[Aiwendil]

In terms of the external history of The Lord of the Rings, Folco Boffin is something of a leftover from the shifting identities of the Hobbits in the early drafts.

The evolution of the primary Hobbit characters (Frodo, Sam, Pippin, Merry, and to some extent Fatty) in LotR is astoundingly complex, and is traced by Christopher Tolkien in all its Byzantine detail in volumes VI and VII of HoMe. The invention, deletion, combination, renaming, and shifting of roles of the Hobbit characters in the early drafts really is quite amazing to a reader familiar only with the final version of the book, and it is an interesting window into Tolkien's sometimes strange writing habits.

Anyway, without delving too deeply into the mire, I believe the origin of Folco Boffin is more or less as follows.

There was early on a character named 'Frodo Took' who was one of the main companions of Bingo Baggins, as the main character was then named. When the name of the main character 'Bingo' was changed to 'Frodo', Frodo Took needed a new name, and so he became Folco Took (originally 'Folco' was the name of Frodo Took's father). Now, in the early stages another of the main companions was a comic character named 'Odo' - at first he was 'Odo Took', later 'Odo Bolger'. Odo's character was eventually removed, and much of his dialogue and personality was transferred to Folco Took. So Folco Took is in a sense the later version of both Frodo Took and of Odo Bolger. (A bit later, the name 'Folco' was changed to 'Faramond', but then it was changed back).

Now, in the early drafts, the companions meet a strange Hobbit in Bree called 'Trotter'. Tolkien had a hard time deciding who this Trotter really was. At one point, he invented a new character, Peregrin Boffin, a favourite cousin/nephew of Bilbo who had disappeared mysteriously some years before the story begins. Trotter would then turn out to be none other than this Peregrin Boffin. But after many permutations, 'Trotter' became 'Strider', and he became a Man rather than a Hobbit; and so the story of Peregrin Boffin's disappearance was cut out. But the character Peregrin Boffin was not completely deleted; he instead became a young friend of Frodo.

The final stage was an exchange of roles: instead of Folco Took, it becomes Peregrin Boffin who will accompany Frodo to Crickhollow. Folco Took now 'went home after lunch'. But with this change, there is no Took in the party, and Tolkien apparently felt there should be, so he switched their surnames: Folco Boffin, who goes home after lunch, and Peregrin Took, who accompanies Frodo.

So that is, at least externally, the story of Folco Boffin.