While many people know about Christian apologist and fantasy author C.S. Lewis, less people know that he wasn’t the only writer in his family. Warren Hamilton Lewis (or “Warnie,” as his brother called him) had a great bond of friendship with his brother throughout their lives, and they impacted each other’s lives in surprising ways.
Who Was Warnie Lewis?
Warnie Lewis was born in 1895 in Belfast, Northern Ireland to Albert and Flora Lewis. His younger brother, Clive Staples Lewis (or “Jack,” as he preferred to be called) was born three years later. Jack was the more imaginative and disciplined of the brothers, whereas Warnie was more practical and, to some degree, lazy. Due to his poor studies, Albert eventually sent Warnie to study under a tutor, W.T. Kirkpatrick, to prepare him for taking the British army entrance exam. Jack would later study under Kirkpatrick as well, remembering him well in his memoir Surprised by Joy.
The brothers served in World War I and World War II (Jack in the Home Gaurd during World War II), went on walking tours together, and encouraged each other with their writings at Inklings gatherings. Interestingly enough, both converted to Christianity at about the same time, around 1930.
Warnie retired from the British Army in 1932 and came to live with Jack at The Kilns (a home that Jack owned in Oxford). Warnie spent the happiest years of his life at the Kilns, particularly the years living with Jack and later with Jack’s wife Joy Davidman and her sons David and Douglas Gresham.
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Was Warnie Lewis an Inkling?
The Inklings were a group of writers who met multiple times a week in Oxford (either at the Eagle and Child pub, the Lamb and Flag pub, or in Lewis’s rooms at Magdalen College). They would share their writing or discuss their interests. Famous members include J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and Owen Barfield.
At the group’s heart was a shared love for myth, literature, and Christianity. However, some who attended the Inkling meetings were not orthodox Christians, which added an interesting dynamic to their discussions. So many important books came out of the group, like Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, C. S. Lewis’s The Problem of Pain, and Warnie’s The Splendid Century.
While Warnie wasn’t an academic like his brother or Tolkien or some of the other attendees, he was a very gifted writer in his own right. Warnie served as Lewis’ secretary, responding to many of Lewis’s letters (Warnie’s typewriter is still at The Kilns for people to see). His diary provides some wonderful personal recollections of The Inklings meetings. He also wrote various books (which will be mentioned in full later).
At one of the Inklings meetings, Warnie shared some sections from his first book. To his utter delight, it was received very well. I can only imagine how nervous he was to share an excerpt with so many brilliant writers and academics.
What Did Warnie Lewis Write?
Warnie’s most prolific work was as a historian of 17th-century France. Though he was never trained as a scholar, he had the writing and intellectual skills to delve deeply into that period, write about it at a scholarly level, and put his ideas into the vernacular.
Warnie became fascinated with this particular period after reading Memoirs of Louis de Rouvroy, Duc de Saint-Simon, and wrote seven books about the period. The first, The Splendid Century, was published in 1953. It proved to be a very important work and is still used at colleges and universities today. The success gave Warnie great satisfaction, having contributed something to The Inklings’ literary legacy. Listed below are the six other history books he wrote:
1. The Sunset of the Splendid Century: The Life and Times of Louis Auguste de Bourbon, Duc de Maine. Published in 1955.
2. Assault on Olympus: The Rise of the House of Gramont between 1604 and 1678. Published in 1958.
3. Louis XIV: An Informal Portrait. Published in 1959.
4. The Scandalous Regent: A Life of Philippe Duc d’Orleans 1674-1723, and of His Family. Published in 1961.
5. Levantine Adventurer: The Travels and Missions of the Chevalier d’Arvieux, 1653-1697. Published in 1962.
6. Memoirs of the Duc de Saint-Simon. Published in 1964.
Warnie also wrote a profoundly moving biographical sketch of his brother, used as an introduction to a collection of Jack’s letters published by Geoffrey Bles in 1966. The Splendid Century and the collection of letters are still in print and a good place to start with his work.
Warnie kept an important document called The Lewis Papers about his family history, and a diary. Both documents have been immensely helpful to different teachers, writers, scholars, academics, students, and writers studying Warnie, his brother, and the Inklings.
Unlike his brother, Warnie traveled quite a lot. He served over 20 years in the British Army, stationed in places like China, Belgium, and Sierra Leone. These experiences added much richness to Warnie’s life.
Warnie also played a major part in Jack meeting Joy Davidman. As his brother’s secretary, Warnie read his brother’s mail, and a letter Joy sent to Lewis caught Warnie’s attention. He showed it to Jack, and Jack began corresponding with Joy. Warnie and Lewis had no idea how this would change both of their lives. The letter correspondence turned into a great friendship, then marriage. The story of Jack’s marriage to Joy became the basis for the play and film Shadowlands.<
One interesting thing about Warnie is that he was quite fond of motorboats, engines, and how things worked. Ever since his youth he was fascinated by the way that cars, trains, planes, ships, and motorboats were built. When he served in the army in World WarI, he helped with supplying the soldiers and learned quite a good deal about mechanics and machinery.
During the time Warnie lived with Jack, he purchased a motorboat called the Bosphorus that he would drive around different parts of England—one reason being to escape the nagging of Mrs. Moore at The Kilns.
Mrs. Moore was the mother of Jack’s friend Paddy Moore, who sadly died in World War I. Jack and Paddy vowed that if one of them died in the war, the surviving friend would take care of their family. After Paddy’s death, Lewis took up the responsibility for Mrs. Moore and her daughter Maureen. He loved her as his own mother, but his brother Warnie found her company incredibly difficult and was baffled as to why his brother tolerated her. Warnie even referred to her as ‘Shelob’ in one of his diary entries.
What Happened to Warnie after C.S. Lewis Died?
Warnie struggled with depression and alcoholism, alternating stable and unstable period. He would regularly go binge drinking on visits to Ireland, and Jack would have to come and rescue him.
The last ten years of Warnie’s life were the most difficult. He adored his sister-in-law Joy, and she died on July 13, 1960, from cancer. Jack died on November 22, 1963. Warnie never recovered from his brother’s death, and his drinking worsened. The once lively atmosphere of The Kilns changed completely during Warnie’s last days.
On April 9, 1973, Warnie Lewis died at The Kilns, and was buried beside his brother at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Headington, England. He left behind a fascinating literacy legacy, both as an Inkling chronicler and as a writer in his own right.
What Are Some Great Books about Warnie Lewis?
Dr. Don King is an Inklings scholar and Professor of Literature at Montreat College in North Carolina. I studied under Dr. King during my time at Montreat and remember with great excitement hearing him read excerpts from his most recent book at an Inklings retreat in 2022. His long-anticipated book on Warnie Lewis was published in 2023 and is called Inkling, Historian, Soldier, and Brother: A Life of Warren Hamilton Lewis.
Dr. King’s biography is the first in-depth study of Warnie Lewis ever published. It succeeds as a great work of scholarship and as a very honest portrayal of the man’s struggles, successes, friendship with his brother, and his role in preserving the literary legacy of The Inklings.
Other great books include Douglas Gresham’s memoir Lenten Lands: My Childhood with Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis, George Sayer’s biography Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis, and Diana Pavlac Glyer’s The Major and the Missionary: the Letters of Warren Lewis and Blanche Biggs.
If You Enjoyed this Article, You May Like the Following:
Who Were the Inklings Besides C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien?
20 Surprising C.S. Lewis Quotes and 10 Facts You Didn’t Know
J.R.R. Tolkien Quotes on Christianity and Literature
What Makes Owen Barfield the First and Last Inkling?
10 C.S. Lewis Books You Haven’t Read Yet
Justin Wiggins is an author who works and lives in the primitive, majestic, beautiful mountains of North Carolina. He graduated with his Bachelor's in English Literature, with a focus on C.S. Lewis studies, from Montreat College in May 2018. His first book was Surprised by Agape, published by Grant Hudson of Clarendon House Publications. His second book, Surprised By Myth, was co-written with Grant Hudson and published in 2021. Many of his recent books (Marty & Irene, Tír na nÓg, Celtic Twilight, Celtic Song, Ragnarok, Celtic Dawn) are published by Steve Cawte of Impspired.
Wiggins has also had poems and other short pieces published by Clarendon House Publications, Sehnsucht: The C.S. Lewis Journal, and Sweetycat Press. Justin has a great zeal for life, work, community, writing, literature, art, pubs, bookstores, coffee shops, and for England, Scotland, and Ireland.
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