The Lawrence School, Lovedale (formerly known as Lawrence Memorial Royal Military School), the namesake of its founder

Brigadier-General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Sir

Henry Montgomery Lawrence Brigadier-General Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence KCB (28 June 18064 July 1857) was a British military officer, surveyor, administrator and statesman in British India. He is best known for leading a group of administrators in the Punjab affectiona ...

KCB, is a

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

located at Lovedale, which is a little town on the

Nilgiri Mountains The Nilgiri Mountains form part of the Western Ghats in northwestern Tamil Nadu, Southern Karnataka, and eastern Kerala in India. They are located at the trijunction of three states and connect the Western Ghats with the Eastern Ghats. At le ...

in the

south India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

n state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. Lawrence had mooted the idea of establishing a chain of

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

military-style boarding schools at the

hill station A hill station is a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The term was used mostly in colonial Asia (particularly in India), but also in Africa (albeit rarely), for towns founded by European colonialists as refuges ...

s of India to educate the children of the deceased and serving members of the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

. Although Lawrence was killed at

The Residency, Lucknow The Residency, also called as the British Residency and Residency Complex, is a group of several buildings in a common precinct in the city of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. It served as the residence for the British Resident General who was a re ...

during the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

his dream took shape and four such schools, known as the

Lawrence Military Asylums The Lawrence Military Asylums were a series of military-style boarding schools envisaged by Sir Henry Lawrence in the Indian subcontinent highlands for the sons and daughters of British soldiers. Two schools were established during Lawrence's lifeti ...

, were established: at

Sanawar The Lawrence School, Sanawar, is the oldest Co-Ed boarding school in the world near Solan city. Established in 1847, its history, influence, and wealth have made it one of the most prestigious and oldest schools in Asia. It is located in the ...

in 1847, and at

Mount Abu Mount Abu () is a hill station in the Aravalli Range in Sirohi district of the state of Rajasthan in western India.The mountain forms a rocky plateau 22 km long by 9 km wide. The highest peak on the mountain is Guru Shikhar at above s ...

in 1856, both during his lifetime; then at Lovedale,

Ootacamund Ooty (), officially known as Udhagamandalam (also known as Ootacamund (); abbreviated as Udhagai), is a city and a municipality in the Nilgiris district of the South Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is located ...

in 1858 and at

Ghora Gali Ghora Gali is one of the tourist mountain resort towns of the Galyat area of northern Pakistan. It has an elevation of 1691m and is located in the northeastern tip of the Punjab province of Pakistan. Ghora Gali is also a Union council, an adminis ...

Murree Murree ( Punjabi, Urdu: مری) is a mountain resort city, located in the Galyat region of the Pir Panjal Range, within the Muree District of Punjab, Pakistan. It forms the outskirts of the Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area, and is about ...

, in present-day

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in 1860.

Name, emblem and motto

In 1913, the name of the school was changed from The Ootacamund Lawrence Asylum to Lawrence Memorial School. After being accorded royal patronage in 1922, the name of the school was changed to the Lawrence Memorial Royal Military School in 1925. In 1949, soon after Indian Independence, the school was handed over to the civilian authorities of the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

; subsequently, the name of the school was changed to The Lawrence School, as it is known today. As the school is located in Lovedale, the school is also simply referred to as "Lovedale". The school's motto is "Never Give In" as that of its sister schools. The school's logo is an armorial achievement with a historical

heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...

: ''

ARMS Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

: Ermine, on a cross raguly gules and eastern crown or; on a chief azure two swords in saltire proper, pommels and hilts gold, between as many leopards' heads argent.'' ''

CREST Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...

: Out of an eastern crown or, a cubit arm entwined by a wreath of laurel and holding a dagger all proper''.

The campus

The Lawrence School, Lovedale has its campus on 750 acres leased from the Ministry of Defence in Lovedale, which is 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) from

. Located at a height of 7200 feet above mean sea level, it is slightly lower than the Dodabetta peak (altitude: 8650 feet), which is the highest peak of the

Nilgiris The Nilgiri Mountains form part of the Western Ghats in northwestern Tamil Nadu, Southern Karnataka, and eastern Kerala in India. They are located at the trijunction of three states and connect the Western Ghats with the Eastern Ghats. At le ...

mountain range. The school campus is divided into Preparatory School (classes 5 ), Junior School (classes 6–8) and Senior School (classes 9–12). Some of the classrooms and dormitories of the schools are together in their respective buildings, whereas the girls of class (5–8) are accommodated in the Preparatory School building and the girls of classes (9–12) are accommodated in a separate residential building called Girls School. Therefore, the girls of class 5 attend classes in the Preparatory School, girls of classes (6–8) attend classes in Junior School and girls of classes (9–12) attend classes in the Senior School building. Many notable personalities, such as former Prime Ministers and Presidents of India

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

Zail Singh Giani Zail Singh (, born Jarnail Singh; 5 May 1916 – 25 December 1994) was an Indian politician from Punjab who served as the seventh president of India from 1982 to 1987. He was the first Sikh and the first person from a backward caste to be ...

Pranab Mukherjee Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the India ...

, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, and others such as

Sam Manekshaw Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw (3 April 1914 – 27 June 2008), widely known as Sam Manekshaw and Sam Bahadur ("Sam the Brave"), was the Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of ...

Venkaiah Naidu Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu (born 1 July 1949) is an Indian politician who served as the 13th vice president of India from 2017 to 2022. He is the first Indian vice president born in independent India. He has also served as the minister of Hous ...

and

Kiran Bedi Kiran Bedi (born 9 June 1949) is an Indian social activist, former-tennis player who became the first woman in India to join the officer ranks of the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1972 and was the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry from ...

, have visited this campus to grace the school's Founder's day and other special occasions.

Architecture

The Senior School (often referred to as Boys' School) is housed in a magnificent two-story building with a towering

campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

of 130 feet, built in Italian Gothic style and designed by Architect Robert Chisholm. On May 31, 1988, a commemorative postage stamp was issued by

India Post India Post is a government-operated postal system in India, part of the Department of Post under the Ministry of Communications. Generally known as the Post Office, it is the most widely distributed postal system in the world. Warren Hastings ha ...

to commemorate 130 years of its existence with an image displaying the towering campanile section.

Student Body

The student body is from all over India and overseas, and is led by

prefects Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

headed by a

head girl and head boy Head boy and head girl are student leadership roles in schools, representing the school's entire student body. They are normally the most senior prefects in the school. The terms are commonly used in the British education system as well as in Aust ...

. The school also has a 40 percent reservation of seats and a 20 percent fee subsidy for children of

Indian Defence In the game of chess, Indian Defence or Indian Game is a broad term for a group of openings characterised by the moves: :1. d4 Nf6 They are all to varying degrees hypermodern defences, where Black invites White to establish an imposing presenc ...

personnel.

Management

The school is governed by an autonomous body, the Board of Governors, which is appointed by the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India, and is managed operationally by the headmaster or headmistress, who is an ''ex officio'' member of the Board as well as the Member Secretary. Additionally, the General Officer Commanding – South India (GOC)

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

is also an ''ex officio'' member of the Board. The Board also has representation from a member of the Old Lawrencians Association (OLA), a member of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), and any other nominees of the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

, Government of India.

Alumni association

The school's

alumni association An alumni association or alumnae association is an association of graduates or, more broadly, of former students (alumni). In the United Kingdom and the United States, alumni of universities, colleges, schools (especially independent schools), ...

, the Old Lawrencians Association, has chapters and branches in several major Indian and international cities. This body is registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Act and is run by a Managing Committee consisting of an elected team drawn from the registered alumni of the association.

Notable alumni

Alumni are generally referred to as "OLs", "Old Lawrencians" or "Old Laws". Public Servants and Social Workers * Vice Admiral Anil Chopra (Retired), sailor,

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

, former

Flag Officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countr ...

Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command *

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

K. Raja Menon (Retired), sailor, military officer, author, former Assistant Chief of Naval Staff *

Nikhil Dey Narega Day . He works for the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (Mazdoor Kishan Shakti Sangthan), Suchna Evum Rozgar Adhikar Abhiyan and NCPRI (National Campaign for People's Right to Information). He has been actively working for Right to Informat ...

social activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in Social change, social, Political campaign, political, economic or Natural environment, environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes i ...

Nomita Chandy Nomita Chandy was an Indian social worker from Bangalore, known for her services towards the rehabilitation of destitute children. She attended Lawrence School, Lovedale. Chandy was secretary of Ashraya, a non-governmental organization, work ...

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

er *

Palanivel Thiagarajan Palanivel Thiagarajan (PTR) is an Indian politician and the current Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election in 2016 and 2021 from Madurai Central. Early life He is the son of the late P ...

, politician,

Tamil Nadu Council of Ministers The Tamil Nadu Council of Ministers is the executive wing of the Government of Tamil Nadu and headed by the State's Chief Minister M. K. Stalin who is the head of government and leader of the state cabinet. The current state council of minister ...

for Finance and Human Resources Management, MLA

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members of whom are democratically elected using the First-past-the-post voting, First-past-the-post system. The pres ...

Paul Sabapathy Paul Chandrasekharan Sabapathy is a retired British accountant and business manager, of Indian origin, and was Lord Lieutenant of the West Midlands of England, from 2007 until his resignation in September 2015. He was the first non-white Lord ...

CVO

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, accountant, social worker, former

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...

of the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

Philipose George Pynumootil, Flag Officer

Naval Aviation Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based a ...

Justices and Lawyers *

Honourable ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

A. K. Jayasankaran Nambiar, Judge,

High Court of Kerala The High Court of Kerala is the highest court in the Indian state of Kerala and the Union territory of Lakshadweep. It is located in Kochi. Drawing its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the High Court has the power to issu ...

* Aryama Sundaram,

Senior Advocate The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel ( post-nominal letters: SC) is given to a senior lawyer in some countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. "Senior Counsel" is used in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdic ...

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

Professionals, Industrialists and Entrepreneurs *

Anand Mahindra Anand Gopal Mahindra (born 1 May 1955) is an Indian billionaire businessman, and the chairman of Mahindra Group, a Mumbai-based business conglomerate. The group operates in aerospace, agribusiness, aftermarket, automotive, components, constru ...

, businessman, Chairman & Managing Director

Mahindra Group Mahindra Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Mumbai. The group has operations in over 100 countries, with a presence in aerospace, agribusiness, aftermarket automotive components, construction equipment, defenc ...

* Arun M. Kumar, accountant, chairman and CEO

KPMG KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations. Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...

India, former Assistant Secretary of Commerce & Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial service * C Vijayakumar, business executive, President & CEO

HCL Technologies HCLTech (formerly Hindustan Computers Limited or HCL Technologies) is an Indian multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting company headquartered in Noida.It emerged as an independent company in 1991 when HCL entered into ...

* K. V. L. Narayan Rao, journalist, business executive, former CEO

NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. The company is considered to be a legacy brand that pioneered independent news broadcasting in India, and is credited for launching t ...

* M. M. Murugappan, businessman, Executive Chairman

Murugappa Group Murugappa Group is an Indian conglomerate founded in 1900. The Group has 28 businesses including nine companies listed on the NSE and the BSE. Headquartered in Chennai, the major companies of the Group include Carborundum Universal Ltd., Chol ...

* Sashi Reddi,

serial entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

venture capitalist Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which hav ...

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

* Thiru Vikram, inventor, entrepreneur, CEO Buffalo Automation Artists, Academics and Authors *

Akshaye Khanna Akshaye Khanna (born 28 March 1975) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films. He is the son of actor Vinod Khanna. He has won numerous awards in his career including two Filmfare Awards, three Screen Awards and two IIFA Awards in varied ac ...

, film actor *

Alphonse Putharen Alphonse Puthren is an Indian film director, producer, actor, editor, writer, and ad film maker. He works mainly in the Malayalam Cinema. He made his directional debut with the critically acclaimed Malayalam - Tamil bilingual suspense-thrill ...

, film actor, director and producer *

Amish Tripathi Amish Tripathi (born 18 October 1974) is an Indian author. He is known best for hiShiva Trilogyand Ram Chandra Series. Amish's books have sold over 6 million copies in the Indian subcontinent since 2010. Early life and education Amish Tripa ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

Anjolie Ela Menon Anjolie Ela Menon (born 17 July 1940) is one of India's leading contemporary artists. Her paintings are in several major collections, including the NGMA, the Chandigarh Museum and the Peabody Essex Museum. In 2006, her triptych work "Yatra" w ...

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

Arundhati Roy Suzanna Arundhati Roy (born 24 November 1961) is an Indian author best known for her novel ''The God of Small Things'' (1997), which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. S ...

, writer and social activist *

Fahad Fazil Fahadh Fazil (8 August 1982) is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema and has appeared in few Tamil and Telugu films. He has acted in more than 50 films and has received several awards, including a Na ...

, film actor and producer * Nalini Ambady,

social psychologist Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the re ...

and author * Pratap K. Pothen, film actor, producer and director *

Ram Charan Konidela Ram Charan Teja (born 27 March 1985) is an Indian actor, producer, and entrepreneur who works predominantly in Telugu films. One of the highest-paid Telugu film actors, he is the recipient of three Filmfare Awards and two Nandi Awa ...

, film actor and producer *

Sanaya Irani Sanaya Irani (born 17 September 1983) is an Indian actress. She is known for playing Gunjan in '' Miley Jab Hum Tum'', Khushi in '' Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon?'' and Parvati in '' Rangrasiya''. In 2015, she participated in the eight season of ...

, film and television actress *

Vijay Menon Vijay Menon is an Indian actor, editor, director and dubbing artist in Malayalam cinema. He has acted in more than 100 films in South Indian languages. He mainly handles in character roles and supporting roles. He has won Kerala State Film Aw ...

, film actor, producer and director Sportspersons * Tashi and Nungshi Malik,

mountaineers Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

Beauty Pageant Winners *

Gul Panag Gul Panag (born Gulkirat Kaur Panag, 3 January 1979; Chandigarh, India) is an Indian actress, voice actress, model, and former beauty queen who competed in the Miss Universe pageant. Panag began her career in Bollywood with the 2003 film '' Dho ...

, Miss India 1999, film actor, politician

Affiliations

*The curriculum is affiliated with the

Central Board of Secondary Education The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is a national level board of education in India for public and private schools, controlled and managed by the Government of India. Established in 1929 by a resolution of the government, the Board ...

*Member of

Indian Public Schools' Conference Indian Public Schools Conference was established in 1939. The Indian Public Schools are an independent and private institutions of secondary education. Top notch boarding and day-cum boarding and the Sainik and Military Schools form part of this sch ...

*Aegis of the Ministry of Education (MoE) *Member of

Round Square Round Square is an international network of schools, based on the educational concepts of Kurt Hahn, and named after a distinctive building at Gordonstoun. Founded by a group of seven schools in the late 1960s, by 1996 it had grown to 20 member ...

International

References

* https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-34228047 * https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2013/06/16/seven-people-from-shropshire-are-honoured-by-the-queen/

External links

*Official website of The Lawrence School, Lovedal

* Official Website of the registered alumni body – Old Lawrencians Associatio

{{Education in Tamil Nadu Round Square schools Boarding schools in Tamil Nadu High schools and secondary schools in Tamil Nadu Schools in Nilgiris district 1858 establishments in British India Educational institutions established in 1858