Sir William Lawrence (1818 – 18 April 1897) was an English builder and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

in two periods between 1865 and 1885.

Biography

Lawrence was the eldest son of William Lawrence, an alderman of the City of London, and his wife Jane Clarke, daughter of James Clarke. He was a builder in London and a partner in the firm of William Lawrence and Sons Builders. In 1857 he was High Sheriff of London and Middlesex for a year and in 1863 to 1864

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

. He was a Deputy Lieutenant for the City of London, a J.P. for Middlesex and Westminster and an alderman of London.Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1881
/ref> At the 1865 general election Lawrence was elected as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

, but lost the seat in 1874. He was re-elected at the 1880 general election and held the seat until the next general election, in 1885, when representation was reduced from four to two under the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...

. He was the last Liberal to represent the City of London. At the 1885 general election he stood in Paddington South as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

liberal, but was unsuccessful, winning only 7.2% of the votes. Lawrence died unmarried at the age of 78. He is buried in the eastern roundel of

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederic ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, not far from the entrance. The address at his funeral was given by Brooke Herford, minister of

Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel The Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel is a place of worship in Hampstead, London. It is a member of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, the umbrella organisation for British Unitarians. It is also a Grade II Listed buildin ...

where he, like his father, had worshipped.D.W. Beddington, Unitarian Members of Parliament in the Nineteenth Century. A Catalogue. ''Transactions of the Unitarian Historical Society Supplement'', Vol. 24, No. 3 (April 2009), p. 29. http://www.unitarianhistory.org.uk/Unitarian%20Members%20of%20Parliament%20in%20the%20Nineteenth%20Century.pdf. Accessed 10 October 2012. His brothers

Sir James Lawrence, 1st Baronet Sir James Clarke Lawrence, 1st Baronet (1820 - 21 May 1897) was Lord Mayor of London and a Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1868 to 1885. Lawrence was the son of William Lawrence, an alderman of the City of London, and his ...

and Sir

Edwin Durning-Lawrence Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence, 1st Baronet (2 February 1837 – 21 April 1914) was a British lawyer and Member of Parliament. He is best known for his advocacy of the Baconian theory of Shakespeare authorship, which asserts that Francis Bacon was ...

were also M.P.s. James was MP for

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

, Edwin for

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...

. His nephew

Frederick Pethick-Lawrence Frederick William Pethick-Lawrence, 1st Baron Pethick-Lawrence, PC (né Lawrence; 28 December 1871 – 10 September 1961) was a British Labour politician who, among other things, campaigned for women's suffrage. Background and education Bo ...

was a pacifist and suffragist, and later an MP.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, William 1818 births 1897 deaths Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 Sheriffs of the City of London 19th-century lord mayors of London 19th-century English politicians Deputy Lieutenants of the City of London

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Morden College Members of the Metropolitan Board of Works Members of Parliament of the United Kingdom for the City of London High Sheriffs of Middlesex