Henry Montgomery Lawrence
Encyclopedia
Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence (28 June 1806 – 4 July 1857) was a British
soldier and statesman in India, who died defending Lucknow
during the Indian Mutiny.
and was born at Matara
, Ceylon. Educated at Foyle College, Derry
and then Addiscombe
, in 1823 he joined the Bengal Artillery at the Calcutta suburb of Dum Dum
, where also Henry Havelock
was stationed about the same time. In the first Burmese War
, Lawrence and his battery formed part of the Chittagong
column which General Morrison
led over the jungle-covered hills of Arakan
, until fever decimated them, and Lawrence found himself back in Britain, wasted by a disease that never completely left him. He returned to India in 1829, and was appointed revenue surveyor by Lord William Bentinck at Gorakhpur. He spent some years in camp, during which he married his cousin Honoria Marshall, and surveyed every village in four districts, each larger than Yorkshire
. He was then recalled to a brigade by the outbreak of the First Afghan War
towards the close of 1838.
As assistant to Sir George Russell Clerk
, he now added to his political experience in the management of the district of Ferozepore; and when news of disaster came from Kabul
in November 1841 he was sent to Peshawar
in order to push up supports for the relief of Sale and the garrison of Jalalabad. He was often unpopular with higher authorities due to his insistence that government should pay most attention to the welfare of the Indian population.
At the end of the First Anglo-Sikh War
, the Treaties executed provided for a garrison to be based in Lahore. Lawrence remained there as Agent to the Governor General in charge of political relations of the British government with the Darbar. By the Treaty of Bhairowal (1846), he was made the Resident at Lahore as well as Agent to the Governor-General for the North West Frontier. While here, he governed the area with the help of officers, who were later known as 'Henry Lawrence's Young Men'
In 1856, he was appointed to the newly annexed province of Awadh
as Chief Commissioner. In 1857 the Siege of Lucknow
took place in the province and the British community, including the garrison of some 1700 men, took refuge in the British residency when the siege began on 30 June. Commander Henry Lawrence was one of the first casualties, being wounded by an exploding shell on 2 July and dying two days later. When Lawrence was critically injured, he is supposed to have said to those around him: "Put on my tomb only this; Here lies Henry Lawrence who tried to do his duty." This epitaph appears on his tombstone at the Residency graveyard.
(HP
, India), Lovedale
(TN, India) and Ghora Ghali (Murree
, Pakistan
).
Henry Lawrence Island
in the Indian Ocean
, at 12N 93E, is named after him, as is the town of Lawrence
in New Zealand
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
soldier and statesman in India, who died defending Lucknow
Lucknow
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....
during the Indian Mutiny.
Career
Lawrence was the brother of John Lawrence, 1st Baron LawrenceJohn Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence
John Laird Mair Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence, GCB, GCSI, PC , known as Sir John Lawrence, Bt., between 1858 and 1869, was an Englishman who became a prominent British Imperial statesman who served as Viceroy of India from 1864 to 1869.-Early life:Lawrence came from Richmond, North Yorkshire...
and was born at Matara
Matara, Sri Lanka
Matara is a city on the southern coast of Sri Lanka, 160 km from Colombo. It is one of the largest cities in Sri Lanka. It was deeply affected by the Asian tsunami in December 2004.-History:...
, Ceylon. Educated at Foyle College, Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
and then Addiscombe
Addiscombe Military Academy
The East India Company Military Seminary, colloquially known as Addiscombe Seminary, Addiscombe College, or Addiscombe Military Academy was a British military academy at Addiscombe, Surrey, in what is now the London Borough of Croydon. It was established in 1809, and closed in 1861...
, in 1823 he joined the Bengal Artillery at the Calcutta suburb of Dum Dum
Dum Dum
Dum Dum is a city and a municipality in North 24 Parganas district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is a neighbourhood in North-west Kolkata and the location of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, formerly Dum Dum Airport.Dum Dum is a well known place in greater Kolkata...
, where also Henry Havelock
Henry Havelock
Major-General Sir Henry Havelock, KCB was a British general who is particularly associated with India. He was noted for his recapture of Cawnpore from rebels during Indian Rebellion of 1857.-Early life:...
was stationed about the same time. In the first Burmese War
First Burmese War
The First Anglo-Burmese War was the first of three wars fought between the British and Burmese Empires in the 19th century. The war, which began primarily over the control of northeastern India, ended in a decisive British victory, giving the British total control of Assam, Manipur, Cachar and...
, Lawrence and his battery formed part of the Chittagong
Chittagong
Chittagong ) is a city in southeastern Bangladesh and the capital of an eponymous district and division. Built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the city is home to Bangladesh's busiest seaport and has a population of over 4.5 million, making it the second largest city in the country.A trading...
column which General Morrison
Joseph Wanton Morrison
Joseph Wanton Morrison was a British soldier, best known for commanding the British troops at the Battle of Crysler's Farm during the War of 1812.-Early career:...
led over the jungle-covered hills of Arakan
Rakhine State
Rakhine State is a Burmese state. Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State in the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady Region in the east, the Bay of Bengal to the west, and the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh to the northwest. It is located approximately between...
, until fever decimated them, and Lawrence found himself back in Britain, wasted by a disease that never completely left him. He returned to India in 1829, and was appointed revenue surveyor by Lord William Bentinck at Gorakhpur. He spent some years in camp, during which he married his cousin Honoria Marshall, and surveyed every village in four districts, each larger than Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
. He was then recalled to a brigade by the outbreak of the First Afghan War
First Anglo-Afghan War
The First Anglo-Afghan War was fought between British India and Afghanistan from 1839 to 1842. It was one of the first major conflicts during the Great Game, the 19th century competition for power and influence in Central Asia between the United Kingdom and Russia, and also marked one of the worst...
towards the close of 1838.
As assistant to Sir George Russell Clerk
George Russell Clerk
Sir George Russell Clerk, GCSI, KCB was a British civil servant in India.Like all civil servants until the introduction of Competitive examinations in the 1850s, Clerk had studied at Haileybury in Hertfordshire, being posted to Bengal as a writer in 1817.Early in his career he worked in the...
, he now added to his political experience in the management of the district of Ferozepore; and when news of disaster came from Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
in November 1841 he was sent to Peshawar
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
in order to push up supports for the relief of Sale and the garrison of Jalalabad. He was often unpopular with higher authorities due to his insistence that government should pay most attention to the welfare of the Indian population.
At the end of the First Anglo-Sikh War
First Anglo-Sikh War
The First Anglo-Sikh War was fought between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company between 1845 and 1846. It resulted in partial subjugation of the Sikh kingdom.-Background and causes of the war:...
, the Treaties executed provided for a garrison to be based in Lahore. Lawrence remained there as Agent to the Governor General in charge of political relations of the British government with the Darbar. By the Treaty of Bhairowal (1846), he was made the Resident at Lahore as well as Agent to the Governor-General for the North West Frontier. While here, he governed the area with the help of officers, who were later known as 'Henry Lawrence's Young Men'
Henry Lawrence's young men
The Young Men were a group of East India Company Officers, sent as 'advisers' to the Sikhs after the First Sikh War in 1846. In the words of George Lawrence, his duties were 'to act as a friendly adviser to the native officials.' They were known as Henry Lawrence's 'Young Men as they worked under...
Awadh
Awadh , also known in various British historical texts as Oudh or Oude derived from Ayodhya, is a region in the centre of the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh...
as Chief Commissioner. In 1857 the Siege of Lucknow
Siege of Lucknow
The Siege of Lucknow was the prolonged defense of the Residency within the city of Lucknow during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. After two successive relief attempts had reached the city, the defenders and civilians were evacuated from the Residency, which was abandoned.Lucknow was the capital of...
took place in the province and the British community, including the garrison of some 1700 men, took refuge in the British residency when the siege began on 30 June. Commander Henry Lawrence was one of the first casualties, being wounded by an exploding shell on 2 July and dying two days later. When Lawrence was critically injured, he is supposed to have said to those around him: "Put on my tomb only this; Here lies Henry Lawrence who tried to do his duty." This epitaph appears on his tombstone at the Residency graveyard.
Educational institutions
Henry Lawrence established at three places, at that time all within India - the Lawrence Asylums for the education of the children of European soldiers serving in India. These institutions exist even today as the prestigious Lawrence School, SanawarLawrence School, Sanawar
The Lawrence School is situated in Sanawar, adjacent to Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh, India. It was founded by Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence of the Indian Army of British India and was established on 15 April 1847.The school has educated many notable people...
(HP
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
, India), Lovedale
Lawrence School, Lovedale
The Lawrence School, Lovedale is an educational institution in Lovedale, located near Ootacamund, Tamil Nadu, India and named for its founder, Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence. Lawrence had mooted the idea about the establishment of a chain of schools with a view to provide education to the children...
(TN, India) and Ghora Ghali (Murree
Murree Tehsil
Murree Tehsil is one of the seven Tehsils of Rawalpindi District in the Punjab province of Pakistan.Murree Tehsil is located in the northernmost part of Punjab province where it borders the North West Frontier Province...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
).
Henry Lawrence Island
Henry Lawrence Island
thumb|200px|right|Outline map of the [[Andaman Islands]], with Ritchie's Archipelago highlighted .Henry Lawrence Island is the second largest Island of the Ritchie's Archipelago, it has an area of 55 km2. It was named after Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence...
in the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
, at 12N 93E, is named after him, as is the town of Lawrence
Lawrence, New Zealand
Lawrence is a small town of 474 inhabitants in Otago, in New Zealand's South Island. It is located on State Highway 8, the main route from Dunedin to the inland towns of Queenstown and Alexandra...
in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
See also
- Lawrence School, Ghora Gali
- Lawrence School, LovedaleLawrence School, LovedaleThe Lawrence School, Lovedale is an educational institution in Lovedale, located near Ootacamund, Tamil Nadu, India and named for its founder, Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence. Lawrence had mooted the idea about the establishment of a chain of schools with a view to provide education to the children...
- Lawrence School, SanawarLawrence School, SanawarThe Lawrence School is situated in Sanawar, adjacent to Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh, India. It was founded by Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence of the Indian Army of British India and was established on 15 April 1847.The school has educated many notable people...