4. SARAH LAWRENCE
By Sonia Mervyn, c.1936
Little is known about the background of Lawrence's mother Sarah. She was herself
an illegitimate child, born in Sunderland on 31 August 1861 to Elizabeth Junner.
Sarah's father was almost certainly John Lawrence,
a ship's carpenter, the
eldest son of Thomas Lawrence in whose house Elizabeth Junner worked as a servant.
Sarah received a good education on the Isle of Skye where she lived
with a relative who worked in the household of a minister of the Episcopal Church of Scotland. Thorough hard work and
ability she was able to take a position in 1879 as governess to the daughters of Thomas
Chapman.
In 1884, having left this employment, she gave birth to Chapman's first son, Montagu Robert (these were both Chapman family forenames). At that time she was living in
rented rooms in Dublin, but shortly afterwards the couple left Ireland together, adopting
the surname of Sarah's natural father. They moved to Tremadoc in Caernarvonshire.
By all accounts Sarah Lawrence was practical and strong-willed, running
her household with an unobtrusive dominance over Thomas Lawrence and their children. Those
who knew her described her as a small, likeable yet remarkably forceful woman: once she
had made up her mind it was pointless to oppose her.
The artist of this hitherto unrecorded portrait was a friend of Sarah Lawrence in her
later years.
Mrs Valerie Gatty, niece of the artist.
Oil on canvas, 51x41
Provenance: Given by the artist to the sitter; returned by Dr M. R. Lawrence to the
artist after Sarah Lawrence's death. Contents | Section list |
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