| 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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George Orwell In Paris 