Lt John Lawrence Lawlor 6th Inniskilling Dragoons (OB 84). From the Toronto Press: “Lieut Jack Lawlor, owner of the big Lawlor Building at the northwest corner of King and Yonge streets, has been killed in South Africa. He was an officer of the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons, which belongs to General French's division.
Lieut. Lawlor was born in Toronto in 1874, and his father Dr. Michael Lawlor of Spandia
Avenue, died when "Jack" was a few months old. The property at King and Yonge streets was inherited by young Mr. Lawlor from his father who in turn had inherited it from his father. It is now one of the most valuable locations in the city. Young Mr.Lawlor was educated in Europe, and took to the army as a profession.
Mr. J. J. Foy, Q. C, M. L. A„ for South Toronto, was his guardian and the custodian of his legal affairs, and it was Mr. Foy who received the cable from Mrs. Lawlor, the young man's mother, who is at present in Dublin, Ireland, stating simply, "Jack's killed.”
On Leaving Beaumont Jack initially gained a commission in the Militia Princess Victoria’s Royal Irish Fusiliers but in Dec 1896 was offered a place in the 6th Dragoons. He was promoted Lieutenant March 1898 and was adjutant of his regiment from February 1900, and accompanied it to South Africa in November 1899, where he saw much service in the north of Cape Colony, at the relief of Kimberley, and the advance on Bloemfontein.
“The Inniskilling Dragoons did excellent service in the South African War. "From first to last the regiment worked hard in the fighting line, without a single rest, and it is doubtful if any regiment experienced and accomplished so much without serious disaster of any kind." It lost five officers killed and one drowned, and thirty-seven NCOs and privates; eleven officers wounded and one struck by lightning, and seventy-nine NCOs and privates; thirty- eight NCOs and men died of disease, but no officers. Considering the proportions that are generally found among the causes of death in a campaign, this record is satisfactory. The regiment when it left Queenstown in October, 1899, mustered twenty-three officers and five hundred and fifty-eight non-commissioned officers and men.” From The Regimental History (Colonel Watkins Yardley):-
On 30 August: "President Kruger was reported to have been at Waterval Onder the previous day, and General French was anxious to obtain news. So B Squadron of the Inniskillings, under Major Dauncey, was ordered to descend to the town and bring away the prisoners we had taken, among whom was a wounded soldier of our own. The enemy, hidden in the rocky kloofs and bush beyond the town, completely commanded the drift and approaches, and also the town itself. The squadron gained the town, galloping over the exposed ground through a hail of bullets. Lieutenant Lawlor, at the head of his troop, was mortally wounded, shot through the body. He was a fine officer and a great loss to the regiment, and died cheery and brave to the last. Major Dauncey himself, charging in advance of his squadron, with Lieutenants Lawlor and Johnson, was grazed by two bullets, but the town was reached. In it none could show without being shot, so cover was taken in the buildings and the prisoners were not brought away till darkness ensured a safe return".
There is a story of their wounded soldier that he had fallen in love with an Afrikaans nurse in Waterval Onder. The couple both perished on 30 August 1900 when the British forces took over the town. Their ghostly apparitions have since been meeting at a peppercorn tree (ghost tree) in Waterval Onder. However, in the 1960's the tree was blown over in a severe storm and since then no sightings have been reported.
Lt John Lawlor is buried at Waterval Onder where his grave can still be seen.
From the website:
www.beaumont-union.co.uk/boer-war.html
