Lewis’s fictional world-building started at a young age
On November 29, 1898, Clive Staples Lewis was born in Belfast, Ulster, Ireland (before division). His father, solicitor Albert James Lewis (1863–1929), immigrated to Ireland from Wales towards the middle of the 19th century. Lewis's mother, Florence Augusta Lewis née Hamilton (1862–1908), often known as Flora, graduated from the Royal University of Ireland (now Queen's University Belfast) during a time when women were less likely to obtain degrees. She was the great-granddaughter of Bishop Hugh Hamilton and John Staples and the daughter of Church of Ireland priest Thomas Hamilton. Warren Hamilton Lewis was Lewis's older brother. His maternal grandpa performed his baptism on January 29, 1899, at St. Mark's Church in Dundela.
Lewis at 4, took the name Jacksie when his dog Jacksie was killed by an automobile. He first refused to use any other names, but he eventually agreed to choose Jack, which became his lifelong moniker among friends and family. His family moved into "Little Lea," his boyhood home when he was seven years old. It is located in the Strandtown neighborhood of East Belfast.
Lewis was a bit of a prodigy, he could read at the age of three, and by the time he was five, he was penning tales about a fantastical realm full of "dressed animals", drawing inspiration from the Beatrix Potter tales that were being released at the time Lewis was growing up. Lewis has always enjoyed reading. Finding anything to read at his father's place was as simple as entering a field and "finding a new blade of grass," he later said in a letter.
