The Venerable Fr George Merwyn Lawson (1865–1945) served as archdeacon of

Kuruman Kuruman is a small town with just over 53,000 inhabitants in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is known for its scenic beauty and the Eye of Kuruman, a geological feature that brings water from deep underground. The abundance of water ...

, 1913–1941, in the

Anglican Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman The Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman is a diocese in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, and encompasses the area around Kimberley and Kuruman and overlaps the Northern Cape Province and North West Province of South Africa. It is presided ...

, and as Director of Missions for

Griqualand West Griqualand West is an area of central South Africa with an area of 40,000 km2 that now forms part of the Northern Cape Province. It was inhabited by the Griqua people – a semi-nomadic, Afrikaans-speaking nation of mixed-race origin, wh ...

from 1903 until his death.

Early life

He was the second son of George Lawson of London, and was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. He matriculated at

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...

in 1886, graduating B.A. in 1889.

Ministry

Initially on the staff of St Cyprian's Church in Kimberley, Lawson was in charge of the four ‘location’ missions in that town, based at St Matthew's, Kimberley, around the turn of the twentieth century. At this time he commenced “outlying work” in the rural hinterland, leaving a description of Mass in a “rough hut of sticks”, the altar “a packing case with my portable altar on the top – yet all was reverent as in a cathedral” – “it reminded me of Bethlehem.” His most distant mission work in 1905 was at Khosis north of

Postmasburg Postmasburg is a town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. Location The Town is located approximately 170 km east of Upington. The town is north of Griquatown and west-south-west of Daniëlskuil. History Originally a station o ...

. In 1916 Bishop

Wilfrid Gore Browne Wilfrid Gore Browne (6 May 1859 – 15 March 1928) was an Anglican bishop, the first Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman from 1912 to 1928. He was described as a saintly bishop with "a keen sense of humour" and "a winning courtesy." Early ...

described how Lawson traveled “1040 miles every two months, on horse-back, staying at farms on the way.” During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Lawson served as

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

first to the Kalahari Horse in the

German South West Africa Campaign The South West Africa campaign was the conquest and occupation of German South West Africa by forces from the Union of South Africa acting on behalf of the British imperial government at the beginning of the First World War. Background The ...

and later volunteered for work in Europe.

Art collector

Upon his death Lawson left a collection of 247 original drawings and engravings by French, Dutch, Flemish, English and Italian masters. It includes works by

Stefano della Bella Stefano della Bella (17 May 1610 – 12 July 1664) was an Italian draughtsman and printmaker known for etchings of a great variety of subjects, including military and court scenes, landscapes, and lively genre scenes. He left 1052 prints, and sev ...

, Sebastion Bourdon,

Jacques Callot Jacques Callot (; – 1635) was a baroque printmaker and draftsman from the Duchy of Lorraine (an independent state on the north-eastern border of France, southwestern border of Germany and overlapping the southern Netherlands). He is an impo ...

Simone Cantarini Simone Cantarini or Simone da Pesaro, called ''il Pesarese'' (Baptized on 21 August 1612 – 15 October 1648) was an Italian painter and etcher. He is mainly known for his history paintings and portraits executed in an original style, whi ...

Annibale Carracci Annibale Carracci (; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian painter and instructor, active in Bologna and later in Rome. Along with his brother and cousin, Annibale was one of the progenitors, if not founders of a leading strand of th ...

Sir Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

and

Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vig ...

and many others. These Lawson bequeathed to the Kimberley Public Library for the people of Kimberley. In 1991 the collection was transferred to the

William Humphreys Art Gallery The William Humphreys Art Gallery, in Kimberley, South Africa, was opened in 1952 and named after its principal benefactor, William Benbow Humphreys (1889–1965). Origins In 1948, William Humphreys gave to the City of Kimberley a major part of ...

in Kimberley where it is known as the Lawson Collection. The collection was restored and conservation mounted by the gallery.

Plant collector

Lawson was interested in succulent plants and was encouraged by Archdeacon Frederick A. Rogers to collect specimens. Lawson prepared herbarium specimens and presented plants for identification to

Maria Wilman Maria Wilman (29 April 1867 – 9 November 1957) was a South African geologist and botanist. She was the first Director of the McGregor Museum in Kimberley, South Africa and the second female South African to attend the University of Cambridg ...

, who was then director of the

McGregor Museum The McGregor Museum in Kimberley, South Africa, originally known as the Alexander McGregor Memorial Museum, is a multidisciplinary museum which serves Kimberley and the Northern Cape, established in 1907. Overview Housed at first in a purpos ...

in Kimberley. Wilman passed some of Lawson's specimens on to the

Bolus Herbarium The Bolus Herbarium was established in 1865 from a donation by Harry Bolus of his extensive herbarium and library to the South African College, which later became the University of Cape Town. Its collection of specimens numbers over 320 000, mak ...

in Cape Town. The species ''Ruschia lawsonii'' (Perdevygie) was named after him by

Louisa Bolus Harriet Margaret Louisa Bolus ''Married and maiden names, née'' Kensit (31 July 1877, Burgersdorp – 5 April 1970, Cape Town) was a South African Botany, botanist and taxonomist, and the longtime curator of the Bolus Herbarium, from 1903. Bol ...

Reinterment

Archdeacon Lawson's remains were reinterred in the Garden of Remembrance at St Cyprian's Cathedral in Kimberley.

References

* Anglican archdeacons in Africa 19th-century South African Anglican priests South African art collectors 1865 births 1945 deaths South African Army chaplains World War I chaplains South African collectors 20th-century South African Anglican priests {{SouthAfrica-reli-bio-stub