Thomas Edward Lawrence – known as Ned to his family – was born in the early hours of August 16 1888 in Tremadog, North Wales. He was the second son born to Thomas and Sarah Lawrence, as his parents were known, following the birth of Montague Robert (Bob) in Dublin on December 27 1885.

During the boys’ early years, the family continued their peripatetic existence, rarely staying as long as two years in any place; so that it was not until Ned was eight years old that he had what in any sense might be called a normal family home, when the Lawrences settled in Oxford. By this time, two more boys had joined the family, while another would be born in 1900.

By all accounts, the boys enjoyed a happy family life, though perhaps marked by a sense of social isolation. Presumably there were few family stories or photographs, and no relations coming to visit. How long can it have been before Ned began to surmise some of the truth about his upbringing: that his father had left behind a wife and four daughters in Ireland, to live out of wedlock with his mother? Today, it is difficult for us to understand the social implications this would have had at the time.

Looking at some of the houses where the Lawrences lived during these early years, one thing that immediately strikes the observer is the sense of prosperity that they exude. These were the residences of a Victorian family with a comfortable income.