Commemorated: | |||
| 1. Book: | The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918 | Pg.128 | |
| 2. Memorial: | The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour | 16B GQS | |
| 3. Memorial: | Alexandria (Chatby) Military And War Memorial Cemetery | ||
Awards & Titles: | |||
Family :
Humphrey was born, March 1888, in London to Major General William Alexander and Adelaide Lawrence. He was schooled, in 1901, at The Grange School in Folkestone going on to study at Christ Church College, Oxford University.In 1913 he married Mary Claudine Wrey.
The family is listed in The Peerage.
Service Life:
Campaigns:
- The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.
| Unit / Ship / Est.: 34th Sikhs |
| Action : Naval Campaign |
Naval Campaign is defined as to include all sea operations where attrition rates are in ones and twos and which do not fall within specific naval battles such as Jutland, Coronel, Falklands etc. This includes Merchant Navy losses.
Detail :
Captain Humphrey Richard Locke Lawrence, 34th Sikh Pioneers.
His name appeared on 9th September, 1908 with a first Commission as a British Officer of the Indian Army. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant on 9th December, 1910.
In June, 1915 he was wounded in France.
His name is on the passenger list of SS Persia, SS "Persia" - a defensively armed passenger vessel out of Tilbury, for Port Said, Aden and Bombay, torpedoed and sank on 30 December 1915 off Crete, with the loss of 334 lives. Among the dead were 21 officers and one NCO of the United Kingdom and Indian forces.
He is commemorated on the Chatby Memorial in Alexandria, where more than 700 of those commemorated had died in various vessels which had been torpedoed or mined. As well as being named on the Christ Church College war memorial, he is further commemorated at the grave of G.A.K. Lawrence at Brookwood Cemetery:
"FOR GOD AND THE KING/ IN PROUD AND LOVING MEMORY OF/ HUMPHREY RICHARD LOCKE LAWRENCE/ CAPTAIN XXXIV SIKH PIONEERS INDIAN/ ARMY BELOVED HUSBAND OF MARY/ CLAUDINE LAWRENCE DROWNED IN THE/ SINKING BY THE GERMANS OF SS PERSIA/ OFF CRETE 30 DECEMBER 1915 AGED 27/ ALSO OF GEORGE AUBREY KENNEDY/ LAWRENCE D S O CAPTAIN RFA TEMPY/ LIEUT-COLONEL RFC KILLED FLYING AT/ UPAVON 28 JAN 1917 AGED 25 BURIED HERE/ ELDEST AND YOUNGEST SONS OF MAJOR/ GENERAL WILLIAM ALEXANDER LAWRENCE/ AND ADELAIDE HIS WIFE"
Probate LAWRENCE Humphrey Richard Locke of St. Helen's Sandhurst Berkshire captain 34th regiment Sikh Pioneers died 30 December 1915 at sea on active service. Probate London 2 December to Mary Claudine Lawrence widow. Effects £55.
Masonic :
| Type | Lodge Name and No. | Province/District : |
|---|---|---|
| Mother : | Rohilla Star Lodge No. 1843 E.C. | Unknown |
| Joined : | Wahab or Benevolent No. 988 E.C. | Pakistan |
| Joined : | Mysore Lodge No. 1841 E.C. | Unknown |
Initiated | Passed | Raised |
24th May 1910 | 28th June 1910 | 23rd August 1910 |
The record for Wahab Lodge shows that he "Died 7.2.16" which could be a result of information not getting back to the Lodge quickly and then further messages to Grand Lodge in England. He joined Wahab Lodge No. 988 at Sialkot on the 6th November, 1911.
He was initiated previously into the Rohilla Star Lodge No. 1843 as a 22 year old Lieutenant stationed at Bareilly. Strangely, the same detail is recorded for him as an initiate of Mysore Lodge No. 1841, but as a 2nd Lieutenant.
Source :
The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:
- The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
- The (UK) National Archives
- Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
- ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry
Additional Source:
- Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
- Researcher : Bruce Littley