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 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 p ...

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 ...

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, 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

Lawrence served in the

Punjab (1879–1895). He was appointed as the Settlement Commissioner for Jammu and Kashmir 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, 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 su ...

. 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. T ...

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 subs ...

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, Himacha ...

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.

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

Life in British India

Works

Death

See also

References