Stringer Lawrence

In the north aisle of the nave of Westminster Abbey is a memorial to Major General Stringer Lawrence. The monument, of white and coloured marble, is signed by sculptor W. Tyler. On a pedestal is a bust in armour and below it a medal inscribed:

Born March 6, 1697; died January 10, 1775.

To the left a figure of Fame holds a shield lettered:

For Discipline established, Fortresses Protected, Settlements Extended, French and Indian Armies Defeated, and Peace Concluded in the Carnatic.

On the right is the female figure representing the East India Company, seated on a bale. She points to the bust of Lawrence and has at her feet various French and Indian flags. A shield of arms is shown on the front of the pedestal (ermine, a cross raguled argent). In front is a relief perspective of the city and an encampment, lettered 'Tritchinopoly'. Lawrence defended this town against the French from May 1753 to October 1754. The inscription reads:

Erected by the East India Company to the memory of Major General Stringer Lawrence in testimony of their gratitude for his eminent services in the command of their forces on the coast of Coromandel from the year MDCCXLVI to the year MDCCLXVI.

His life

He was born in Hereford, son of John Lawrence and his wife Mary. He served as a marine under Admiral Wager and afterwards served under General Wade in Flanders and Scotland. He fought at the battle of Culloden. Appointed Major General of the East India Company's forces at Madras in 1747, he helped, by a brilliant series of campaigns, to lay the foundations of their trading empire in India. He was dubbed 'the father of the Indian Army".

In 1766 he finally left India and lived at Haldon House in Devon with the Palk family. He died at his London residence and was buried at Dunchideock near Exeter. He was unmarried.

Further reading

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004

"The art of a Corporation. The East India Company as patron and collector 1600-1860" by Jennifer Howes, 2023