Lawford was baptised 3 July 1757 in Portsea, the eldest son of John Lawford of Gosport and Sarah Gover of Portsea. He entered the navy at an early age. He served during the war with America, and was first lieutenant aboard the 90-gun at the Battle of the Saintes. In October 1788 he commissioned the brig and commanded her for the next two years. Lawford then took command of the 16-gun sloop during the Spanish Armament and was stationed initially in the English Channel, before departing for Jamaica on 22 October 1790, where he spent the next two years. He was promoted to post-captain on the outbreak of war with France in 1793, and took command of the newly captured 36-gun . He sailed as an escort for a convoy to Britain on 5 February the following year, but his command was short-lived as "Convert" was wrecked three days later on a reef off the East End of Grand Cayman; the wreck later referred to as the Wreck of the Ten Sail. While court martialled as a result of the shipwreck, Lawford was acquitted and the event did not adversely affect his career. Lawford remained in service to the Royal Navy and in January 1798 took command of the 64-gun . His time aboard her was brief, and in March he handed her over to Captain John Bligh and took up command of Bligh's old ship, the 50-gun .