Image ID: 26503

D H Lawrence's mother - Mrs Lydia Lawrence

Courtesy of Ilkeston Library

Eastwood
England

(Picture taken from Ada Lawrence's book:- 'The Early life of D H Lawrence'. ) D.H. Lawrence's mother, Lydia (nee Beardsall), was born in Ancoats, Manchester on the 19th. July 1852, although her father was originally from a Nottinghamshire family, (the dates of birth of Lawrence's parents, seem to vary depending on which source is used, but the above dates fit in with the dates on their gravestone, and the 1901 Census). Lydia sold haberdashery from the Lawrence's front room shop on Victoria Street, to help feed and clothe the family. Lydia came from a middle class religious family, and the differences in Lawrence's parents backgrounds often led to family conflicts, with his father preferring to spend his wages on drink, to help deaden the pain of working long grueling hours underground, whilst his mother was more concerned with the children's upbringing, welfare, and education. Lydia also had ambition, and wanted to own a shop on the main Nottingham Road in Eastwood, but with a growing family, this proved beyond reach. Lawrence's dearly beloved mother died of cancer in 1910, with Lawrence supposedly reported to have given her an overdose of 'sleeping medicine', to end the pain that she was suffering. His father died in 1924, aged 77. Both parents are buried, along with Lawrence's brother William, in the family grave, in Eastwood Cemetery, which is situated at the bottom of Church Street. Information extracted from http://www.LawrencesEastwood.co.uk Website by Gavin Gillespie

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