T.E. Lawrence
(1888-1935), Known as 'Lawrence of Arabia'; soldier and writerThomas Edward ('T.E.') Lawrence
Sitter in 28 portraits
Known to the world as 'Lawrence of Arabia', Thomas Edward Lawrence was born in Tremadoc, North Wales. After Oxford, he worked as an archaeologist in Syria, 1909-14. In the war against the Ottoman Empire, Lawrence was adviser to the future King Faisal, and led the triumphant Arabs into Damascus (1918). He told the story of his war in The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, a Triumph (1926). To escape his notoriety, Lawrence changed his name and rejoined the army in 1922 as Gunner J.H. Ross, and the RAF (1923-35) as Aircraftsman T.E. Shaw. In The Mint(1936) he described the harsh life of the ranks. He was killed in a motorcycle accident.
by Sir Charles Thomas Wheeler
marble head, 1929
NPG 5016
T.E. Lawrence; David George Hogarth; Alan Geoffrey Charles Dawnay
by Harry Alonzo Chase
bromide postcard print, 1918
NPG x19908
possibly by Flight Lieutenant Smetham
glossy bromide print, 10 December 1925
NPG x12415
by Flight Lieutenant Smetham
cream-toned bromide print, 10 December 1928
NPG x12413
by Flight Lieutenant Smetham
cream-toned bromide print, 10 December 1928
NPG x12414
by Howard Coster
half-plate film negative, 13 October 1931
NPG x3551
by Howard Coster
half-plate film negative, 13 October 1931
NPG x3552
by Howard Coster
half-plate film negative, 13 October 1931
NPG x3553
by Howard Coster
half-plate film negative, 13 October 1931
NPG x3554
by Howard Coster
half-plate film negative, 13 October 1931
NPG x3555
by Howard Coster
half-plate film negative, 13 October 1931
NPG x3556
by Howard Coster
half-plate film negative, 13 October 1931
NPG x3557
by Howard Coster
half-plate film negative, 13 October 1931
NPG x3558
by Howard Coster
glossy bromide print on card mount with red ink border, 13 October 1931
NPG x1966
by Howard Coster
vintage bromide print, 13 October 1931
NPG x1968
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Nigel Allen
12 October 2020, 13:41
The first picture in this sequence of T E Lawrence was taken by my great uncle Brian Ernest Leeson . At the time he was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Cheshire Regiment and served alongside Lawrence. They developed a friendship which continued after the war until Lawrence was fatally injured in a motorcycle accident. Leeson was given a copy of Lawrences autobiography ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’ and the two corresponded throughout their friendship.