Some thoughts on Lawrence O'Hara

When was Lawrence's born?

The Births and Burials records at the OIOC have no information on Lawrence. But he was probably born somewhere between 1770 and 1775, estimated from his marriage to Mary Lowis in 1794 and that he was an working for the Board of Revenue in 1789 as an assistant and in 1793 as an Examiner, probably not a job for someone less than 16? His marriage has him down as "Inhabitant", which implies that he was in India for some period. Also from the list of Europeans in Bengal we know that he was in Bengal from at least 1787.

Who was Lawrence's father?

There is a tantalising reference in the War Office: Secretary-at-War, Out-letters (Ref WO4/516 p 497) which contain letters sent from the War Office relating to the purchase of commissions (amongst other things). 

						War Office 30 Nov 1814.
Sir,
In reply to your letter of the 23rd instance. I am directed to acquaint 
you that by the latest return from the 1st Battalion 56th Regiment 
dated 25th January 1814. Captain L O'Hara is reported on Command 
at Bellary in the Presidency of Madras. The above is all the information
that can be furnished from this Department in any further enquiry. 
I would suggest you applying to the Agents for the Regiment Mssrs 
Greenwood, Cox and Co.
						Mr Robert Lukin
						Asst to Sec. of War
Mr W O'Hara
Nicholas Street
Limerick

One the one-hand it could be just pure coincidence that an O'Hara is enquiring after Lawrence to buy his commission, but is is tempting to think that Mr W O'Hara is in some way related, possibly a brother or even his father.

Others who may be his father are those actually in India at the time or around the time we think Lawrence was born.

Purely from being of the right age, the following could potentially be his father.

  1. James O'Hara died 1793 in Fort William garrison, Calcutta, a Private in the infantry. In his favour, he died at the right point to pass on an inheritance to Lawrence to join the army and marry, although as a private it is unlikely that it would not have been sufficient
  2. James O'Hara: died 1787 in Bombay Presidency, a captain in the Infantry. Although died in the right time-frame, it seems unlikely that Lawrence would have 'sat' on the money for 7 years before doing anything with it.
  3. John O'Hara: born 1750, died 1785 was a Captain in Madras when he died, he is buried in Rajahmundry Cemetery in East Godavari district. There is no record of him having any children in India
  4. William O'Hara: was a Lieutenant (there is no record of him in a British i.e. HM Regiment, so he was most likely in an EIC Regiment) and father of Mary O'Hara (born 11/1/1777 recorded in OIOC Madras Presidency N2/11/29) his wife is unknown.
  5. William O'Hara from Ireland arrived in 1785 on the Francis as a civilian recorded in list of Embarkations (IOR/L/MIL/11/114). Unless Lawrence arrived with him, of which there is no evidence it is unlikely.
  6. Thomas O'Hara: from Ireland. He arrived in 1767 on the Egmont as a civilian; this is recorded in the list of Embarkations, there is however no record of Lawrence; (but he may have been a minor so would not have been recorded) (IOR/L/MIL/11/114).

Is there anyone who might have been Lawrence's sibling?

If we can't find out from the paper records who Lawrences' father was, then we might be able to find mention of him in related records.

I have excluded Edward O'Hara who was in the 7th Foot and got his Ensign in the same month as Lawrence (October 1796) in 1807 he became a Major in the Yorkshire Light Infantry, he was born in Canada and is defintely not related to Lawrence see entry in other O'Hara's in India.

Lawrence's family

He married Mary Lowis (nee Woodson) see his record for more details.

Who were Lawrence's children

We know definitely that Lawrence had at least 2 children,

  1. Elizabeth (1815) at IOR/N2/5/74 it is shown as "Elizabeth legitimate daughter of L O'Hara of HM 56th Regiment"
  2. George (1820) as we have a record of him being the son of Lawrence and Gungha born in Mauritius and brought up in the Lawrence Memorial School.

I am hypothesising another two: the lack of any baptism details may indicate that they were a. not by Mary or b. lost amongst the 15-20% of records not received in London.

  1. John Lawrence b 1808 as he was born in the right time period and carries the name and he then passes it onto his son. Lawrence as we have learnt from the Muster Rolls of the 33rd Regiment was on leave at the end of 1808, the time we think he was born.
  2. William (1811) in IOR/N2/4/129 his burial is noted as "Captain O'Hara son William, burial 3 November 1811

It is unlikely that Mary was the mother of any of these children, she would have been over 50 to have given birth to John Lawrence. We know that Elizabeth was a legitimate daughter, so it is very likely that he married again, George was conceived in Mauritius, so his wife who bore him John and Elizabeth was most likely dead by 1820.