C. S. Lewis Biographical Timeline

This timeline is a work in progress. Once it is completed I will post PDF files of at least two different versions. The simple version will contain the information below. The full version will include page references to several biographical sources. I would be gratefull to know if there are any errors.

Year Month Age Event
1895
16-Jun
n/a
Warren Lewis is born in Belfast Ireland
1898
29-Nov
0
Lewis is born in Belfast Ireland in Albert and Flora’s home, Dundela Villas
1905
Jan-March
6
Lewis begins constructing talking animal stories which will become “Boxen”
1905
April
6
The Lewis family moves to Little Lea, a house Albert had built in Belfast
1905
April or May
6
Warren, age 10, sent to Wynyard School in Watford, Hertfordshire
1908
Feb
9
Flora undergoes surgury for abdominal cancer; surgury performed in Little Lea
1908
23-Aug
9
Flora Lewis dies; Albert’s brother dies ten days later; Albert’s father had died earlier in the year
1908
?
9
Lewis sent to Wynyard, advised by W. T. Kirkpatrick; begins reading science fiction, turns Christian
1910
Sept
11
Lewis leaves Wynyard, spends half a term at Campbell College, Belfast; love for poetry begins
1910
Nov
11
Lewis is removed from Campbell due to Albert’s concern over Lewis’s bad cough
1911
Jan
12
Lewis is sent to Cherbourg, a Malvern prep school; loses his faith; discovers Wagner
1912
April ?
13
During Easter holiday, Lewis wites the two volume novel, “Boxen, or Scences from Boxonian City Life”
1913
Sept
14
Lewis begins to attend Malvern College in Malvern
1914
April?
15
Lewis meets Arthur Greeves in Belfast
1914
July
15
Lewis leaves Malvern College
1914
Sept
15
Lewis moves to Great Bookham, and begins studying with W. T. Kirkpatrick
1914
Feb
15
Warren enters the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, England
1915
16
Helen Joy Davidman is born in New York City
1916
Dec
18
Lewis receives classical scholarship to University College, Oxford, the oldest of the Oxford colleges
1916
Dec
18
Reads The Story of Cupid and Psych; begins a prose version of what would become Dymer
1917
Jan
18
Goes to Bookham to prepare for Oxford’s responsions
1917
March
18
Lewis takes responsions–fails mathematics, especially algebra
1917
April
18
Lewis joins the University Officer’s Training Corp
1917
June
18
Lewis joins cadet battalion at Keble College–meets Edward “Paddy” and Janie Moore
1917
Sept
18
Takes responsions again, and fails the math section again
1917
Oct
18
Lewis and Paddy promise to care for the other’s parent if one or the other dies in the war
1917
Nov
18
Lewis is ordered to the front line; telegrams Albert asking for visit, but Albert claims telegraph is unreadable
1917
17-Nov
18
Lewis goes to France; arrives on the front line on his 19th birthday, Nov. 29th
1918
24-Mar
19
Paddy Moore is killed
1918
12-15 Apr
19
Lewis participates in the Battle of Hazebrouck; takes 60 German Prisoners
1918
15-Apr
19
Lewis is wounded north of Arras, France, by friendly British fire
1918
May
19
Lewis returns to Endsleigh Palace Hospital, London
1918
Dec
20
Lewis is dischaged from the hospital and demoblized from the army; returns to Little Lea
1919
Jan
20
Lewis returns to University College, Oxford; begins studying “Honour Mods,” Greek and Latin Texts
1919
March
20
Spirits in Bondage published under the psuedonym, Clive Hamilton
1919
Aug
20
Lewis visits Albert at Little Lea; Father and son have serious words
1920
March
21
Lewis places first in Honour Mods
1920
April
21
Lewis moves out of college rooms, and moves in with the Moores in Headington; begins studying “Greats”; comes to believe in the Absolute as a philosophical theory
1921
March
21
W. T. Kirkpatrick (the “Great Knock”) dies
1921
March
22
Lewis meets W. B. Yeats several times; has an aversion to Yeats’ egotistical interest in magic
1921
July
22
Albert joins Lewis in England for a holiday; Lewis lies to Albert about living with Mrs. Moore
1922
April
23
Lewis begins writing Dymer
1922
May
23
Lewis begins a verse version of Till We Have Face; Decides to continue for another year at Oxford taking English Literature
1922
June
23
Lewis takes examination in “Greats” — entails 6 hours of writing for 6 days
1922
Aug
23
Warren visits Lewis in Oxford; meets the Moores for the first time; Lewis recieves first class degree in Greats (B.A.)
1922
Oct
23
Lewis begins reading English Language and Literature with tudor F. P. Wilson and Edith Elizabeth Wardale
1922
Oct
23
Lewis joins George Gordon’s discussion class; meets Nevill Coghill; surprised to find Coghill a Christian
1923
Feb-March
24
Lewis helps care for Mrs. Moore’s brother, Dr. John Askins, who was going insane — increases Lewis’s aversion to Spiritualism
1923
June
24
Lewis Takes exams on English Language and Literature;
1923
July
24
Lewis finds out he and Nevill Coghill are the only students that year to receive first class degrees in English Language and Literature
1924
Oct
25
Lewis serves as philosophy tudor and lecturer for E. F. Carritt (who traveled to Anne Arbor, MI to teach philosophy for one year)
1925
May
26
Lewis recieves a Fellowship in English at Magdalen College, Oxford. Begins teaching English and Philosophy
1926
May
27
Meets J. R. R. Tolkien at an English faculty meeting
1926
Sept
27
Dymer is published under the psuedonym, Clive Hamilton
1927
July
28
Lewis votes with other Oxford faculty to limit the number of female students
1927
Sept
28
Lewis visits Albert at Little Lea for one month; compiles his and Warren’s writings and drawings into an Encyclopedia Boxania
1929
Summer
30
Lewis becomes a Theist
1929
25-Sep
30
Albert Lewis dies of cardiac arrest (conflicting reference 24th or 25th?)
1930
Oct
31
Lewis, Warren, and Mrs. Moore purchase The Kilns
1931
Jan
32
Warren and Lewis sell Little Lea
1931
Jan
32
Lewis finds out that Warren now holds a religious view; both begin attending church at Holy Trinity, Headington Quarry
1931
Sept
32
Lewis, Tolkien, and “Hugo” Dyson meet in Lewis’s rooms at Magdalen College. Talk of Christianity as the true myth
1931
22-Sep
32
Lewis becomes a Christian while riding in Warren’s sidecar
1931
Christmas
33
Lewis first takes Communion; unknown to Lewis, in China, Warren also takes Communion for the first time
1932
Aug
33
Lewis visits Arthur in Belfast; Lewis writes what would become The Pilgrim’s Regress
1933
May
34
The Pilgrim’s Regress published by J. M. Dent; does not sell well
1933
Fall
34
Lewis, Tolkien, and a few others meet in Lewis’s room at Magdalen to read myth and fantasy; so begins the Inklings
1935
Winter
36
F. P. Wilson invites Lewis to contribute the volume on 16th century lto the Oxford History of English Literature; Lewis eventually accepts
1936
37
The Allegory of Love published byClarenden Press, Oxford
1936
37
Lewis reads Charles Williams’ The Place of the Lion, writes Williams, and invites him to the Inkling meetings. They begin a relationship
1937
38
Lewis finishes writing Out of the Silent Planet; Tolkien writes a time-travel story
1938
Sept
39
Out of the Silent Planet published by John Lane, the Bodley Head
1939
March
40
Rehabilitations and Other Essays published by Oxford University Press
1939
April
40
The Personal Heresy published by Oxford University Press
1939
Oct
40
Preaches first sermon at St Mary the Virgin, the University Church in Oxford: The Christian in Danger, or Learning in War-Time
1940
July
41
C.S.L. concieves the idea of Screwtape letters
1941
Feb
42
Lewis asked to do broadcast talks by Dr. James Welch, Director of Religious Broadcasting for the BBC
1941
April
42
Lewis delivers first lecture to RAF at Abingdon
1941
May-Nov
42
The Screwtape Letters published in The Guardian, a Church of England newspaper
1941
8-Jun
42
Lewis preaches “The Wieght of Glory” in St. Mary’s, Oxford
1941
Aug
42
Lewis gives first broadcast talks
1941
Autumn
42
Lewis works on Perelandra
1942
26-Jan
43
First meeting of the Oxford Socratic Club at Somerville College; Jack serves as president till 1954
1942
43
Lewis asked to deliver the Riddell Memorial lectures for University of Durham; Jack prepares by studying 13th Vol. Ency. Of Rel and Ethics
1942
Jan-Feb
43
Lewis gives second broadcast talks titled What Christians Believe
1942
Feb
43
The Screwtape Letters published by Geoffrey Bles — First 2000 copies sold out before publication. Reprinted 8 times in 1942
1942
July
43
Broadcast Talks published. Compliation of first talks and second talks, What Christians Believe
1942
Sept, Nov
43
Lewis gives third broadcast talks titled Christian Behavior
1942
43
Preface to Paradise Lost published; dedicated to Charles Williams
1943
Jan
44
The Abolition of Man published by Oxford University Press; Ideas spawned by Lewis’s preparations for the Riddell Memorial Lectures
1943
Feb
44
Lewis invited to give series of lectures at Trinity College, Cambridge; these ideas would later become English Lit in the 16th Century
1943
44
Christian Behavior published
1943
April
44
Perelandra published by John Lane, the Bodley Head of London
1943
May
44
Lewis starts his book Miracles
1943
44
Lewis writes That Hideous Strength
1944
Feb-Apr
45
Lewis gives forth and final series of broadcast talks; later to be published as Beyond Personality
1944
45
Lewis writes The Great Divorce, first titled, Who Goes Home?
1944
Oct
45
Beyond Personality published, the written version of Lewis’s forth broadcast talks
1944
Nov
45
The Great Divorce begins to be published in The Guardian
1945
15-May
46
Charles Williams dies; Jack invites Tolkien, Sayers, Barfield, Gervase Mathew, Warnie, and T.S. Eliot to contribute to a memorial book; published in 1947
1945
Aug
46
That Hideous Strength published by John Lane, the Bodley Head
1946
Jan
47
The Great Divorce published by Geoffrey Bles
1946
47
George MacDonald: An Anthology published by Geoffrey Bles
1946
June
47
Lewis awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree by St Mary’s College of the University of St Andrews, Scotland
1947
48
Miracles is published by Geoffrey Bles, London
1947
Sept
48
Lewis picture and biographical article published in Time magazine
1948
Feb
49
Lewis debates Elizabeth Anscombe at the Socratic Club about his book Miracles; Lewis loses debate; Lewis rewrites 3rd chapter for 1969 edition
1948
49
Arthurian Torso published by Oxford University Press; proceeds goo to Charles Williams’s widow
1948
Summer
49
Lewis begins writing The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
1949
Summer
50
Lewis works on a sequel to The Lion, but sets aside; will become The Magician’s Nephew
1950
Jan
51
Lewis recieves first letter from Joy Gresham
1950
Feb
51
Lewis completes Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
1950
April
51
Mrs. Moore moved to Restholme, a nursing home in Oxford
1950
Oct
51
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe published by Geoffrey Bles; one book released each year
1950
52
Lewis completes The Silver Chair and The Horse and His Boy; makes another start on The Magician’s Nephew
1951
Jan
52
Mrs. Moore dies of influenza
1952
53
Mere Christianity published, the compilation and revision and amplification of Broadcast Talks, Christian Behavior, and Beyond Personality
1952
53
Lewis writes The Last Battle
1952
June
53
Lewis completes English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, volume III of the Oxford History of English Literature
1952
24-Sep
53
Lewis has lunch with Joy Gresham and her friend Phyllis Williams at the Eastgate Hotel, Oxford
1953
Jan
54
Joy recieves four page letter from Mr. Gresham informing her that he loves Joy’s cousin, Renee, and wants divorce; Joy returns to England
1953
Nov
54
Joy and her two sons sail for England, leaving America permenantly
1954
June
55
Lewis accepts the Professor of Medieval and Renaissance English chair from Cambridge; Lewis’s invitation largely due to Tolkien
1954
Aug
55
Joy is divorced from William Gresham
1954
Sept
55
English Literature in the Sixteenth Century published by Oxford University Press
1954
Oct
55
Lewis visits Joy and her parents in London
1954
29-Nov
56
Lewis delivers his inaugral lecture at Cmabridge titled De Descriptione Temporum
1955
Jan
56
Lewis takes of residence at Magdalene College, Cambridge
1955
Aug
56
Joy moves from London to Oxford
1955
56
Surprised by Joy is published by Geoffrey Bles
1956
23-Apr
57
Lewis and Joy are married in a civil ceremony in Oxford; Lewis only tells close friends
1956
Oct
57
Joy’s leg breaks; doctors discover cancer in her left leg and right breast
1956
57
Till We Have Faces is published bu Geoffrey Bles
1956
24-Dec
58
Lewis puts notice in The Times publically announcing his marriage with Joy
1957
21-Mar
58
Lewis and Joy have a bedside marriage an Nuptial Mass, presided by Father Peter Bide
1957
Sept
58
Lewis Spawns idea for The Four Loves
1957
Nov
59
Lewis finishes writing Reflections on the Psalms
1958
59
Reflections on the Psalms published; subsequently asked to serve on the Psalter Revision Commission for the Church of England
1959
March
60
Lewis elected an Honorary Fellow of University College, Oxford (his undergraduate college)
1959
May
60
Lewis awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by Manchester University
1959
Oct
60
Cancer returns to Joy
1960
Feb
61
The World’s Last Night and Other Essays published in America
1960
March
61
The Four Loves published by Geoffrey Bles
1960
Sept
61
Studies in Words published by The University of Cambridge
1960
April
61
Lewis, Joy, and the Greens travel to Greece; Joy returns “ready to die”
1960
13-Jul
61
Joy dies; requests cremation
1960
Aug
61
Lewis begins journaling thoughts; journal would become A Grief Observed
1961
June
62
Lewis hospitalized in the Acland Nursing Home for an enlarged prostrate gland
1961
Sept
62
A Grief Observed published by Faber and Faber; Lewis uses the pseudonym N. W. Clerk
1961
62
An Experiment in Criticism published
1962
April
63
Lewis returns to Cambridge; does remarkably well
1962
Feb
63
They Asked for a Paper published by Geoffrey Bles
1962
latter part
63
Lewis begins Letters to Malcolm
1963
June
64
Lewis meets Walter Hooper
1963
July
64
Lewis has a heart attack in the Acland Nursing Home; enters a coma for 24 hours; awakes asking for tea
1963
Aug
64
Lewis resigns his Chair and Fellowship at Magdalene College, Cambridge
1963
22-Nov
64
Lewis dies at the Kilns, Friday
1963
26-Nov
N/A
Lewis is buried in the churchyard at Holy Trinity, Headington Quarry
1964
Letters to Malcolm and The Discarded Image published