Editing George Orwell (section)

===Final months and death===
[[File:UCL Gower Street.jpg|thumb|[[University College Hospital]] in London, where Orwell died]]

Orwell's health continued to decline. In mid-1949, he courted [[Sonia Brownell]], believed to be the model for [[Julia (Nineteen Eighty-Four)|Julia]], the heroine of ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/may/19/georgeorwell.biography |title= Dedicated follower of passions |website=The Guardian|date=19 May 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/15/books/the-widow-orwell.html|title= The Widow Orwell |website=The New York Times|date=15 June 2003}}</ref> and they announced their engagement in September. Shortly afterwards he was removed to [[University College Hospital]] in London. Sonia took charge of Orwell's affairs and attended him diligently in the hospital. Friends of Orwell stated that Brownell helped him through the painful last months of his life and, according to [[Anthony Powell]], cheered Orwell up greatly.<ref>Powell, Anthony, 1977. ''Infants of the Spring,'' p.106. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.</ref> However, others have argued that she may have been attracted to him primarily because of his fame.<ref name="Ross_2005"/>

In September 1949, Orwell invited his accountant Jack Harrison to visit him at the hospital, and Harrison claimed that Orwell then asked him to become director of GOP Ltd and to manage the company, but there was no independent witness.<ref name=Carroll/> Orwell's wedding took place in the hospital room on 13 October 1949, with David Astor as best man.<ref name="Ingle1993">{{cite book|last=Ingle|first=Stephen|title=George Orwell: a political life|year=1993|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=Manchester|isbn=978-0719032332|page=90}}</ref> Further meetings were held with his accountant, at which Harrison and the Blairs were confirmed as directors of the company.<ref name=Carroll/> Orwell's health was in decline again by Christmas. Harrison visited later and claimed that Orwell had given him 25% of the company.<ref name=Carroll/> 

At the age of 46, Orwell suffered a [[pulmonary artery]] rupture due to complications of tuberculosis, and died in the early morning of 21 January 1950.<ref name="obit">{{Cite news |title=George Orwell, author, 46, Dead. British Writer, Acclaimed for His '1984' and 'Animal Farm,' is Victim of Tuberculosis. Two Novels Popular Here Distaste for Imperialism |work=The New York Times |date=22 January 1950}}</ref>

[[File:Grave of Eric Arthur Blair (George Orwell), All Saints, Sutton Courtenay - geograph.org.uk - 362277.jpg|thumb|upright|Orwell's grave in [[All Saints' Church, Sutton Courtenay|All Saints']] parish churchyard, [[Sutton Courtenay]], Oxfordshire]]

Orwell had requested to be buried in accordance with the Anglican rite in the graveyard of the closest church to wherever he happened to die. The graveyards in central London had no space, and so in an effort to ensure his last wishes could be fulfilled, his widow appealed to his friends to see whether any of them knew of a church with space in its graveyard. David Astor arranged for Orwell to be interred in the churchyard of [[All Saints' Church, Sutton Courtenay]].<ref>[[Andrew Anthony]] (11 May 2003). [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/may/11/georgeorwell.classics "Orwell: the Observer years"], ''[[The Observer]]'', Observer Review Pages, p. 1.</ref> The funeral was organised by Anthony Powell and Malcom Muggeridge. Powell chose the hymns: "[[Old 100th|All people that on earth do dwell]]", "[[Cwm Rhondda|Guide me, O thou great Redeemer]]" and "Ten thousand times ten thousand".<ref>Taylor, D.J. [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/jan/15/georgeorwell.classics Last days of Orwell] ''The Guardian'' (14 January 2000).</ref>

Orwell's adopted son, [[Richard Blair (patron)|Richard Horatio Blair]], was brought up by Orwell's sister Avril, his legal guardian, and her husband, Bill Dunn.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://orwellsociety.com/richard-blair-on-life-with-my-aunt-avril/|title=Richard Blair on Life With My Aunt Avril|date=27 October 2011|website=The Orwell Society}}</ref>

In 1979, Sonia Brownell brought a [[High Court of Justice|High Court]] action against Harrison when he declared an intention to subdivide his 25 per cent share of the company between his three children. For Sonia, the consequence of this manoeuvre would have made getting overall control of the company three times more difficult. She was considered to have a strong case, but was becoming increasingly ill and eventually was persuaded to settle out of court on 2 November 1980. She died on 11 December 1980, aged 62.<ref name=Carroll/>