Walter Lawry (1793 - 1859)

Born 3 Aug 1793 in Rutheren, Cornwall, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Cover (Hassall) Lawry — married 22 Nov 1819 in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia

Husband of Eliza (Molyneux) Lawry — married 27 Jul 1829 in Cornwall

Descendants

Died 26 Mar 1859 at age 65 in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia

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Biography

Walter was born in 1793 and was baptised on 25 Sep 1793. He was the son of Joseph Lawry and Ann Vercoe.^[1]

He passed away in 1859. He was sent to Sydney as second Methodist Missionary to Rev. Samuel Leigh in 1817/8. He married Mary Hassall in a triple wedding ceremony at Parramatta in November 1819. He was the first Methodist minister go conduct a service of worship west of the Blue Mountains, which he crossed in October 1820. He led a church service on 29 October 1820 at Bathurst.The following year, he built the first Methodist Church in Parramatta - at his own expense.

In 1821 he was appointed to Tonga as the first Missionary to go there. He returned in 1822 to Sydney, and then back to England. His wife Mary died in childbirth in 1824. After 19 years in parochial service, and having re-married, he was appointed Superintendent for N.Z.,Fiji and The Friendly Islands (Tonga) in 1843. He arrived in Auckland on March 17 1844. After several years, he retired to Sydney, living with his daughter, Mrs Oakes, till he died in 1859.

Sources

• Family records and Walter's diary.
• Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 2:1788-1850 (Melbourne University Press, 1967)

1. ↑ Cornwall Online Parish Clerks Online Baptisms Citing Walter LAWRY Year 1793 (Accessed 20 Apr 2021)

• http://records.ancestry.com/walter_lawry_records.ashx?pid=5660997
• http://australianroyalty.net.au/individual.php?pid=I76152&ged=purnellmccord.ged