Chronology

1903 June 25th Eric Arthur Blair born at Motihari, Bengal, India
son of Richard Walmesley Blair and Ida Mabel Blair (née Limouzin)
1904 Brought to England by mother, with family in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire
1908–1916 Goes to school at Sunnylands, Eastbourne, Sussex (till 1911)
Then goes to boarding school at St. Cyprian’s Preparatory School, Eastbourne, Sussex
Family moved to Shiplake near Henley
1915 The Blair family moved back to Henley-on-Thames
Eric spent one term at Wellington College
Then till 1921 was at Eton College on a scholarship
1921 Parents moved to Southwold, Suffolk
1922 Eric attended a “crammer” in Southwold (January-June) to prepare for India Office examinations
1922-1927 Assistant Superintendent of Police, Indian Imperial Police, Burma
1927 Resigned from the Imperial Police (January)
Returned to Britain, passing (probably) through Paris
Lived for a while in North Kensington
1928 Lived in Paris, writing, teaching, and later working as a dishwasher (“plongeur”)
 Published article La Censure en Angleterre on Censorship in England in Monde 
1929 Published other articles  Monde (ed. H.Barbusse)
And a series La Grande Misère de l’Ouvrier Britannique on unemployment, social issues  in Progrès Civique, and others on tramping and begging and on British imperialism in Burma
Published ‘Hop-picking’ Diary   (January 12th)
Hospitalised in Paris with pneumonia (February or March?)
December: after a year and three quarters in Paris, returned to England and went directly to his parents
1930-1931 Went “tramping” in London and the Home Counties (around London)
Wrote early version of Down and Out in Paris and London
Contributed essays to Adelphi magazine (including The Spike and The Hanging) under his own name
1932-1933 Taught at the Hawthorns School, Hayes, Middlesex
1933 First book, Down and Out in Paris and London (Victor Gollancz), using for the first time the pseudonym “George Orwell”
Taught at Frays College, Middlesex
Hospitalized with pneumonia
1934 Gave up teaching. Stays at parents’ house in Southwold, Suffolk
Burmese Days published in United States (October)
Moved to Hampstead, London (November)
1934-1935 Worked as part-time assistant in shop Booklover’s Corner, Hampstead, London
1935 A Clergyman’s Daughter published (March)
Down and Out in Paris and London published in France as La Vache Enragée
Burmese Days published in England (June) (already published U.S.A)
Met Eileen O’Shaughnessy, age 30
1936 Investigating working class life, unemployment and poverty in Lancashire and Yorkshire at the suggestion of publisher Victor Gollancz (January-March)
Moved to “The Stores”, Wallington, Hertfordshire (April)
Keep the Aspidistra Flying published (June)
Married Eileen O’Shaughnessy, Wallington parish church
Attended Independent Labour Party Summer School, Letchworth, Hertfordshire (July)
Left for Spain (December)
1937 The Road to Wigan Pier published (March)
Left Book Club edition of 40,000 copies
1938 Homage to Catalonia published (April)
[sold just some 400 copies in his lifetime]
Joined ILP (Independent Labour Party) (June)
Went to Morocco for health reasons (September)
1939 Returned from Morocco to England (March)
Coming Up for Air published (June)
1940 Inside the Whale published (March)
Moved to London. (May)
Wrote reviews for Time and Tide and Tribune
Volunteered for the Home Guard
1941 The Lion and the Unicorn published (February)
1941-1943 Talks Producer, Empire Department, BBC, in charge of broadcasting to India and South East Asia
1943-1946 Literary Editor of Tribune
1944 Orwell and Eileen adopted one month old Richard Horatio Blair
1945 Started work on Nineteen Eighty-Four (under working title of Last Man in Europe)
War correspondent for The Observer in Paris and Cologne (March-May)
Death of Eileen while under anaesthetic for operation (March) while Orwell in Paris
Covered the post-war election campaign (June-July)
Animal Farm published (August)
1946 Critical Essays published (February)
Moved to Barnhill, Isle of Jura (May)
Admitted Hairmyres Hospital, near Glasgow, on Christmas Eve with TB
1947 Surrendered the tenancy of “The Stores” cottage in Wallington.
1948 Returned from hospital to Jura (July).
Completed his revision of Nineteen Eighty-Four by December
1949 Entered Cotswolds Sanatorium, Cranham, Gloucestershire (January)
Nineteen Eighty-Four published (June). Over 400,000 copies sold in first year
Transferred from Cranham to University College Hospital (UCH), London (September)
Married Sonia Brownell, editorial assistant with Horizon, in UCH (October)
1950 January 21 Died in hospital, of TB

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