II. Early Life

Clive Staples Lewis was born on November 29, 1898 in Belfast, Ireland to Albert James Lewis, a police court lawyer, and Flora Augusta Hamilton Lewis (Barnes). He was the younger of two sons in a very Protestant family. His brother, Warren Hamilton Lewis, known by his nickname as Warnie, had been born on June 16, 1895. When Lewis turned four, he adopted his new nickname, Jack, and used this name for the rest of his life (Gibson 3). In 1905, the family moved to Little Lea, which was a house on the outskirts of Belfast. However Lewis' life turned for the worse when he was nine years old: his mother died of cancer on August 23, 1908, Albert Lewis' birthday. Hoping that her sons would carry God in their hearts, Augusta left Jack and Warnie bibles signed "from mommy, with fondest Love, August 1908"(Barnes).         In September of that same year, Jack was sent to a strict boarding school,Wynyard, in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. After his mother's death, Lewis and his father grew more distant and school did not help (Leuty). In 1910 he attended Campbell College in Belfast, just one mile from Little Lea. He had to leave Campbell College due to serious respiratory difficulties in January of 1911, and returned to England to attend Cherbourg House, Malvern. Malvern was famous at the time for being a great health resort especially for those with lung problems. He entered Malvern College, a university preparatory school, in September of 1913, where his brother was also attending. At the age of 15, Lewis moved to Surrey and was tutored by his father's old school master, William T. Kirkpatrick, known as "The Great Knock" (Dorsett). Kirkpatrick also tutored Warnie for admission to the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. April 26, 1917, Lewis began his college career at University College, Oxford.

        Lewis's time at the university was short lived until September of that year when World War I broke out. He enlisted in the British army and was sent to Keble College, Oxford, for officer's training (Gresham). Lewis was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry (Safra 312). He reached the front line in the Somme Valley in France to battle in the trenches on his 19th birthday. On April 15, 1918 Lewis was wounded on Mount Berenchon during the Battle of Arras by an exploding shell. The wound was not serious but did leave a piece metal in him for some years until it had to be taken out (Gibson 8). He then returned to Oxford where he graduated with honors.

After spending a majority of his life around books, C. S. Lewis was convinced that the rest of his life should be devoted to studying and ideas. He started off tutoring in 1924 in philosophy at University College (Gresham). He began his teaching at Magdalen College, Oxford in 1925, after many delays, ultimately being elected Fellow of Language and Literature for 29 years (Kilby 270). During this time in 1929, his father died in Belfast and Lewis became a theist, one who believes there is a God, but did not become a Christian, one who worships God, until 1931 (Dorsett). Then he left to teach at Magdalen College, Cambridge in 1955.         During his time as a professor, Lewis was part of a select group of friends called the Inklings. The Inklings were a group of professors that met to write and read their works to one another. The most famous of these writers was C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Neville Coghill, and Charles Williams. Lewis and Tolkien had a very close relationship and often discussed The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings (Gibson 5). The frequently went to a pub in England called The Eagle and The Child. However the Inklings did not die with these authors. This special group is known world wide and divided into various different little groups involving adult and children authors.

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