When Lawrence, with his wife Freida, moved to Cornwall in1916 he saw it as a first step toward emigrating to America and away from a war he did not support..

When Lawrence and his German wife Freida decided to move from London to Cornwall, and on to Ireland and eventually America, where they planned to settle, there were problems. In particular, the new British Military Service Act of 1916, which forbad foreign travel by civilians, and put Lawrence in danger of being called-up for military service himself. Lawrence felt trapped.

And it wasn't only the new travel restrictions that made him feel trapped (Lawrence felt trapped wherever he lived). It was also because of the suppression, due to the so called 'obscene' content of his recently published novel The Rainbow. As a result Lawrence was nearing a nervous breakdown. The couple decided to move to Cornwall anyway.

Zennor and Upper Tregerthen

After a long and tortuous train journey from London to Penzance the couple hired a pony and trap and started looking for a property to rent, eventually finding a small cottage on the wild north west coast less than a mile from Zennor, and a half dozen miles or so from St.Ives.

The cottage (which they rented for £5 a year from a retired sea captain) was set high overlooking the sea where dozens of British merchant ships had already been sunk by German U-Boats. In their extraordinary naivete neither the green corduroy suited Lawrence, or Freida in her long flowing purple dresses, realised they had chosen one of the most security sensitive areas in England to settle.

Freida describes the cottage in her 1935 autobiography Not I, But The Wind...

" We had made it very charming. We washed the walls very pale pink and the cupboards were painted a bright blue.

" There was a charming fireplace on which lived two Staffordshire figures riding to market, 'Jasper and Bridget'. On the wall was a beautiful embroidery Lady Ottoline Morrell [ a great champion of Lawrence's work] had embroidered, after a drawing by Duncan Grant..."

The one bedroom was like "a big cabin" on the upper deck of a ship that overlooked the wild Cornish sea, with the winds battering the cottage. They loved the place. They were free at last.

Katherine Mansfield & John Middleton Murry

The Lawrences were soon joined by New Zealand novelist Katherine Mansfield and her husband, the English writer John Middleton Murry. The two couples went on trips to St.Ives where they bought bits and pieces of furniture for the Lawrence cottage, and the cottage Katherine and John had managed to rent next door. And when not out buying furniture they'd walk the craggy cliff tops and talked, and talked. It all seemed a long way away from the war.

But the windy damp weather that summer was not good for Katherine's TB and reluctantly the couple decided to move back to London and the nightly Zeppelin raids.

Freida Thought to be a Spy by Local Authorities

Freida's cousin was the German air ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen - the 'Red Baron' - a relationship that became known to the local military authorities after they learned that Freida also subscribed to the German newspaper Berliner Tageblatt. When those same authorities saw Freida hanging out her red underwear to dry they were convinced she was sending coded signals to the U-Boats lurking in the waters below.

Though this may sound a bit ridiculous today, 92 years ago, with thousands of British soldiers dying in France, it didn't seem at all ridiculous to assume the odd couple were spies. They were given a few hours to pack their things and leave the county.

When the war was over Lawrence and Freida left Britain never to return.

Sources:

Not I, But The Wind,Freida Lawrence, William Heinemann, London, 1935

The Priest of Love, Harry T.Moore, William Heinemann, London, 1974