DH Lawrence postcard to fiancee found under bed sells for £3,000

Louie Burrows was engaged to the writer DH Lawrence between 1910 and 1912

A postcard sent by author DH Lawrence to his fiancee and found in a box under a bed has sold for £3,000 at auction.

The writer of Lady Chatterley's Lover posted the message to Louie Burrows before the pair got engaged in 1910.

The couple never married and Nottinghamshire-based Lawrence broke his lover's heart by eloping with Freida Wakely in 1912.

Derbyshire auction firm Hansons originally set an estimate of between £300 and £500 for the item.

The postcard was sent to Ms Burrows from Blackpool

Lawrence, who was born in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, began a romantic relationship with Louie - real name Louisa - after they met a local college, Hansons said.

The author sent the postcard while staying at a guest house in Blackpool.

It features an image of a Bleriot monoplane and reads: "Thank you for letter - I'll try to see you one day - possibly Monday week.

"We having a veritable red and yellow time here - gaudy's not the word. Saw Nina - Mary's lovely. DHL."

A Bleriot plane features on the front of the postcard

The postcard was sold to a private buyer in the UK and had belonged Ms Burrows's great-niece Ros Connolly after being passed down through the generations.

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Last year, another DH Lawrence postcard that was almost thrown in a tip sold for £1,800.

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