Jessie Chambers
Jessie Chambers was Lawrence's first girlfriend and a very significant influence on his early life. She encouraged him to write and publish. The Chambers papers within the Lawrence Collections, and the papers of Jessie's sister May Holbrooke, record the importance of the Chambers family at their Nottinghamshire farm, the Haggs.
Detail from corrected galley proofs of 'Sons and Lovers', 21 February 1913 [La L 7/1]
One view of their story appeared in his novel Sons and Lovers (1913). This has become possibly Lawrence's most popular and familiar novel. Its heavily autobiographical elements give it a significance in his early growth as a thinker and writer. Marked galley proofs of part of the text indicate late changes to it by the author.
Jessie destroyed many of her records of their friendship, but published her account in D H Lawrence: A Personal Record by E.T. (1935).
Dust cover of 'D H Lawrence: A Personal Record by E.T.'
More: Ernest Weekley
DH Lawrence at Nottingham home