Sir James Clarke Lawrence, 1st Baronet (1820 - 21 May 1897) was

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

and a Liberal politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

from 1868 to 1885. Lawrence was the son of William Lawrence, an alderman of the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, and his wife Jane Clarke, daughter of James Clarke. Lawrence was an alderman and Deputy Lieutenant for the City of London and a J.P. for Middlesex, Surrey and the city of Westminster. From 1862 to 1863 he was Sheriff of London and Middlesex. He was also president of the

Bridewell and Bethlehem Hospitals The Bridewell and Bethlehem Hospitals were two charitable foundations that were independently put into the charge of the City of London. They were brought under joint administration in 1557. Bethlehem Hospital The Bethlem Royal Hospital was foun ...

. Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1881
/ref> Lawrence was elected Member of Parliament for

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

at a by-election in 1865, but lost the seat again at the following 1865 general election. In 1868 he became

, shortly before he was re-elected for Lambeth at the 1868 general election. He was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in November 1869 on the opening of

Holborn Viaduct Holborn Viaduct is a road bridge in London and the name of the street which crosses it (which forms part of the A40 road, A40 route). It links Holborn, via Holborn Circus, with Newgate Street, in the City of London, England financial distri ...

and

Blackfriars Bridge Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is in the City of London near the Inns of Court and Temple C ...

. Lawrence held the seat at Lambeth until 1885. In 1886, Lawrence contested the Welsh constituency of West Carmarthenshire as a Liberal Unionist, but was heavily defeated by the sitting Liberal member, W.R.H. Powell. He and his brother

Edwin The name Edwin means "wealth-friend". It comes from (wealth, good fortune) and (friend). Thus the Old English form is Ēadwine, a name widely attested in early medieval England. Edwina is the feminine form of the name. Notable people and char ...

were of material assistance to the

Unitarians Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to: Christian and Christian-derived theologies A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism: * Unitarianism (1565–present) ...

, donating a site in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

worth £5000, on which a church was built in 1887. The inaugural congregation, started by

Theophilus Lindsey Theophilus Lindsey (20 June 1723 O.S.3 November 1808) was an English theologian and clergyman who founded the first avowedly Unitarian congregation in the country, at Essex Street Chapel. Lindsey's 1774 revised prayer book based on Samuel C ...

in 1774, moved to that location, thus freeing up

Essex Street Chapel Essex Street Chapel, also known as Essex Church, is a Unitarian place of worship in London. It was the first church in England set up with this doctrine, and was established when Dissenters still faced legal threat. As the birthplace of British ...

to be turned into offices and used for the general good of the denomination, as specified by the brothers. Lawrence was married to Agnes Harriette Castle and had one child Theodora.Family History of the Lawrences of Cornwall Published by Truslove & Bray, West Norwood, 1915 He died at the age of 76. One of his brothers, William Lawrence, was MP for the

. Another,

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 ...

, was M.P. for

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

. His nephew was

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 B ...

, a pacifist and pro-women's-suffrage MP. Family vault of James Clarke Lawrence in Kensal Green Cemetery

He is buried in the Lawrence family vault in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of North Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in P ...

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Sir James 1820 births 1897 deaths Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 Deputy lieutenants of the City of London Sheriffs of the City of London 19th-century lord mayors of London 19th-century English politicians 601

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

Liberal Unionist Party parliamentary candidates