Photograph by Hills and Saunders (1910)

Sarah Lawrence wrote in T. E. Lawrence by his friends that Ned 'was for many years a constant worshipper at St. Aldates Church and taught in the Sunday School there twice every Sunday. He had the great privilege of Canon A. M. W. Christopher’s gospel teaching from his early years till he left Oxford in 1910. After the Canon retired from St. Aldates [in 1905], all the boys went to a class for students which he held in his house every Sunday during term.'¹

Canon Christopher (1820-1913) was a prominent evangelical preacher, and Lawrence’s early letters show that he received a deeply religious upbringing. Although he had ceased to be a churchgoer before the First World War, he retained some form of belief, writing in later life 'Hungry time has taken from me year by year more of the Creed’s clauses till now only the first four words remain.'²

This photograph was taken shortly before Canon Christopher's ninetieth birthday, in the garden of his house, 4 Norham Road, Oxford.