About Edith Tolkien
Edith Mary Tolkien (née Bratt; 21 January 1889 – 29 November 1971) was the wife of the academic, philologist, poet, and novelist J. R. R. Tolkien. She served as the inspiration for his fictional Middle-earth characters Lúthien Tinúviel and Arwen Undómiel. == Biography == === Early life === Edith Bratt was born in Gloucester on 21 January 1889. Her mother, Frances Bratt, a governess, was 30 years old, unmarried, and was the daughter of a local shoe and bootmaker. According to Humphrey Carpenter, Frances Bratt never married, and the name of Edith's father is not listed on her birth certificate. Even so, Frances is reported to have always preserved a photograph of him and his name was known within the Bratt family. Edith, however, was always deeply conscious of having been conceived out of wedlock and never told her own children the name of their grandfather. Subsequent research has identified Edith's father as Birmingham paper dealer Alfred Frederick Warrilow, who had previously employed Frances Bratt as governess to his daughter, Nellie Warrilow. When Warrilow died in 1891, he named Frances as his sole executrix in his will. Edith was brought up in Handsworth, a suburb of Birmingham, by her mother and also her cousin, Jenny Grove (related to Sir George Grove).
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.