# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lawrence, Henry Montgomery

1904 Errata appended.
​LAWRENCE, Sir HENRY MONTGOMERY (1806–1857), brigadier-general, chief commissioner in Oudh, was the fourth son of Colonel Alexander Lawrence, an officer who had seen a large amount of active service in India in the 77th regiment. His mother was Letitia Catherine, daughter of the Rev. George Knox of county Donegal. He was born on 28 June 1806 at Matura in Ceylon, where his father was then serving in the 19th foot. The family returned to England in 1808, and in 1813 he was sent with his brothers, Alexander and George [see Lawrence, Sir George St. Patrick], to school at Foyle College, Derry, where his maternal uncle, the Rev. James Knox, was head-master. In 1819 he went to Mr. Gough's school, College Green, Bristol, with his younger brother, Jonn Laird Mair, afterwards lord Lawrence [q. v.], the family being then resident at Clifton; and in August 1820 he joined his brother George at Addiscombe. He did not particularly distinguish himself as a cadet, but by application succeeded, on 10 May 1822, in obtaining a commission as second lieutenant in the Bengal artillery.
He sailed for India in the following September, arrived at Calcutta on 21 Feb. 1823, and joined the headquarters of the Bengal artillery at Dum-Dum. Here he met the Rev. (afterwards Sir) George Craufurd, the chaplain, and the little band of religious officers who lived with him at Fairy Hall. At home as a youth Lawrence had come under strong religious influences, and he joined the party at Fairy Hall, although he mingled as before with his old associates. His disposition was naturally reserved, and his religion throughout life showed itself in little outward demonstration.
On 17 March 1824 Lord Amherst declared war with Bunnell, and early in June Lawrence sailed with his battery to Chittagong. He was promoted first lieutenant on 5 Oct. 1825. He took part in the capture of Aracan, and on 18 Nov. was appointed adjutant to the artillery, S.E. division. On 26 April 1826 he was appointed deputy-commissary of ordnance at Akyab, but was seized with the fever and dysentery which had been so active among the troops, and was sent to Calcutta. Here he was nursed by George Craufurd until he sailed for England on 2 Aug. by the China route, arriving in England in May 1827. He remained at home for two years and a half, and during this leisure time he joined the trigonometrical survey in the north of Ireland, and acquired information which was of great value to him afterwards when employed on the revenue survey of India.
In September 1829 Lawrence sailed for India, accompanied by a sister and by his brother John, who had just entered the civil service of the East India Company. They arrived at Calcutta on 9 Feb. 1830, and Lawrence was posted to the foot artillery at Kurnaul, where his brother George, recently married, was adjutant of a cavalry regiment. For eighteen months Henry lived in his brothers house, and devoted his spare time to the study of native languages. In the autumn of 1830 he took a trip to Simla and on his return paid a visit to his friend and brother-officer, Captain (afterwards Sir) Proby Thomas Cautley [q. v.], to see the large irrigation works on which he was engaged. On 27 Sept. 1831 Lawrence was transferred to the horse artillery at Meerut, and on 29 Nov. was posted to the first brigade horse artillery at Cawnpore. He lived a very retired life, studying to fit himself for staff employment, and endeavouring by strict economy to put by some savings for the Lawrence fund, as the brothers called a provision they were gradually making for their mother's support in the event of the death of their father, who was now old and infirm. On 12 Sept. 1832 he was pronounced qualified in native languages, and was recommended for the duties of interpreter. In the cold weather his troop went to Dum-Dum, and he seized this opportunity to pass the language examination at the college, Fort William. On 13 Jan. 1883 he was appointed interpreter and quartermaster to the 7th battery of artillery. This appointment he, however, resigned on the 28th of the same month, and was reappointed to the horse artillery at Cawnpore.
Owing to the good offices of his brother George, on 22 Feb. 1833 he was appointed an assistant revenue surveyor in the northwest provinces, and assumed charge of his ​duties at Moradabad. The revenue survey was devised by Robert Merttins Bird [q. v.], to obtain the information necessary to enable the government to assess the land-tax fairly. The assessment had previously been much too high; cultivators sank beneath the burden, and land went out of cultivation. Although Bird had obtained the approval of the government to a revised periodical assessment, correct surveys of the land were indispensable ; unfortunately after some years of trial their cost seemed prohibitive. Bird took counsel with Lawrence, and by reduction of establishment, careful selection of staff, and infusion of personal energy and enthusiasm into the work, succeeded in reducing the cost to a practicable limit. Lawrence was promoted to the rank of full surveyor on 2 June 1835, and became a captain on 10 May 1837. Lawrence now enjoyed a well-paid appointment. The 'Lawrence fund,' which their father's death in May 1835 made very useful to their mother, was firmly established, and, after a long engagement, he married, at Calcutta on 21 Aug. 1837, his cousin, Honoria, daughter of the Eev. George Marshall. He was now employed on the survey of the district of Allahabad, and his wife, to whom he owed much of his success in after-life, accompanied him in all his field journeys. In the summer of 1838 Lawrence was on the point of fighting a duel with the author of a memoir of Sir John Adams, which Lawrence had reviewed adversely. Fortunately his brother-officers of the artillery thought it unnecessary to proceed to a meeting, but the incident is memorable for the noble letter dissuading him from action which was written to him by his wife.
Preparations were made in the summer of 1838 for the Cabul campaign, and at Lawrence's request his services were placed at the disposal of the commander-in-chief on 29 Sept. On his way to the Indus he accepted the offer of a Calcutta paper to write occasional notices of military events for one hundred rupees a month, but characteristically stipulated that the honorarium should be paid anonymously to certain charities, which he named. Owing to the abandonment of the siege of Herat by the Persians, the army of the Indus was reduced, and Lawrence's services with it were not required. Through the influence, however, of Frederick (afterwards Sir Frederick) Currie, he was appointed, on 14 Jan. 1839, officiating assistant to George Clerk, the political agent at Loodiana, to take civil charge of Ferozepore. His friend Currie in announcing the appointment to him wrote : 'I have helped to put your foot in the stirrup. It rests with you to put yourself in the saddle.' Pecuniarily the appointment was less valuable than that he had held in the revenue survey, but a political appointment on the frontier and during a campaign opened better prospects.
During the time that Lawrence administered the little district of Ferozepore he rebuilt the town, with a wall and a fort ; he settled boundaries, and he wrote for the 'Delhi Gazette' 'The Adventurer in the Punjaub' and 'Anticipatory Chapters of Indian History.' On 31 March 1840 Lawrence was appointed assistant to the governor-general's agent for the affairs of the Punjaub and the north-west frontier. In November of this year came the Cabul disaster, and Lawrence found his hands full in preparing succour for Jalalabad and managing the Sikhs at Peshawur, whither he had been sent in December to join Major Mackeson, the senior assistant political omcer. His part was to obtain aid from the Sikhs in support of an advance to Jalalabad, and to organise the arrangements. But it was not until April 1842 that Pollock was able to advance, and, much to Lawrence's disappointment, Mackeson went with the force to see it through the Khyber, and Lawrence was left at Peshawur. He was, however, allowed to accompany the expedition to the further side of the Shadee Bagiaree, where, always a zealous gunner, he assisted in getting two guns into position, and then returned to Jamrood and Peshawur to send on supplies, and arrange with Avitabile, the Sikh general, to hold the mouth of the pass.
When it was decided that the British should go on to Cabul, Lawrence changed places with Mackeson, and was given the command of the Sikh contingent in addition to his duties as political officer with Pollock's force. On his joining the expedition at Jalalabad he saw something of Havelock, and attended some of the religious meetings which Havelock held for his men. Here also he received the welcome news of the safety of his brother George, who was among the prisoners detained as hostages by Mohamed Akbar Khan, and had been sent on parole to make terms for their surrender. Pollock moved forward on Cabul on 20 Aug. Lawrence, in command of the Sikhs, took part in the battles of Tezeen and Haft Khotal, and entered Cabul with Pollock on 16 Sept. 1842, two days before Nott's force arrived from Ghazni. A few days later his brother George and the other captives came in. On 12 Oct. Lawrence started with the forces of Pollock, Nott, and Sale on his return to India. At Ferozepore they were met, amid general rejoicing, by the commander-in-chief and the governor-general of India. ​On 23 Dec. 1842 Lawrence was promoted brevet-major for his services. On the 31st of the same month he was presented with a sword by the maharajah of Lahore, and on the same day received the appointment of superintendent of the Dehra Doon and Mussooree from the governor-general. He went to Mussooree in January 1843, but had hardly traversed the district when it was found that the regulations only permitted such an appointment to be held by a covenanted civil servant, and on 17 Feb. he was transferred to Umballa as assistant to the envoy at Lahore. After two months, the death of the rajah of Kythul without issue caused the lapse of his territory to the British government, and Lord Ellenborough himself intimated to the envoy of Lahore that of all his assistants Lawrence was best qualified for the charge. He was accordingly appointed, and lost no time in completing the settlement of the Kythul territory.
Lawrence was disappointed at not receiving a C.B. for his services in the Cabul campaign, but the governor-general showed his appreciation of his services by promoting him on 1 Dec. 1843 to the residency of Nepaul. At Kurnaul, on his way to Nepaul, he met his brother John, who had married in 1841, and had just returned from England; and during the few quiet days the brothers and their wives passed together at this station Henry Lawrence wrote a defence of Sir William Hay Macnaghten [q. v.] It does not appear to have been published, but its purport was to show that the Cabul disaster was a military one, and that Macnaghten was not responsible for it.
Although no white-faced woman had hitherto been seen in Nepaul, Lawrence's wife soon joined him there, and they settled down at Katmandoo for two years of a quiet, busy, and happy life. Lawrence's duties as resident were to interfere as little as possible with the native government, but to watch any movement injurious to British interests, and to offer counsel in all state matters affecting the British government whenever it was sought or likely to be acceptable. He had therefore more leisure than he had previously enjoyed, and occupied himself in literary pursuits. He became a constant contributor to the ‘Calcutta Review’ from its commencement, and to other periodicals. His pen was fertile, and his contributions both weighty and sagacious, but they mainly owed their literary style to his wife. At the same time he projected the formation of an establishment in the north-west hills for the children of European soldiers. The result was the foundation of the Lawrence Asylum, which was endowed and largely supported through life by Lawrence at considerable self-sacrifice, and was commended in his will to the care of government. The government of India accepted the charge, and has largely developed Lawrence's scheme in other parts of India.
At the end of 1845 Mrs. Lawrence was compelled, for the sake of her children and for her own health, to return to England, and her husband accompanied her on the way to Calcutta. On 6 Jan. 1846, while on the journey, at Gorruckpore he was unexpectedly summoned to join the army of the Sutlej. The first Sikh war had broken out, the battles of Moodkee and Ferozeshah had been fought, Major Broadfoot, the political officer, had been killed, and Lawrence was required to replace him. He received his orders at 7 p.m., and left to execute them on the next afternoon. He found that Sir Henry Hardinge had appointed him on 3 Jan. governor-general's agent for foreign relations and for the affairs of the Punjaub. On 1 April was added the appointment of governor-general's agent for the affairs of the north-west frontier. Lawrence was present at Sobraon and the occupation of Lahore. He was in complete accord with the governor-general in his objection to annexation. Lawrence's general views, indeed, were that we should abstain from any enlargement of our territory that was not provoked by the absolute need of security; that we should enforce, by example, on the natives of India the duties of justice and forbearance, and apply ourselves to the task of raising the moral character of the governing and aristocratic classes, or such relics of them as were left, and so enable new Indian sovereignties to grow up under British protection. It was, however, necessary to punish the Sikhs, and immediately after they invaded British territory, a proclamation had been issued confiscating the Cis-Sutlej possessions of the Lahore crown. The Jullunder Doab was now annexed in addition, in order to obtain security for our hill stations and a position which would give us control of the Sikh capital. The existing Sikh authority at Lahore was to be maintained for a limited period by means of a subsidiary British force, and Cashmere was to be handed over to Goolab Sing. In June 1846 Lawrence was promoted brevet-lieutenant-colonel for his services at Sobraon.
Intrigues against the British were rife in the Khâlsa at Lahore, and the governor of Cashmere, Sheik Imammoodeen, supported by Lal Sing and the Sikh durbar, first delayed and then refused to hand over Cashmere to Goolab. Lawrence's firmness and energy were ​now conspicuously displayed. He insisted on the Sikhs sending a force to compel Imam-moodeen to hand over the province to Goolah, and put himself at the head of it, Brigadier-general Wheler co-operating with a British force. He put down without difficulty all efforts at resistance, and Imammoodeen surrendered himself personally to Lawrence. The feat was remarkable, when it is considered that within eighteen months of the battle of Sobraon ten thousand Sikh soldiers, at the bidding of a British officer, made over in the most marked and humiliating manner the richest province in the Punjaub to the man most detested by the Khalsa.
No sooner had Goolab Sing been placed in possession of Cashmere than Lawrence returned to Lahore to bring Lai Sing to justice. Imammoodeen turned king's evidence. Lai Sing was tried, deposed from the vizarut and removed without any excitement to Ferozepore. At the same meeting of the sirdars which condemned the vuzeer, a discussion was raised respecting the withdrawal of the British troops in accordance with the agreement. Such a measure could only lead to anarchy, and, as the governor-general was unwilling to annex the Punjaub, the outcome of the discussion was the so-called treaty of Byrowal, which prolonged the independence of the country, subject to the continued occupation of the capital by British troops, while a resident was to be appointed with supreme power in the state. On 8 Jan. 1847 Lawrence was appointed resident at Lahore, and thus, with the assent of the assembled sirdars, became in all but name, and uncontrolled save by the supreme government at Calcutta, master of the Punjaub. The system of a native ruler and minister relying on foreign bayonets and directed by a British resident was, as Lawrence himself had written, a vicious one. The most that can be said was that in this instance the resident was a capable man and had under him assistants such as George Lawrence, MacGregor, James Abbott, Edwardes, Lumsden, Nicholson, Taylor, Cocks, Hodson, Pollock, Bowring, Henry Coxe, and Melville, 'men,' as Lawrence wrote to Sir John Kaye, 'such as you will seldom see anywhere, but when collected under one administration were worth double and treble the number taken at haphazard.' His chief help, however, was in his brother John (afterwards Lord) Lawrence. The intrigues of the maharanee continued to give much trouble, and Lawrence deemed it expedient to separate the young Maharajah Dhuleep Sing from her and remove her from Lahore. The durbar consented, but his anxious work and long sojourn in India told on Lawrence's health, and in October 1847 he proceeded on sick leave to England. On his homeward journey he was the companion of Lord Hardinge, and after their arrival in England in March 1848 Lawrence was made K.C.B., at Hardinge's recommendation, on 28 April.
Lawrence spent his holiday between England and Ireland, in the society of relatives and friends. Tidings soon came of the murder of Vans Agnew and Anderson, and of the outbreak in the Punjaub, which ended in the second Sikh war. Lawrence was at once occupied in assiduous consultation with the Indian authorities at home, but he was eager to return, and left England with his wife in November 1848. He landed in Bombay the following month, and at once proceeded to the Punjaub, joining the army then in the field against the rebels. He was present during the last days of the siege of Moultan, and left that place on 8 Jan. 1849, in time to witness the doubtful contest of Chillianwallah. After the battle he prevailed on Hugh Lord Gough [q. v.] to hold his ground and demonstrate thereby that the battle was at worst a drawn one. Lawrence resumed his duties as resident at Lahore on 1 Feb.
Lawrence found in Lord Dalhousie, the new governor-general, a self-willed man, with strong views which did not always accord with his own. Difficulties soon arose between them. The question of annexation led to differences which were strongly expressed on both sides, and Lawrence sent his brother John, a veteran revenue administrator, to discuss the question personally with Dalhousie at Ferozepore. In the result the Punjaub was annexed and Lawrence resigned. But Dalhousie prudently succeeded in persuading him to withdraw his resignation, and on 14 April 1849 he was appointed president of the new board of administration for the affairs of the Punjaub, with his brother John and Charles Greville Mansel [q. v.] as colleagues, while he was also made agent to the governor-general.
The system was one of divided labour and responsibility. On Henry Lawrence devolved the political work. The disarming of the country, negotiations with the chiefs, organisation of new regiments, education of the young maharajah, were among the immediate duties which he personally undertook, while John Lawrence took the civil administration and the settlement of the land revenue, and Mansel the judicial management of the province. Each commissioner had a voice in the general council, and was responsible for the acts of the other two, although Henry Lawrence was supreme ​in name. Such an arrangement was not calculated to succeed, and it is solely due to the character of the men who composed the board that it continued for nearly four years and accomplished much useful work. The scheme was assisted in some measure by the arrival of Sir Charles Napier in India, as commander-in-chief, in May 1849. Napier's antipathy to both Dalhousie and Henry Lawrence was notorious, and had the effect of uniting them against a common enemy.
It was Lawrence's habit to make numerous progresses over every part of his dominion. He enjoyed the journeys, and by this means he and the people became well known to each other. His frequent absence necessarily threw upon his colleagues increased responsibility ; they were brought into direct relations with the governor-general, and were able to obtain decisions in favour of their views when these differed from those of their absent president. Much friction followed, and differences concerning the land settlement brought on a crisis. It was needful to amend the temporary and imperfect settlement effected by the board in 1850, and Henry Lawrence embraced with all the energy of his character the view most favourable to the native aristocracy, while his brother John leaned to the side of the cultivator. Henry considered financial considerations of secondary importance, John that they were paramount. The difference unfortunately became a personal one, and for the time the breach between the brothers was irreparable. Both brothers felt that their continuance in office together could only embarrass the government, and Henry sent in his resignation. Although it was understood that John was prepared to accept a high appointment elsewhere, Dalhousie, whose views were more in harmonv with those of the younger brother, decided to accept Henry's resignation, to abolish the board, and to retain John as sole ruler in the Punjaub. The governor-general's agency in Rajpootana was offered to Sir Henry with the same salary as he had received in the Punjaub, and Dalhousie assured him that the differences between the brothers, however painful, had not been disadvantageous to the state. Sir Henry was deeply mortified that he was not selected to govern the Punjaub alone. During his four years' administration he had reconstructed and pacified a hostile state, and had made the Punjaub as safe to an Englishman as Calcutta, and all this with the acquiescence of the people. Great was the dismay on his departure of his many friends in subordinate positions in the country. Letters sent him at the time by Colonel Robert Napier, afterwards Lord Napier of Magdala [q.v.], John Nicholson [q. v.], the hero of Delhi, and others, show the devotion and affection with which he had inspired them. Early in 1853 Sir Henry left Lahore to take up his new post at Ajmeer. Eighteen states were under his supervision, and he lost no time in making himself acquainted with them. In July he declined Dalhousie's offer of the residency of Hyderabad. His wife, who had for some time been in bad health, died on 15 Jan. 1854. On 19 June 1854 Sir Henry was made A.D.C. to the queen and colonel in the army.
On 29 Feb. 1856 Lord Dalhousie resigned, and was succeeded by Lord Canning. Lawrence at once wrote to him in order to set himself right on points in which he believed that he had been misjudged by Lord Dalhousie. On 18 May he became a regimental lieutenant-colonel, and when he was on the point of starting for England with his little girl and to recruit his own health, in January 1857, Lord Canning offered him the post of chief commissioner and agent to the governor-general in Oudh. Lawrence at once gave up his leave, sent his child home, and accepted the offer, whioh he regarded as in some sort a compensation for the loss of the Punjaub government and a public recognition of his services.
Towards the close of March 1857 Lawrence entered on his new duties at Lucknow. He succeeded Coverley Jackson, and found the province in a grievous state of discontent, due to departure from the instructions laid down by government at the Annexation. Promised pensions had been withheld, country chiefs deprived of their estates, while old officials and three-fourths of the army were left without occupation. Lawrence at once grappled with these difficulties, and by holding frequent durbars, at which his policy was proclaimed, and by energetic redress of grievances, he did much to establish a better feeling. The greater ease with which the revenue was collected soon showed that his policy was successful. During the month of April he was busy in organising the government.
But in May 1857 the mutiny broke out in Bengal and at Delhi. Lawrence at once devoted himself to the organisation of defence. On 19 May he was promoted brigadier-general with military command over all troops in Oudh. Luctnow was not yet infected with mutiny, and he had to carry out his military arrangements as quietly as possible, while exhibiting to the outer world a confidence he did not feel, and dealing with all the ordinary business of the province in the usual way. ​He got in all the treasure from the city and stations, bought up and stored grain and supplies of every kind, brought the guns and ammunition to the residency, arranged for water supply, strengthened the residency, formed outworks, cleared away obstructions, and made every preparation for the worst. With a force of about seven hundred Europeans (32nd regiment) and seven hundred natives of doubtful fidelity, Lawrence undertook, when the news of the outbreak at Meerut reached him on 13 May, to hold both the residency and the Muchee Bawn, four miles apart. Open to criticism from a military point of view, this division of forces nevertheless showed that outward confidence which Lawrence deemed it most important to maintain.
Towards the end of May an émeute, in which several officers lost their lives, occurred at Lucknow. Lawrence followed the mutineers out of Lucknow for some distance, and prisoners were taken. On 30 May Lawrence wrote: 'We are pretty jolly. . . . We are in a funny position. While we are entrenching two posts in the city, we are virtually besieging four regiments — in a quiet way — with 300 Europeans. Not a very pleasant diversion to my civil duties. I am daily in the town, four miles off, for some hours, but reside in cantonments guarded by the gentlemen we are besieging.' The same night the long-expected outbreak occurred; the mutineers were defeated and driven out of the town, which remained comparatively quiet. But Oudh was full of disaffected native soldiery, and the Europeans at out-stations were fugitives. The wise policy of Lawrence in at once redressing grievances on assuming the government became now of great importance. With one exception none of the chiefs or of the peasantry attempted to do harm to the fugitives, while most were helpful. The mass of the people in Lucknow itself and the entire Hindoo population held wholly aloof from the outbreak, and, with one single exception, every talookdar, to whom the chance offered itself, aided more or less actively in the protection of Europeans.
Tidings of various disasters, however, caused Lawrence much anxiety. A large portion of native troops had not yet deserted, and he believed that unless he could retain some, his position would be hopeless. He therefore carefully weeded them until he had reduced the number to about the strength of the Europeans. The Sikhs were segregated and formed into companies at an early period of the crisis. Roads were kept open, cantonments held, the city kept quiet, the Muchee Bawn garrisoned and held as a fort and entrepôt, remnants of the old king's soldiers were enlisted into new bodies of police and lodged under the guns of the Muchee Bawn, while the residency and its surrounding buildings were gradually connected by a chain of parapets, and, with sundry batteries, formed into a defensive position. Lawrence telegraphed to the governor-general recommending that in case anything happened to him Major Banks should succeed him as chief commissioner, and Colonel Inglis of the 32nd should command the troops, observing that it was no time for punctilio as regards seniority. A draft telegram, in his handwriting, was found among his papers, which ended with the words: 'There should be no surrender. I commend my children and the Lawrence asylums to government.' The urgent appeals sent him by General Wheeler to send aid to Cawnpore he was forced to firmly refuse. To attempt to aid Cawnpore would, he foresaw, involve the loss of both Lucknow and that place. No sooner had Cawnpore fallen (26 June) than the mutineers who had been gathering in the neighbourhood of Lucknow moved on that city. On 29 June an advanced guard arrived at Chinhut, within eight miles of the residency, and exchanged shots with Lawrence's Sikh cavalry outpost. Lawrence determined to give the advanced guard a check at Chinhut, and accordingly at sunset evacuated cantonments, and garrisoning only the Muchee Bawn and the residency, he directed a force, consisting of 300 white and 220 native bayonets, 36 European and 80 Sikh sabres and 11 guns, to march at daybreak on the 30th. Lawrence led them in person, but the mutineers were in greater force than had been anticipated, the native artillery behaved badly, many deserted, and a repulse followed. Lawrence retreated to Lucknow, closely pursued. He covered the retreat with unfaltering courage, and was seen everywhere, oblivious of danger, inspiriting the men; but he lost 118 European officers and men, and he knew that his position was ten times worse than when he sallied out.
The disaster at Chinhut precipitated the occupation of the city by the rebels, and during the night of 30 June the insurgents closed in on the Muchee Bawn and on the residency, and opened fire early on 1 July. The Muchee Bawn was immediately abandoned and blown up, and the defence concentrated at the residency. Here Lawrence, with 927 Europeans and 768 native troops, besides women and children, was hemmed in by 7,000 mutineers. He took up his quarters in a room of the residency, much exposed, but convenient for observation. ​On the first day an 8-inch shell burst in the room without injuring any one. Lawrence was entreated to move to a less exposed position, and promised to do so next day. All the early morning of the 2nd he was much occupied, and returned at 8 a.m. exhausted with the heat and lay down on his bed. A shell entered and burst, a fragment wounding him severely in the upper part of the left thigh. He was at once removed to Dr. Fayrer's house, but had hardly been placed in bed when fire was opened on the spot. Great difficulty was experienced in protecting the party, and the following day he had again to be moved to a less exposed place. The case was hopeless, and the doctors sought only to alleviate his sufferings. He remained perfectly sensible during 2 July and for the greater part of the following day. He formally handed over the chief commissionership to Major Banks, and the command of the troops to Colonel Inglis, at the same time telling them never to surrender. He was also able to give detailed instructions as to the conduct of the defence, and spoke very humbly of his own public services. He desired that no epitaph should be placed on his tomb but this: 'Here lies Henry Lawrence, who tried to do his duty.' He received the sacrament with his nephew and some of the ladies who nursed him, and died from exhaustion about 8 A.M. on 4 July 1867. He was buried in the churchyard with a hurried prayer from the chaplain, who alone could be present, as the place was under fire and all had to be at their posts.
Three weeks after his death, but before it was known in England, Lawrence was appointed provisionally to succeed to the office of governor-general of India, in case of accident happening to Lord Canning and pending the arrival of a successor from England. The sad news of his death was received in England with public demonstrations of regret. His eldest son, Alexander Hutchinson, was created a baronet in recognition of his father's services. A statue by J. G. Lough was placed in the east aisle of the south transept in St. Paul's Cathedral. A plain tombstone was erected by his friends to his memory in the English church at Lucknow, and his name is also inscribed on the monument in the gardens of Lucknow to the memory of those who fell in the siege. A portrait by J. H. Millington and a bust belong to Lawrence's grandson, Sir Henry Hayes Lawrence.
Colonel Sir John Inglis, who succeeded him in the military command, wrote officially: 'Few men have ever possessed to the same extent the power which he enjoyed of winning the hearts of all those with whom he came in contact, and thus insuring the warmest and most zealous devotion for himself and for the government which he served. The successful defence of the position has been, under Providence, solely attributable to the foresight which he evinced in the timely commencement of the necessary operations, and the great skill and untiring personal activity which he exhibited in carrying them into effect. All ranks possessed such confidence in his judgment and his fertility of resource, that the news of his fall was received throughout the garrison with feelings of consternation only second to the grief which was inspired in the hearts of all by the loss of a public benefactor and a warm personal friend.'
But his services reached much further in respect to the mutiny than the defence of Lucknow. His work in the Punjaub bore fruit in the fifty thousand Punjaubees who were raised by nis brother John for service during the mutiny, while thirty thousand soldiers drawn from that province, who belonged either to the native contingents or Hindustani regiments, remained faithful to England during that critical time. Sir Henry was naturally a man of hot and impetuous temper, which he kept under control by constant watchfulness and self-discipline. He had great energy, was indefatigable in his work, while his sympathetic and kind-hearted disposition attracted all who came in contact with him. He was essentially straightforward, generous, and disinterested. His disregard for money or personal luxury was the secret of his influence, particularly with the natives. In manner brusque, and in appearance gaunt, his shrewd sharp look at once attracted attention. His most evident failings were over-sensitiveness and impatience of contradiction.
Three children survived him. The eldest, Alexander Hutchinson, died in 1864 from an accident in Upper India, leaving an infant son, the present baronet; Henry "Waldemar, born in 1846, called to the bar in 1867; and Honoria Letitia, who in 1873 married Henry George Hart, esq., of Harrow-on-the-Hill. The following are some of his writings:
* 'Some Passages in the Life of an Adventurer in the Punjaub,' 8vo, 1842.
* 'Adventures of an Officer in the Service of Runjeet Singh,' 2 vols. 12mo, London, 1845.
* 'Essays Military and Political,' 8vo, London, 1869.
* 'Essays on the Indian Army and Oude,' 8vo, Serampore, 1859.
The following articles, among others, were contributed to the 'Calcutta Review ' by Sir ​Henry and Lady Lawrence:
* 'Military Defence of our Indian Empire,' No. 3.
* 'The Seiks and their Country.' No. 3.
* 'Kashmir and the Countries around the Indus,' No. 4.
* 'The Kingdom of Oude.' No. 6.
* 'Englishwomen in Hindostan,' No. 7.
* 'Mahratta History and Empire,' No. 8.
* 'Countries beyond the Sutlej and Jumna,' No. 10.
* 'Indian Army,' No. 11.
* 'Army Reform.' No. 18.
* 'Lord Hardinge's Administration,' No. 16.
* 'Major Smyth's Reigning Family of Lahore,' No. 18.
* 'Sir Charles Napier's Posthumous Work,' No. 43.
[Life of Sir Henry Lawrence, by Edwardes and Merivale, 2 vols. 8vo; Three Indian Heroes by J. S. Banks; Kaye's Lives of Indian Officers and his History of the East India Administration and Sepoy War; Arnold's Administration of Lord Dalhousie; Sir Charles Napier's Defects, Civil and Military, of the Indian Government; Times of India; Despatches.]
R. H. V.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.178 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
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