[1] Lawley joined the British Army and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 7th Hussars on 11 February 1876.

He served in the Nile Expedition of 1884–1885, and was promoted to captain on 21 July 1885, to major on 5 May 1893, and to lieutenant-colonel on 26 June 1899.

[2] In 1902 he served in South Africa during the Second Boer War,[3] for which he was mentioned in despatches (dated 8 April 1902[4]) and was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).

[3] He won the International Polo Cup in 1886 for Britain alongside John Henry Watson, Captain Thomas Hone, and Brigadier-General Malcolm Orme Little.

He had no children so his younger brother, Algernon George Lawley, became the 5th Baron Wenlock.