John Tolkien (priest)

John Francis Reuel Tolkien (16 November 1917 – 22 January 2003) was an English priest and the eldest son of J. R. R. Tolkien. He served as a parish priest in Oxford, Coventry, Birmingham, and Stoke-on-Trent. He was also a chaplain at the University College of North Staffordshire and to two schools. During his lifetime and after his death, there were a number of allegations of child sexual abuse against him: he was questioned by the police but never charged or convicted.

Biography[]

He was born in Cheltenham on 16 November 1917 to J.R.R. Tolkien and Edith Tolkien. His middle name was in honour of Father Francis Morgan who had baptised him.^[1] He received his formal education at the Dragon School, Oxford and The Oratory School in Caversham, Berkshire where he decided to become a priest during his final year. Acting on the advice of the Archbishop he decided to study English at Exeter College, Oxford from where he received his B.A. degree in 1939. In November 1939, he went to the English College, Rome. Due to the outbreak of World War II, the college was moved to Stonyhurst in Lancashire.^[2] He also studied Old Norse from his father in Oxford.^[3]

Clerical career[]

He was ordained as a priest at St Gregory and Augustine Church in North Oxford. He first served as a curate from 1946 to 1950 at the St Mary and St Benedict Church in Coventry, teaching 60 children every week and organizing efforts for rebuilding the church's schools. From 1950 to 1957, he was a curate at the English Martyrs Church in Sparkhill, Birmingham. He later went to North Staffordshire, where he served as the chaplain of University College of North Staffordshire (now Keele University) and of two grammar schools namely, St Joseph's College in Trent Vale and St Dominic's High School in Hartshill.^[2]

In 1957, he shifted to Knutton where he stayed until 1966, serving as the parish priest of the Knutton Roman Catholic Church during this period, before shifting to Hartshill.^[4][5] He became the parish priest of Our Lady of the Angels and St Peter in Chains Church, Stoke-on-Trent in 1966. He held the position until 1987 and a new school was constructed under his watch. He returned to Oxford in 1987 and settled in Eynsham, serving as the parish priest at its St. Peter's Catholic Church till he retired in 1994.^[2] A parish hall of the church is named after him as it was built because of his support.^[6][7] He also served as a priest in Birmingham.^[8]

Other activities[]

Tolkien also served as a governor of St Joseph's College^[9] and was the scoutmaster of the 159th English Martyrs Scout Group in Sparkhill.^[10] He was also a benefactor to the Elizabeth Trust charity of Newcastle and had a shelter for victims of sexual abuse named after him in 1990.^[11]

In 1987, he and his sister Priscilla began identifying the large collection of family photographs. In 1992, they released a book titled The Tolkien Family Album containing photographs and memories of the Tolkien family and giving an account of their father's life to celebrate the centenary birth anniversary of J. R. R. Tolkien.^[2]

Death[]

Before his death, Tolkien had started suffering from dementia.^[10] He died on 22 January 2003 after suffering from declining health for years.^[2]

Child sexual abuse allegations[]

Tolkien is one of four Catholic priests in Birmingham included as part of a wider investigation into the Catholic church by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.^[12] There was no conviction or civil finding against Tolkien.^[13] There was also no finding of fact before either the civil or criminal courts.^[14] Allegations, which were never proven in a court of law, were repeatedly and consistently denied.^[15] Allegations were first put to him by the Sunday Mercury in November 2000. Due to dementia and lack of evidence Tolkien's solicitors were successful in seeking a high court injunction and the Sunday Mercury was unable to publish until after Tolkien's death to avoid risk of defamation liability. After Tolkien's death the PCC ruled in Tolkien's favour,^[16] upheld the complaint and ordered the newspaper to print its adjudication.

Vincent Nichols, then Archbishop of Birmingham, authorised a payment of £15,000 in an out-of-court settlement without admission of liability^[17] to Christopher Carrie who claimed in 1994 that he had been abused when he was 12^[18] and claimed in 2003 he had been abused by Tolkien when he was 11.^[19] The enquiry suggested, but could not prove that Diocesan documents showed that Nichols was aware of previous incidents involving Tolkien; Nichols denied a cover up.^[20] He said he had pressure from lawyers acting for the Tolkien family, who said Father Tolkien was by then in such poor health that he could not defend himself.^[21]

One allegation made at the Inquiry was that in the 1950s when Tolkien was based in Sparkhill, he made a group of scouts strip naked. The exact circumstances were not detailed or explained.^[22] Although he denied this until he died, a note allegedly made by Archbishop Couve de Murville during an investigation in 1993^[23] apparently showed that a complaint had been made to the archdiocese in 1968 that he abused two boys and he was sent for therapy. However the note no longer exists^[24] and the inquiry were not able to assess it. Also, since the Archbishop had long since died, he could not be questioned.^[25] The allegations were first reported to the police in 1994.^[26] The West Midlands Police appealed for witnesses to come forward in 2000 after Carrie contacted them.^[27]

He was questioned in 2001 and a file sent to the Crown Prosecution Service who determined that there was no realistic prospect of prosecution and that any action would not be in the public interest. The archdiocese solicitors had found allegations by two people^[28] and advised Nichols that "Carrie is likely to satisfy the (civil) court, Fr Tolkien abused him in the manner he alleges."^[29] Evidence was submitted from a deceased former altar boy who could not swear an oath or be subject to cross examination or perjury^[30] that Tolkien was a regular visitor to the school and was treated like royalty. Tolkien chose him to be an altar boy at Our Lady of the Angels and St Peter in Chains Church, Stoke-on-Trent. He was invited to Tolkien's house, which was next door, on Saturday morning for reading lessons. Tolkien said he was going to do a special ceremony for which he had been chosen where he had to kneel on a cushion stool and take his shorts down. He was molested by him and promised that this would see him anointed by Christ. This happened at least twice^[31] in 1970.^[32] He blames Tolkien, and the failure of the church to take effective action, for ruining his life.^[33]

In 2019, The Observer reported that Tolkien had said, in a tape-recorded conversation with Carrie, that he was sexually abused by at least one of his father's friends as a child.^[8][34]

Bibliography[]

• Tolkien, John and Tolkien, Priscilla. The Tolkien Family Album. HarperCollins, 1992.

See also[]

• Child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church.
• Tolkien family

References[]