Lawrence spent his early years in Derry, a city in the Province of Ulster in the northern part of Ireland, and was educated at Foyle College and Wraxhall School in Bath.

[3] He attended Haileybury for two years, where by his own admission he was neither very idle nor very industrious, yet he won prizes in history, political economy and Bengali.

[2] The couple then spent six months travelling Europe until news from the First Anglo-Afghan War led to them returning to England, and back to India in the autumn of 1842.

[3] At the conclusion of the First Anglo-Sikh War, Hardinge appointed Lawrence to govern the newly-annexed Jullundur district and Hill States regions of the Punjab.

[3] He attempted to tackle the issue of female infanticide by successfully threatening the Bedis with confiscation of their lands unless they gave up the practice.

He was responsible for numerous reforms, including the abolition of internal duties and the establishment of a common currency and postal system.

[3] He was also known for being financially astute, overseeing a fifty percent increase in revenue and ensuring the Punjab was delivering a surplus of over one million pounds sterling within three years of the Board being instituted.

[3] Lawrence disagreed with his brother Henry's policy of retaining the support of the local aristocracy, arguing it was too extravagant and hurting finances.

[3] Lord Dalhousie also feeling the necessity of a Board of Administration had ceased, sought to replace it with the new role of Chief Commissioner.

[4] As Chief Commissioner, Lawrence carried on the policies from before - public works were extended, industry and education encouraged and surveying completed.

[3] His next steps were to send the Corps of Guides, 1st Punjabi's (Coke's Afridis), 4th Sikhs and 4th Punjab Infantry seven hundred miles to Delhi.

[3] To patrol the now militarily depleted Punjab, Lawrence then at the suggestion of John Nicholson and Herbert Edwardes deployed a movable column of lightly equipped European and Punjabi troops, and chose Neville Chamberlain to lead it.

[3] To guarantee the loyalty of the Punjab, he requested Sikh chiefs show gratitude for leniency following annexation, and Patiala, Jhind, Nabha and Kapurthala all offered troops and money in support of the British.

[3] As the fighting continued, Lawrence felt inclined to send the large contingent of European soldiers stationed at Peshawar to Delhi.

[6] That same month he wrote to Lord Canning urging him to permit sepoys who had not taken part in the mutiny to return home, and to grant an amnesty for those who did not murder anyone and had given up their arms.

For his service in the mutiny he was created a baronet, granted a GCB, made a Privy Councillor and received an annual pension from the East India Company of £2,000.

He characterised the non-official British community in India as 'birds of passage', rushing to amass wealth as quickly as possible with no care for what happened after their departure.

[10] Part of the criticism focused on his moving the government apparatus to the cooler hills of Simla which was geographically remote from the centre of power in Calcutta.

[10] Lawrence's fame and extensive regional knowledge afforded him considerable scope by Westminster in determining Indian foreign policy.

[13] Lawrence argued any attempt to restrain Russian advance in Afghanistan would lead to the eventual occupation of the country, as was the case in 1838.

[10] Vocal criticism of Lawrence's policy of ‘masterly inactivity’ came from serving or former British army officers in India such as Henry Rawlinson and Sir Sydney Cotton.

The statue, by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm, once showed Lawrence with a pen in one hand and a sword in the other, along with the caption "By which will you be governed?".

The inscription on the base of the statue originally reads "John First Lord Lawrence, ruler of the Punjaub during the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857.