D.H. Lawrence found in Haggs Farm (Underwood, Notts), its residents and the surrounding countryside, his “first incentive to write”. The farm and the Chambers family inspired his first novel The White Peacock, provided the models for Miriam’s farm and family in Sons and Lovers and appeared in much of his early writing. Jessie Chambers was Lawrence’s first girlfriend, she played a vital role in encouraging his early development as a writer.

The essays in this collection explore Lawrence’s relationship to Haggs Farm and the family who lived there. They relate the history of the farm and its tenants, and deal with other aspects of the life of the Chambers family, particularly that of Jessie, ‘D.H. Lawrence’s Princess’.