Author: Lawrence, William
Biography:
LAWRENCE, William (1781-1852: ancestry.co.uk)
His birth, baptism, and parentage cannot be established with any certainty and there are several candidates. In the 1851 Census his age was given as 76 and place of birth as Ebley, Gloucestershire. However, newspaper reports and his death certificate state that he died aged 71. The 1841 Census, prone to inaccuracies due to rounding, gives his age as 60, consistent with a 1781 birth. Nothing is known of his education. He married Ann Mennie on 9 Sept. 1817 at Bedminster, Somerset. They went on to have at least three children. On the title-page of his poem (1824) and at the baptism of a daughter in 1830, he was described as an organist. In 1841 they were living at Lower Gallowell, Stroud, with his occupation given as music master. His wife died in 1849. In 1851 he was recorded as a pianoforte tuner and widower, living with his two unmarried daughters Maria and Sarah Jane. He died on 27 Nov. 1852 at his house in Nelson Street, Stroud, with newspapers stating that he had been a professor of music and organist for over thirty years in Stroud parish church. His only known work, the loco-descriptive poem Stroudwater (1824), listed here, was reprinted in 1843. (ancestry.co.uk 1 Nov. 2022; findmypast.co.uk 1 Nov. 2022; Gloucester Journal4 Dec. 1852) AA
Other Names:
- W. Lawrence