Vera Chapman was born in Bournemouth in 1898 and went on to found the first Tolkein Society, within which she was often referred to as Belladonna Took.
She was one of the first women to qualify as a full member of Oxford University, and persuaded Tolkein to make her the honorary president of the society which she founded after his books gained a cult following.
She began writing herself at the age of 77, publishing pesudo-historical and Arthurian books, and continued writing until her death in 1996.
Her books can still be found on Amazon, and her novel The King’s Damosel was used as the basis for the Warner Brothers movie Quest For Camelot.
