Lawrence was an educated and refined man, an intimate of Jeremy Bentham, who was obliged to migrate to the colony of Van Diemen’s Land due to poor health.
On his leaving England Bentham wrote to a friend in Rio de Janeiro: ‘Our excellent friend on his way to Australia is not without thoughts of touching at Rio de Janeiro: a worthier man, a more benevolent cosmopolite, never left any country; and very few better informed or more intelligent’.
Brazil, a Portuguese colony since the 16th century, was in the midst of a struggle for independence, and Lawrence became personally involved through his friendship with José Bonifácio, the liberal revolutionary and first minister under the new government of Dom Pedro, who had defied his father in Lisbon and declared Brazil independent in 1822.
Lawrence was captivated by events and remained for months in the country, becoming a confidant of José Bonifácio, the architect of Brazilian independence.
Under Governor Sir John Franklin Lawrence was appointed to the Legislative Council and retained his seat until his death in 1841.