THE LAWRENCE FAMILY
    

some notes by P John Partington



MOSES LAZARUS LAWRENCE  (c. 1796 - 1865)

Moses Lazarus (‘Moss’) Lawrence was born in the City of London in about 1796;  his father was apparently Jacob.  On 18 January 1826 he married Reina da Costa Andrade, and had seven children:  John born in 1825/6, Julia in 1827/8, Benjamin in 1829, Phineas in 1831, Lawrence in 1832/3, Rachel in 1833/4, and Sarah in 1841/2 (see below).  In 1841 Moses & Andrade were at 4 Castle Street, Aldersgate – there is no sign of the family.  Ten years later they were living in Paddington, with  Lawrence, Rachel & Sarah L; with Moses being recorded as a ‘merchant’;  a ‘visitor’, Philip Lawrence, was with them.  By 1861 Moses seems to have changed his name to ‘John’, and the census that year recorded him with Rayner, Rachel & Sarah at 41 Clifton Gardens, Paddington;  Moses (‘John’) was an ‘agent’.  He died on 28 February 1865;  Rayner died ion 4 February 1871, in Kensington.

THE CHILDREN OF MOSES LAZARUS  (c. 1796 - 1865)

Moses’ first child, John Moss, was born in 1825/6.  In 1841 he was at boarding school in Fore Street, Edmonton with Ben & Phineas.  He married Emily Asher, with whom he had at least nine children:  Laurie Asher born in 1857/8, Arthur Moss in 1859, Reina Emily in 1861, Esther Ella in 1862, Clara Blanche in 1864, Alice Louise in 1866, Henry Walton in 1869, Amy Lilian in 1872, and Gerald Leslie in 1873(further details below).  The oldest seven children were born in the United States, where John worked for and eventually managed his uncle Lewis Cohen’s very successful playing-card business, and the youngest two were born in London.  In 1881 the family were at 37 Belsize Avenue in Hampstead;  He died on 19 October 1888.

Moses’ second child, Julia, was born in London in 1827/8.  In 1841 she seems to have been boarding out, with David & Caroline Gideon in Soho. Ten years later the census recorded her living with her family in Paddington.  On 28 February 1856 she married a widower, Benjamin Julius Jonas, by whom she had at least four children – Philip Julius born in 1856/7, Samuel Laurie in 1858/9, Caroline in 1859/60 and Rayner H in 1861/2.  In 1861 the family were at Bowdon Road, Bowdon:  Benjamin was a “Commission Merchant”.  Ten years later they were living at 29 Springfield Place, Bradford;  Benjamin was working as “Manager of Bradford [..?] Goods Export [..?]”.  In 1881 Benjamin returned to Hamburg, where he died on 10 October 1882.  The shock gave Julia a stroke, so that she too remained in Hamburg:  she “never walked again”, and died on 29 March 1888.

Moses’ third child, Benjamin, was born in London on 18 August 1829.  In 1841 he was at boarding school in Fore Street, Edmonton, with John & Phineas.  He married Louisa Asher, with whom he had three daughters, all born in New York – Mabel Louise born on 20 December 1872, Edith Emily in October 1875 and Maud on 2 May 1877.  Benjamin died, still in New York, on 20 December 1900.

Moses’ fourth child, Phineas, was born in 1831.  Ten years later he was at boarding school in Fore Street, Edmonton, with John & Ben.  On 5 November 1862, in New York, he married Katharine Morgan Dix with whom he had seven children – Laurie Philip born in 1864, Alfred Moss in 1866, John Jacob and Roger Dix in 1868, Reina Andrade in 1869 and Edwin Abraham in 1871.  The family lived at 512 Stelle Avenue, Plainfield, New Jersey.

Moses’ fifth child, Lawrence, was born in the City of London in 1832/3.  In 1851 he was living at home in Paddington with his parents.

Moses’ sixth child, Rachel, was born in the City of London in 1833/4;  and his seventh, Sarah L, in 1841/2.  In 1851 they were living at home in Paddington with their parents, and ten years later were still there, unmarried, at 41 Clifton Gardens.

THE CHILDREN OF JOHN MOSS  (c. 1826 - 1888) 

John’s first child, Laurie Asher, was born in New York in 1857/8.  In 1881 he was living with his family at 37 Belsize Avenue, Hampstead, studying medicine.  He became an ear, nose & throat surgeon and, in his private life, an aficionado of stamps and coins (he was joint founder of the British Numismatic Society).  In 1886 he married Elizabeth Rachel Joseph, with whom he had four sons and a daughter – of whom the eldest son died in childhood and the third son aged twenty-one.  The daughter was Mary Reina, born in 1894.

John’s second child, Arthur Moss, was born in New York on 24 August 1859.  In 1881 he was living at 37 Belsize Avenue, Hampstead, studying law.  He married in 1891.  He was a “a barrister and a businessman, keeping up the family’s connection with the source of its American playing-card fortune”.

John’s third child, Reina Emily, was born in New York in 1860/1.  In 1881 she was living at 37 Belsize Avenue, Hampstead, with her family – a ‘scholar’.  She studied law, obtaining an LLB at University College, London, in 1893 – one of the first women to do so.  Between 1906 and 1909 she served as a councillor for Camden Borough, the first woman in London to be elected to such a post (further details here).  In 1911 she was living at The Hill House, Inworth, Kelvedon in Essex, unmarried and living on “private means”, a “USA resident” by birth.

John’s next three children were all born in New York:  his fourth, Esther Ella, ‘Essie’, on 21 October 1862;  his fifth, Clara Blanche, apparently known as ‘Caroline’, on 26 August 1864;  and his sixth, Alice Louise, on 8 December 1866.  In 1881 they were living at 37 Belsize Avenue, Hampstead, all ‘scholars’.  In 1916 Eliza Orme, Reina’s law partner, wrote of them in a letter “All the Lawrence women are flourishing, ... doing philanthropic committee work, exercising their excellent judgment and extensive experience in the aid of good causes”.  Esther “became head of Froebel College and hence a pioneer of early childhood education”.

John’s  seventh child, Henry Walton, ‘Harry’, was born in New York on 29 January 1869.  In 1881 he was living at 37 Belsize Avenue, Hampstead, a ‘scholar’.  He apparently worked as a publisher until 1900 and later for the Medici Society.

John’s eighth child, Amy Lilian, was born in London in 1871/2.  In 1881 she was living with her family at 37 Belsize Avenue, Hampstead, a ‘scholar’.  She read Natural Sciences at Girton College, Cambridge, where she endowed the annual ‘Founders Lecture’ and where a small museum is still named afer her.

John’ ninth child, Gerald Leslie, was born London on 23 March 1873.  In 1881 he was living at 37 Belsize Avenue, Hampstead, a ‘scholar’.  He studied stagecraft with Frank Benson before founding his own Shakespearean company with William Haviland, which toured South Africa during 1897/8.  In the cast was Gerald’s wife Florence Lilian Braithwaite (known by her second name), whom he had married shortly before the tour.  A long and successful career on stage and screen followed, interrupted by service in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during World War I.  His marriage to Lilian led to the birth of Joyce, but ended in divorce in 1905.  His second marriage the following year was to the American actress Fay Davis, who appeared with him in many of his later productions;  they had a child, Marjorie Fay, in 1908.

Other Lawrence Sites       Lawrence Family Tree

John & Liz’s Family History         John & Liz’s welcome page