Julia Lawrence

Truro, Cornwall, England

Julia Grace Lawrence (née King: 17th July 1918 - 13th August 1986) was an English midwife, at Princess Diana Royal Hospital, in Truro, Cornwall, for 43 years, before her retirement in 1983. She was the daughter of Broadway actress Gladys Morris and older sister to Steven King, a columnist for the Newcastle Daily Express. Her husband was Christopher Lawrence, who was a locksmith.

## Early life

Lawrence was born at Princes Margaret Hospital in Northumberland, North East England, the second child of Albert King(1889-1963), a farm labourer, and Gladys Morris(1896-1979), a Broadway actress, who is best remembered for her performance in The Lady In Red musical and The Woman In Black play. she had one older brother called Jeffrey and two younger brothers called Thomas and Steven. Growing up, she never knew her mother, as she left the family, when she moved to California, with Lawrence's future stepfather Edwin Stewartson, who Lawrence never knew, she was raised to believe that her father's second wife, Joyce Harris was her mother, as did her three brothers.

## Career

In 1938, Lawrence and her husband moved to Truro, Cornwall, South West England, where her husband Christopher Lawrence opened his own key cutting shop, on Brook Way Avenue, the year before Lawrence got a job as a midwife, at Princess Diana Royal Hospital, initially this was only meant to be a job, that she would do for a couple of years, before becoming a housewife, though she turned it into a career and did it successfully for forty-three years, before her retirement in 1983, at the age of 65. Due to her success, she trained other midwifes, who were nervous about delivering babies for the first time, in case anything went wrong, but Lawrence reassured them and some referred to her as "the boss". She's even trained male midwives, though this was much later in her career.

## Marriage and children

In 1934, Lawrence, then 16, met Christopher Lawrence for the first time, at a restaurant in Northumberland, where he was an appearance cook, but then she did not see him again, until the following year, when she met him again at his father's butcher shop in Newcastle, where he asked her to dinner and she accepted. The year later, they married in Northumberland, but moved to Truro, where Lawrence's husband Christopher opened his key cutting shop C.L Locksmiths. In 1940, Lawrence gave birth to their first child, who she gave the name Katherine, after her mother-in-law. In 1942, Lawrence gave birth to their second child, who was named Nancy, after her sister-in-law. In 1943, Lawrence gave birth to their third child, who was given the name Gina and in 1950, Lawrence gave birth to their fourth and final child, who they both named Olivia, after the actress, Olivia de Havilland. In 1978, Lawrence became a widow, when her husband passed away.

## Death

In 1985, Lawrence became severely ill and spent most of the time in bed, with a nurse coming into her bedroom, in her house, where she lived alone, her four daughters and their children also came to see her, but one night in 1986, Lawrence died from organ and heart failure and was found by her nurse the following afternoon.

She was cremated and scattered around Truro Cemetery, where her husband was buried.