T.E. Lawrence Society

17/12/2025

Society member Rachel Snowdon (Rachel Snowdon Studio) has designed and hand-printed this beautifully detailed linocut print, 'Clouds Hill now, then and before'.
It celebrates the three different phases in the life of T. E. Lawrence's cottage Clouds Hill in Dorset: as a farm labourers' cottage in the 19th century (top right); as Lawrence's home in the 1920s and 30s (centre); and as a National Trust house open to the public since then (top left). Around the outside are numerous objects and motifs associated with Clouds Hill.
The limited-edition print was commissioned by Society member and Clouds Hill volunteer Martin Gething.

04/12/2025

For those members who may have missed or just want to re-experience Roger Holehouse’s presentation on Lawrence and the Arab Bureau it is now available on the Society’s website where you will find the program as well as previous ones in the series:

08/11/2025

For anyone who might be interested in taking part in a raid on the Hejaz Railway the following report appeared in the Times https://www.thetimes.com/article/f88d780e-8d43-4a11-bab2-da9966516cba?shareToken=f06d61658b953d9d8c8bd7da1370d5e6

More information about the trek, led by Howard Leedham, can be found here https://jordancameltrek.com/en

The Jordan Heritage Revival Company (JHRC) brings Jordan’s history to life through authentic experiences. With local Bedouin guides and cultural preservation projects, JHRC ensures every trek supports the community and keeps traditions alive.

30/10/2025

Members may be interested in the latest of our talks organised by our North American Group in conjunction with the National WWI Museum and Memorial.

Roger Holehouse OBE, a retired British official and volunteer docent at Lawrence’s Clouds Hill cottage, will reassess the relationship between T.E. Lawrence and the Arab Bureau in the First World War from 1916 through 1918. His talk, Lawrence and the Arab Bureau, will be given on November 16, 2025 at 2:00 PM (CST-USA).

In his presentation he will review the origins of the bureau, its mission and how it evolved over 3 years. He will examine where the bureau fit into the British Army’s Cairo headquarters and who were the bureau’s key players and what they did and did not do? When/how did Lawrence become involved with the bureau and what roles he played, formally and informally, will be described. And finally he will assess what is the Bureau’s legacy and if there are lessons for us today.

The talk is free to members and the public but you must register for it at:

T. E. Lawrence served at the epicenter of British intelligence in West Asia – the Arab Bureau. Examine his relationship with the Bureau, its origins and its post-war legacy.

08/10/2025

Thanks to all those who attended our AGM weekend in Bridlington. Despite the best efforts of Storm Amy we had a good weekend, with visits to White Cottage at Hornsea and Hornsea Museum on Friday. Friday evenings meal was at Salt on the Harbour, part of the Lawrence Complex and formerly the boathouse for the Marine Craft Unit. On Saturday we visited the Harbour Museum, the sundial dedicated to TEL and the former Ozone Hotel, where we got to visit the room used by TEL. Our AGM was held at Bridlington Spa, where TEL saw a number of theatre performances. Saturday nights dinner was at the Revelstoke Hotel, then on Sunday we made our way to Sledmere House, the home of Sir Mark Sykes, where after a number of talks we visited his grave in the churchyard. It was great to see old friends and make new ones.

26/09/2025

Sold at auction yesterday
https://app.dukes-auctions.com/en/auction/1131-the-graham-snow-collection/184-eric-henri-kennington-1888-1960-portrait-bust-of-t-e-lawrence?fbclid=IwY2xjawNDdKZleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETA0NWxUcVNma2RsSVU0OWxvAR4YYnI5AvV3r9sWNa3ZUuPeNrbfgpYkTUaC6d_bYoDWArb33MKnh9qIHbAEHg_aem_wei5K1-1ZtGOVjyqlumBwQ

View more auction information about Lot: 184 from The Graham Snow Collection.

24/09/2025

The JAMES McBEY: HIS ART, HIS WORLD exhibition at Newburgh's Udny Arms Hotel in numbers:
✨17 pieces (incl. 16 original artworks) on show.
✨1st time that the McBey showstopper Zorah: Moroccan Girl Sleeping was on public display since 2023 in New York.
✨300+ visitors through the doors between Friday evening (Sept. 19) & 6pm Sunday (Sept. 21).
✨20 copies of SHADOWS & LIGHT: The Extraordinary Life of James McBey on sale. All 20 copies sold.
Watch this space for more initiatives from the Newburgh & Ythan Community Trust-sponsored James McBey Project!
For more information about James McBey please visit https://newburghtrust.co.uk/jamesmcbey/

16/09/2025

Members who remember last years talk at the Symposium at RAF Hendon by Alasdair Soussi may be interested in this exhibition about James McBey, if you are in the area.

06/08/2025

War Poetry Conference 8 - 9 November 2025 in Dorchester

In conjunction with the Thomas Hardy Society the T E Lawrence Society is organising a War Poetry Conference, a weekend of talks and commemorations. Venues for the weekend are: The Dorford Centre, St Mary's Church and The Casterbridge Room, The King's Arms, Dorchester.

Full details can be found here: https://www.hardysociety.org/oxo/800/ths-war-poetry-conference/

Bookings are now open and tickets can be purchased from the link. Members of the organising Societies will get priority until 15 September.

SAVE THE DATE - A Weekend to Remember ...

31/07/2025

CALL FOR PAPERS FOR 2026 SYMPOSIUM

18 - 20 September 2026

We are pleased to announce a Call for Papers for next year’s Symposium 18 - 20 September 2026. The details can be found on our website using the following link:

https://www.telsociety.org.uk/2026-symposium-a-call-for-papers/

We encourage you to share with anyone else you may know who might be interested in potentially speaking at the Symposium.

2026 Symposium: A Call For Papers T. E. Lawrence Society SymposiumLeonardo Hotel, Wolvercote, OxfordSeptember 18-20 2026 The T. E. Lawrence Society is a non-profit educational society dedicated to advancing the life and works of T. E. Lawrence. The most important gathering organised by the Society i...

19/06/2025

40th Anniversary of the founding of the T E Lawrence Society

Sunday 29th June @ 2000 BST via Zoom

To mark the 40th anniversary of the founding of the T E Lawrence Society in a meeting at the Red Lion, Wareham on 29th June 1985 a special Zoom talk has been arranged by Susan Vincent. Ingrid Keith, who attended that first meeting and became the first Secretary will reflect on how and why the Society was formed, in conversation with our Chairman, Kevin Winter. Also joining the conversation will be Richard Knowles of Rickaro Books, who was also at the inaugural meeting, Alan Payne, former Vice Chairman and Brough expert, Lorraine Tinsley, long term member and author, Veronique Thevoz, long time member and part of the London Group for many years and Rachel Snowden, who joined the Society last year. They will reflect on how and why they joined the Society and memorable moments during their membership.

We hope you can join us to celebrate 40 years of your Society. The link for the Zoom talk can be found on the website

To mark the 40th anniversary of the founding of the T E Lawrence Society in a meeting at the Red Lion, Wareham on 29th June 1985 a special Zoom talk has been arranged by Susan Vincent. Ingrid Keith, who attended that first meeting and became the first Secretary will reflect on how and why the Societ...

12/06/2025

The T. E. Lawrence Society have relaunched Jeremy Wilson’s T. E. Lawrence Studies website.

Through the kindness and generosity of Nicole Wilson, The T. E. Lawrence Society has made available to the public the important and valuable T. E. Lawrence Studies website. Jeremy Wilson’s website has thousands of pages of research available for scholars and students of Lawrence. It includes texts of hundreds of letters, links to many of Lawrence’s own writings and a detailed chronology of his life. There are literally many thousands of pages of information available to access. T. E. Lawrence Society member Peter Neville has used his web skills to update the site visually and improve how it functions. His dedication to the project was instrumental in getting the site available again.

In following Jeremy’s thoughts that this information should be available to everyone, the link to the site will be on the public page of the T. E. Lawrence Society webpage. The Studies website will be the perfect research tool for any student of T. E. Lawrence. As new Lawrence letters become available, additional content can be added as well.

The T. E. Lawrence Society is very proud to play an important role in getting this information available to the public. Special thanks to Nicole Wilson, Peter Neville and Joe Berton for making this possible.

The link to the TEL Studies site is under Links on the right hand side of our website