Sir Walter Roper Lawrence, 1st Baronet, (9 February 1857 – 25 May 1940) was a member of the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
Council of India
The Council of India was the name given at different times to two separate bodies associated with British rule in India.
The original Council of India was established by the Charter Act of 1833 as a council of four formal advisors to the Governor ...
and an English author who served in the
Indian Civil Service
The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947.
Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...
in
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
and wrote
travelogues
Travelogue may refer to:
Genres
* Travel literature, a record of the experiences of an author travelling
* Travel documentary
A travel documentary is a documentary film, television program, or online series that describes travel in general or t ...
based on his experiences of travelling around the
Indian Subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
. Over the course of his travels, he developed a close affinity with the
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
and
Kashmiri people
Kashmiris are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group speaking the Kashmiri language, living mostly, but not exclusively, in the Kashmir Valley of Jammu and Kashmir, India.(a) (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern ...
, who figure prominently in his work. His best-known books are ''
The Valley of Kashmir'' (1895) and ''The India we Served'' (1929).
Walter Roper Lawrence was born on 9 February 1857 at his home town
Moreton-on-Lugg
Moreton on Lugg is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. The city and county town of Hereford is approximately to the south; the market and minster town of Leominster to the north.
The village lies between the A49 trunk ...
,
Herefordshire
Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...
, England, the son of George Lawrence and Catherine Lewis. He married Lilian Gertrude James on 18 March 1885.
Life in British India
![Sir Walter Lawrence house, East Grinstead, Sussex, England](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Sir_Walter_Lawrence_house%2C_East_Grinstead%2C_Sussex%2C_England._Terrace.jpg)
Lawrence served in the
Indian Civil Service
The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947.
Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...
Punjab (1879–1895). He was appointed as the Settlement Commissioner for
Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to:
* Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent
* Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory
* Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...
between 1889–1894, during the rule of Maharaja
Pratap Singh.
[
] While travelling in Kashmir, he recorded and produced a brief history on account of the geography, the culture of the people and the tyrannic Dogra rule over Kashmir. During his brief visit to
Kashmir Valley
The Kashmir Valley, also known as the ''Vale of Kashmir'', is an intermontane valley concentrated in the Kashmir Division of the Indian- union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The valley is bounded on the southwest by the Pir Panjal Range and ...
, he authored the first recorded complete encyclopaeda of Kashmir, ''
The Valley of Kashmir''.
In 1896, Lawrence left the Indian Civil Service. He was recalled by the
Viceroy of India
The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...
Lord Curzon
George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, (11 January 1859 – 20 March 1925), styled Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and then Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman ...
to act as his private secretary. Lawrence served in this role during 1899–1903.
He was appointed a Companion of the
Order of the Indian Empire
The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:
#Knight Grand Commander (GCIE)
#Knight Commander ( KCIE)
#Companion ( CIE)
No appoi ...
(CIE) in the 1890s, and promoted to a Knight Commander of the order (KCIE) in the
1903 Durbar Honours
The New Year Honours 1903, announced at the time as the Durbar Honours, were appointments to various orders and honours of the United Kingdom and British India. The list was announced on the day of the 1903 Delhi Durbar held to celebrate the suc ...
.
He also accompanied the
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
and
Princess
Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince.
Princess as a subst ...
of Wales to India as Chief of Staff on their tour in 1905-06.
[
]
In 1907, he served as a member of the Council of India. During the First World War, he worked on various missions for the Secretary of State for War
Lord Kitchener. In 1918 he was on the staff of the Indian Air Force with the rank of Major General.
In 1919, Lawrence served on the British Mission to Palestine and Syria.
Works
As an author his major works are ''The Valley of Kashmir'' (1895) and ''The India we served'' (1929).
Lawrence was the first man who reported about the miseries faced by the people of Kashmir under the autocratic rule of
Dogra
The Dogras or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group in India and Pakistan consisting of the Dogri language speakers. They live predominantly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, and in adjoining areas of Punjab, Himachal ...
s. He wrote in his book ''The Valley of Kashmir'':
Death
He died at the age of 83 on 25 May 1940. His grandson is
Walter Lawrence.
See also
*
Lawrence Baronets
There have been seven baronetcies created for persons with the surname Lawrence, one in the Baronetage of England, one in the Baronetage of Great Britain and five in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom.
The Lawrence Baronetcy, of Iver in the Co ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Walter Roper
1857 births
1940 deaths
Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Companions of the Order of the Bath
English travel writers
British people in colonial India
Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire
Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
19th-century English people