Author: Lawrence, Thomas Dawson
Biography:
LAWRENCE, Thomas Dawson (c. 1730-1808: ancestry.co.uk)
He was the son of John Dawson and his wife Elizabeth Lawrence. His name was Thomas Dawson but he added Lawrence when he inherited the Lawrencetown estate on the Bann river, County Down, from a cousin, Henry Lawrence. He is said to have been a schoolfellow of Oliver Goldsmith (q.v.) at the Rev. Mr Hughes in Ballymahon, County Longford. He joined the army and fought in the Seven Years War, carrying the colours for the 20th Regiment at the Battle of Minden in 1759. He married Sarah Fleetwood in Dublin in 1783; they had numerous children. In Nov. 1791 he was attacked at a tavern in Dublin by the Honourable Pierce Butler and his brother; Lawrence, who was a magistrate in County Down, brought a successful action for assault and battery against Butler. He built Lawrencetown House on his estate and established Sunday Schools there; the estate was involved in linen production. He died in London and was buried at St. Mary’s, Islington. Burial records give his age at death as 69 but his birth year is usually calculated as “about 1730.” (O’Donoghue; ancestry.co.uk 11 May 2021; The Trial of the Hon. Pierce Butler [1792])