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 Govern ...

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 ...

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 based on his experiences of travelling around the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...

. Over the course of his travels, he developed a close affinity with the Indian 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 ''The Valley of Kashmir'' (1895) is a book on Kashmir by the English writer Sir Walter Roper Lawrence. The author served in the Indian Civil Service in British India during which he was appointed as a Settlement Commissioner of Kashmir. ''The V ...

'' (1895) and ''The India we Served'' (1929). Walter Roper Lawrence was born on 9 February 1857 at his home town Moreton-on-Lugg,

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

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 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 a ...

, he authored the first recorded complete encyclopaeda 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 1 ...

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 app ...

(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 Monarch, 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 title, hereditary, in s ...

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 Lord Kitchener may refer to: * Earl Kitchener, for the title * Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, (; 24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916) was a senior British Army officer and colonial administrator. ...

. 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, Himac ...

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