Plaque for Foyle College past pupil

Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence was educated for four years at Foyle College. He was a British soldier and statesman in India and he died defending Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny.

He will be best remembered as a philanthropist but he also fought in Afghanistan, Burma and India.

The new adornment celebrates his philanthropy in India. He established a network of schools to care for the children and orphans of British Soldiers serving there. He set up at three places, all within India at the time. They were the Lawrence Asylums for the education of the children of European soldiers serving in India. His legacy survives through the continues existence of these institutions, the Lawrence School, Sanawar (HP, India), Lovedale (TN, India) and Ghora Ghali (Murree, Pakistan).

Henry Lawrence was the brother of John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence and was born at Matara, Ceylon. He was the fifth child of Catherine Letitia Knox from Strabane and Alexander Lawrence of Coleraine.

He and his two brothers attended Foyle College from 1815 to 1819. His uncle, Revd James Knox was headmaster. The hill on which the building stands was named Lawrence Hill after the prominent family.

In 1823 he joined the Bengal Artillery at the Calcutta suburb of Dum Dum.

He fought in the First Burmese War, and the First Afghan War. He was appointed revenue surveyor at Gorakhpur and he served as assistant to Sir George Russell Clerk in the management of the district of Ferozepore. He served as Agent to the Governor General in charge of political relations of the British in Lahore. In 1846 he was made the Resident at Lahore as well as Agent to the Governor-General for the North West Frontier. He governed the area with the help of officers, who were known as 'Henry Lawrence's Young Men'. In 1856, he was appointed to the newly annexed province of Awadh as Chief Commissioner.

He was unpopular with higher authorities because of his belief that government should pay most attention to the welfare of the Indian population.

Current Foyle and Londonderry College teacher Ken Thatcher said the school still remembers Lawrence.

He said: “He is a man who still has a place at the school. In our house system we still have a Lawrence House which is a reminder of his brothers.

“His brother, Sir John Lawrence, his statue currently stands at our Springtown site and it used to stand at Lawrence Hill at the old school and indeed it will go with us when we move to the new site at Limavady Road."

It was during his time in India that he founded the schools for the children and orphans of British Soldiers.