Lawrence also had the opportunity to study in Boston under the great Nova Scotian ship builder Donald McKay.

Upon the ship being fitted, Lawrence then traveled to Liverpool, England; Aden, British India (present day Yemen); Peru: photo: Guano Information on the wall of the William D. Lawrence Museum, Nova Scotia, Canada.

1870 Pelicans Guano (excrement) from the Chincha Islands, off the coast of Peru was valuable as a natural fertilizer for the farmers.

In terms of a sailors life in port, he recorded a significant amount of their lives being intimately linked with sex trade workers.

While confederation was passed on July 1, 1867, Lawrence, along with most other "Anti-Confederate" campaigners, was successful in the election of September 1867 in defeating the pro-Confederates.

Eventually, Joseph Howe left the Anti-Confederation campaign and ran successfully in a by-election in Hants (1869).

Along with writing about the maiden voyage of the William D. Lawrence, he also published articles in the provincial papers on the opposition he experienced in building the ship, capitalism and labour, and his trips to Bermuda in the winter months.

In Lawrence's unpublished manuscript he also writes extensively about prostitution; differences among races of people; the supremacy of Christianity; the triumph of democracy over tyranny; and the success of capitalism.

Lawrence's travel writings noted that he visited his birthplace of Lawrencetown, County Down, Ireland, and that he heard a sermon given by the famous Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

The ship has also been commemorated by the Canada Post with a postage stamp (1975) and the Royal Canadian Mint with a coin (2002).

The most famous portrait is by Edouard-Marie Adam and belongs to the Musée national de la Marine, Paris, France.