After attending the Royal High School, he went to London, where his eldest brother William was engaged in the family business.

[1] On 9 September 1833 at St Cuthbert's Church in Edinburgh, he married Isabella Ramsay Thomson and they then went abroad, accompanied by his younger artist-brother, James Eckford Lauder.

Lauder returned to London in 1838 where he lived for several years, where his three children — Isabella, John, and Robert — were baptised at St. Thomas’s Church, Southwark, in 1840, 1841, and 1844 respectively.

He is buried in Warriston Cemetery in Edinburgh, beneath a large pale sandstone stone with white Sicilian marble inset, carved by John Hutchison.

His name is however listed at the head of the reverse side (facing the path) above that of his younger brother, James Eckford Lauder who is buried with him.