[2] He was described as "handsome and distinguished... always dressed in the height of fashion", and built his reputation by singing popular and patriotic songs such as "The Last Bullet",[3] and "Motherland", written by Felix McGlennon at the time of the Second Boer War.

[5][6] Some of Lashwood's songs became among the earliest hits of the recorded music era and included such numbers as "Riding on Top of the Car", "Send for a Policeman", "Goodbye, Dolly Gray", "After the Ball", and "Oh!

He toured Australia and the United States, and performed at the Plaza Music Hall in New York in 1909, when it was reported that "Mr Lashwood wears several different costumes, to fit the subjects of his songs, and introduces and interrupts his lyrics with a little patter directed at the audience".

He invested heavily in property, and at his death left the notably large sum of £132,000,[5] which Billboard magazine later described as "a record estate for a British stage personality".

[8] He died on 20 January 1942 at Droitwich Spa in Worcestershire, and is buried in the churchyard of St Mary de Wyche, Wychbold.