Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence

Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence 1806-57, British general and administrator in India; brother of John Laird Mair Lawrence. Commissioned (1822) in the Bengal artillery, he fought in Myanmar (1824-26), against the Afghans (1842), and in the Sikh Wars (1845-49). In 1847, Lawrence became a British resident at Lahore and began to reorganize the Punjab. He continued that work after the annexation (1849) of the Punjab, becoming head of the board of administration for the province. Resigning because of policy differences with his brother, who was also on the board, Lawrence was posted to Rajputana (1853) and then Oudh (1856). He was killed defending besieged Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny .

Bibliography: See biography by J. J. Innes (1898); M. Edwardes, The Necessary Hell (1958).

Lawrence, Sir Henry (1806–57). Soldier. Henry Lawrence was the elder brother of John Lawrence, later viceroy of India, and younger brother of General Sir George Lawrence. All three made their careers in India. Henry was commissioned in 1822 as a lieutenant in the Bengal artillery, took part in the expedition to Kabul in 1842 after the disastrous retreat, and fought in the Sikh War of 1846. He was knighted in 1848. From 1849 he administered the Punjab but resigned in 1853 after a disagreement with his brother John. He was moved to Oudh and was in Lucknow when the Indian mutiny broke out in May 1857. In June Lucknow fell to the mutineers and Lawrence was forced back to the residency. There he was struck by shell-fire and died after two days. His eldest son was given a baronetcy in his honour. The residency was relieved by Havelock in September 1857. Henry Lawrence, prematurely aged and with a hot temper, was respected as a man of honesty.

J. A. Cannon

Lawrence, Sir Henry (1806–57). Soldier. Henry Lawrence was the elder brother of John Lawrence, later viceroy of India. Commissioned in 1822 in the Bengal artillery, he took part in the expedition to Kabul in 1842 after the disastrous retreat, and fought in the Sikh War of 1846. From 1849 he administered the Punjab but resigned in 1853 after a disagreement with his brother John. He was in Lucknow when the Indian mutiny broke out in May 1857. In June Lucknow fell to the mutineers and Lawrence was forced back to the residency. There he was struck by shell‐fire and died after two days.