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C. S. Lewis

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The Life of Clive Staples ("Jack") Lewis

1898 Born Clive Staples Lewis November 29 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to Albert James Lewis (1863-1929) and Flora Augusta Hamilton Lewis (1862-1908). His brother, Warren Hamilton Lewis had been born on June 16, 1895.

1905 The Lewis family moved to their new home, "Little Lea," on the outskirts of Belfast.

1908 Mother died of cancer on August 23, Albert Lewis' (her husband's) birthday; C. S. Lewis (nicknamed "Jack") and Warren sent to boarding school at Wynyard School in England.

1910 Attends Campbell College Belfast for one term due to serious breathing difficulties.

1911-13 Studied at Cherbourg School, Malvern England, where he was very bad at maths.

1916 Won scholarship to University College, Oxford.

C. S. Lewis

1917 From April 26 until September, Lewis was a student at University College, Oxford. He enlisted in the British army during World War I and was billeted in Keble College, Oxford, for officer's training. Jack was commissioned an officer in the 3rd Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry, on September 25 and reached the front line in the Somme Valley in France on his 19th birthday.

1918 On April 15 Lewis was wounded on Mount Berenchon during the Battle of Arras. He got better and was returned to duty in October. He was discharged in December 1918. His former roommate and friend, Paddy Moore, was killed in battle and buried in the field just south of Peronne, France.

1919 He resumed his studies at University College, Oxford, where he studied Greek, Latin, English, Philosophy and Ancient History.

1924 He served as tutor in English Language and Literature for 29 years until leaving for Magdalene College, Cambridge, in 1954. During this time he wrote books for grownups.

1930 He bought the house "The Kilns" with his father and a friend.

His house, The Kilns

1950 "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," the first of the seven Chronicles of Narnia, was published.

1951 "Prince Caspian," the second of the seven Chronicles of Narnia, was published.

1952 "The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader'," the third of the seven Chronicles of Narnia, was published. In September, he met Joy Gresham, fifteen years his junior, for the first time.

1953 "The Silver Chair," the fourth of the seven Chronicles of Narnia, was published.

1954 "The Horse and His Boy," the fifth of the seven Chronicles of Narnia, was published. In June, Lewis accepted the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge.

1955 "The Magician's Nephew," the sixth of the seven Chronicles of Narnia, was published, as was his biography "Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life."

Inside his house

1956 "The Last Battle," the seventh and final book in the Chronicles of Narnia, was published (he receives the Carnegie Medal in recognition of it). On April 23, he married Joy. Joy at this stage had bone cancer.

1960 Joy died on July 13 at the age of 45, not long after their return from Greece. "Studies in Words" and "The Four Loves" were published.

1963 Lewis died at 5:30 p.m. at The Kilns, one week before his 65th birthday on Friday, November 22, after a variety of illnesses, including a heart attack and kidney problems. This same day, American president John F. Kennedy was assassinated and Alduous Huxley died. He had resigned his position at Cambridge during the summer. His grave is in the yard of Holy Trinity Church in Headington Quarry, Oxford.