grandson Simon Tolkien, Tolkien in the last years of his life was disappointed by some of the liturgical reforms and changes implemented after the Second Vatican Council: I vividly remember going to church with him in Bournemouth. read more