LAWRY, WALTER (1793-1859). Born at Ruthern Bridge, near Bodmin, Cornwall, on 3 Aug 1793, Lawry was the son of a devout yeoman farmer. Received into the Methodist ministry at the conference of 1817, he was appointed as the second Wesleyan missionary in Australia to be colleague to Samuel Leigh (q.v.). He sailed in the convict ship Lady Castlereagh, and arrived at Port Jackson on 1 May 1818. He laboured at Parramatta with Leigh until 1820, when the mission was divided into three circuits, and he was appointed to Parramatta. In 1819 he married Miss Hassall, daughter of a pioneer missionary to Tahiti, and sister of Marsden's son-in-law, the Rev Thomas Hassall. Owing to a difference amongst the subscribers as to opening the chapel to all Nonconformists, Lawry built it mainly at his own expense on a site given by Governor Macquarie.

Meeting at Parramatta the widow of Shelley, one of the survivors of the pioneer mission to Tonga (1797), Lawry became interested in this far field. As a result he succeeded in moving the British conference in 1820 to appoint him, with another to labour in Tonga. Without waiting for his colleague to be appointed, he sailed in the hired ship St Michael, with his wife and two artisans and a few cattle presented by Governor Brisbane. He reached the Bay of Islands on 12 Jul 1822 and remained till the 28th. On 16 Aug he landed at Nukualofa. Land for the mission was given by a son of the first Tugi, who, however, declined to protect the mission. After undergoing many annoyances, and the climate from which the health of his wife suffered, Lawry was obliged to leave the group. He reached Sydney on 23 Oct 1823. The mission was reopened in 1826 by two Tahitian converts, and Lawry's successors arrived shortly afterwards.

In 1824 Lawry proceeded to England, where he spent the years 1825-44 in circuit work. In 1843 he was appointed general superintendent of the Wesleyan missions in New Zealand and visitor to those of Polynesia, a position he held for 11 years. He reached New Zealand on 17 Mar 1844, at a critical time in the relations with the Maori. The great tribal meeting was held at Remuera shortly afterwards, and a few months later war broke out in the north, causing the temporary closing of many mission stations. Meanwhile Lawry was closely engaged in the organisation of the church in Auckland for both races. Sectional meetings were held all over the district. Lawry, always mindful of the Maori, proposed to Sir George Grey the establishment of an institution for the training of native boys and girls, teachers and ministers, the outcome of which was the model school at Three Kings and Wesley College in Auckland. There a large number of youths were trained in the rudiments of English education and Christian knowledge and in industrial pursuits.

During these years Lawry paid two visits to Tonga and Fiji (1847 and 1850) in the new mission ship John Wesley (which had replaced the Triton in 1846). In her also he went to England in 1849, with the Rev William Williams and Tamihana te Rauparaha as fellow passengers.

After his return to New Zealand he assisted in the formation of the Australasian Wesleyan Methodist conference. In 1854 he was superannuated and moved to New South Wales. Lawry died at Parramatta on 30 Mar 1859, leaving a mark on the history of his church. He was a man of robust constitution and manner, a powerful preacher and able administrator. His widow died at Auckland 9 Dec 1877, aged 89. Amongst his publications were narratives of his two visits to the Friendly Islands and Fiji.

Morley; Marsden, Lieutenants; Ramsden; M. A. R. Pratt (information); Lawry, op. cit.; Mennell; Buller.

Reference: Volume 1, page 262

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