Art conections

 Family connections.

St. Nicholas church
Moreton, Dorset
Located in Moreton, Dorset, is the parish church, St. Nicholas.

1490 the church which had previously dedicated to St. Magnus Martyr (Magnus was the Earl of Orkney from 1106 to 1115), to St. Nicholas.  Nicholas the patron saint of sailors, merchants, arches, repentant thieves, prostitutes, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, unmarried people and students.

The church during 1776.  The church of today, is the result of building works when the church was hit by a German bomb, 1940

Thomas Edward Lawrence
1918
Buried in the churchyard are Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia”), Lawrence died 1935.  Even thought he is buried at St. Nicholas; Lawrence is buried separate burial ground.  Lawrence was the British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat and writer.  He became renowned for his role during the Arab Revolt (1916 – 1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915 – 1918) against the Ottoman Empire.  It would be until the release of the 1962 film, Lawrence of Arabia, that Lawrence had fame with the title Lawrence of Arabia.

Portrait
Augustus John
1919, Tate Modern, London
1919 artist Augustus John, painted Lawrence portrait which is now in the Tate Modern. 1922 saw the completion of Seven Pillars of Wisdom, but it was until 1926 that it was published.

13th May 1935, Lawrence was killed in an accident on his Brough Superior SS100 motorcycle, near his Dorset cottage Clouds Hill.  A dip in the road obstructed the view of two boys on their bikes, Lawrence who tried to swerve to avoid, lost control and was thrown over the handlebars.  Lawrence died 6 days later in hospital aged 46.

Amongst the mourners included Winston Churchill, E. M. Foster, Lady Astor (first woman MP in the House of Commons, 1919) and his younger brother, Arnold.

Arnold Walter Lawrence, who was a British authority on classical sculpture and architecture. 

Youth
Kathleen Scott, 1922/23
Lawrence was the model used by Kathleen Scott, wife of Captain Scott of the South Pole, for her statue of “Youth”, December 1922.  Today, the statue is erected at the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge.

After his brother’s death, 1935, Lawrence gave Cloud Nines to the National Trust.  Today it is a museum.

Also buried at St. Nicholas is Laurence Whistler.

Laurence Whistler
photographed 1950
by
Howard Coster 
Sir Alan Charles Laurence Whistler. The British poet and artist, who works was particular glass engraving.  Whistler’s early works include a casket for the Queen Mother.  He also produced a wedding present for Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, 1947, a glass goblet with engraved with the words from Thomas Campion’s 1613 poem written for the marriage of James I’s daughter, Elizabeth of Bohemia to Frederick V, Elector Palatine.

Whistler also replaced the stain glass windows, at St. Nicholas.  The church boost 11 of his windows, a further 12th was made, Forgiveness, featuring Judas.  The window is only display in the local museum.

Self-portrait
Rex Whistler, 1934
Whistler’s, older brother was Reginald John “Rex” Whistler. 

Rex Whistler was the a British painted, designer and illustrator, who served with the Welsh Guards during the Second World War, and he was killed July 1944.

Mural
Rex Whistler Restaurant
Tate Modern, London
Rex Whistler noted works include mural finished when he was aged 22 for the Tate café.  The café is now known as the Rex Whistler Restaurant.  His other notable works included the 58-foot ‘Sea-scape Fantsy’ at Plas Newydd, Isle of Anglesey., ancestral home of the Marquess of Anglesey.  He was also commissioned to produced posters and illustrations for Shell Petroleum and the Radio Times.  Rex Whistler also created designs for Wedgewood, his drawings based on the Devon village of Clovelly.

Lady Caroline Paget
National Trust
Plas Newydd,
Isle of Anglesey
His works also include portraits of the London society known as the “Bright Young Things”, including Edith Sitwell and Cecil Beaton.  Also Caroline, Lady Duff, the English socialite and actress, born Lady Alexandra Mary Cecilia Caroline Paget.

Self-Portrait in Welsh Guards uniform
1940
At the outbreak of the Second World War, Rex Whistler was eager to join the army, he was commissioned into the Welsh Guards, ranked as Second Lieutenant.  His also role was the burial officer of his regiment.

Rex Whistler headstone
Banneville-la-Campagne War
Cemetery



After he was killed July 1944, Rex Whistler is buried at Banneville-la-Campagne War Cemetery.

His brother, Whistler, produced a memorial glass engraving which was placed in the Morning Chapel, Salisbury Cathedral. 

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