Henry Montgomery Lawrence: Difference between revisions

[[Brigadier-General]] '''Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence''' <small>[[Order of the Bath|KCB]]</small> (28 June 1806{{snd}}4 July 1857) was a British military officer, surveyor, administrator and statesman in [[British India]]. He is best known for leading a group of administrators in the Punjab affectionately known as [[Henry Lawrence's "Young Men"]], as the founder of the [[Lawrence Military Asylums]] and for his death at the [[Siege of Lucknow]] during the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|Indian Rebellion]].

Lawrence was born in June 1806 into an [[Ulster-Scots people|Ulster-Scots]] family at [[Matara, Sri Lanka|Matara]], [[British Ceylon|Ceylon]]. Both his parents were from [[Ulster]], the northern [[Provinces of Ireland|province]] in [[Ireland]]. His mother Letitia was the daughter of The Rev. George Knox from [[County Donegal]], while his father, [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-Colonel]] Alexander William Lawrence, was born the son of a mill owner from [[Coleraine]], [[County Londonderry]], entered the service of the [[British Army]] and achieved distinction at the [[Siege of Seringapatam (1799)|Siege of Seringapatnam]].<ref>James Wills, The Irish Nation: Its History and Its Biography, Volume 4, A. Fullarton, 1876, p96</ref> The Lawrences had seven sons, the first died in infancy and the fifth at the age of eighteen. The remaining five all achieved distinction in India, of which [[George St Patrick Lawrence|Sir George Lawrence]] and [[John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence|Lord Lawrence]] would achieve particular fame.

In 1812, Lawrence, along with his elder brothers Alexander and George, was sent to [[Foyle College]] in [[Derry]], a city in [[Ulster]], where their uncle Rev. James Knox was headmaster. In 1818 he rejoined his parents in [[Bristol]] where they had since settled, and completed his schooling there.<ref>Gibbon, Frederick P, The Lawrences of the Punjab, London, J.M. Dent & co., 1908, p.4</ref> In August 1820 he again followed his elder brothers by entering the [[East India Company Military Seminary]] in [[Addiscombe]], [[Surrey]].<ref>James Wills, The Irish Nation: Its History and Its Biography, Volume 4, A. Fullarton, 1876, p96</ref> His father, having felt slighted by the lack of recognition afforded to him for his service in the British Army, encouraged his sons to instead enter the service of the [[East India Company]] in India.<ref>Gibbon, Frederick P, The Lawrences of the Punjab, London, J.M. Dent & co., 1908, p.11</ref> Whilst at the seminary, he was saved from drowning by a fellow cadet Robert Guthrie MacGregor.<ref>{{Cite book |first=H.M. |last=Vibart |title=Addiscombe: its heroes and men of note |place=Westminster |publisher=Archibald Constable |year=1894 |page=353 |ol=23336661M }}</ref> On another occasion, he developed sympathy for a lady in poverty, and begged old clothes from his family which he then carried to her through the streets of [[London]]. That same lady would be remembered in his will some thirty five years later.<ref>Gibbon, Frederick P, The Lawrences of the Punjab, London, J.M. Dent & co., 1908, p.6</ref> Contemporaries in his class at Addiscombe included [[Frederick Abbott (Indian Army officer)|Sir Frederick Abbott]].

Lawrence married Honoria Marshall at [[St. John's Church, Kolkata|St. John's Church]], [[Calcutta]], on 21 August 1837.<ref name="obit">"The Late Sir Henry Lawrence, K.C.B." Times [London, England] 24 August 1857: 7. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 3 April 2013.</ref> They had four children, Honoria, Alexander, Letitia and Henry.<ref>http://thepeerage.com/p49469.htm#i494683 {{Bare URL inline|date=May 2021}}</ref> In 1858, his eldest son Alexander was created [[Lawrence baronets|1st Baronet Lawrence, of Lucknow]], in consideration of his father's services.<ref>http://thepeerage.com/p10880.htm {{Bare URL inline|date=May 2021}}</ref>