Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 32.djvu/216

Laurent Majesty at Whitehall on 7 Feb. 1636, on Exod. iii. 5' (Bodleian), in which, according to Wood, 'he moderately stated the real presence, and suffered trouble for it.'

Laurence is said to have left much manuscript ready for the press. A collection of his manuscripts, called 'Index Materiarum et Authorum,' is in the Bodleian Library (E. Musaeo Collection. C. Mus. 40).

[Wood's Athenæ, ed. Bliss, iii. 438; Wood's Hist. of Univ. of Oxford (Gutch), i. 84, ii. 215; Oxf. Univ. Reg. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.),. ii. 338, iii. 364; Abingdon's Antiquities of the Catholic Church of Worcester, 1723, p. 148; Willis's Survey of Cathedrals, ii. 411; Le Neve's Fasti, i. 583, iii. 85, 519, 541; Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy, p. 100; Laud's Works, iv. 295, v. 186, 194, 244, 289, 398; Lloyd's Memoirs, ed. 1777, pp. 544, 545. A curious rhyming epitaph on Laurence is given by Lloyd.]  LAURENT, PETER EDMUND (1796–1837), classical scholar, born in 1796, was a native of Picardy in France, and studied at the Polytechnic School at Paris, where he gained several prizes. He came to England at an early age, and was engaged for several years as a teacher of modern languages in the university of Oxford. He was also French master at the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth. He was a good mathematician, and is stated (Gent. Mag.) to have spoken fluently 'nearly all the European languages,' and to have been 'well versed in Arabic, Latin, and Greek.' In 1818 he left Oxford with two university friends and visited the towns of northern Italy. Starting from Venice on 9 July 1818 he visited Greece and the Ionian Islands, and came home in 1819 through Naples, Rome, and Florence. In 1821 he published an account of his travels as 'Recollections of a Classical Tour,' London, 4to. The book is not without interest, though Laurent was neither an archaeologist nor a topographer. Laurent died in the autumn (before the end of October) of 1837 at the Royal Hospital, Haslar, Hampshire, aged 41. He was the father of four children, who survived him. His wife, Anne, died at Oxford on 5 Jan. 1848, aged 50 (ib. 1848, new ser. xxix. 220). Besides the 'Recollections' Laurent published: 1. 'Introduction to the Study of German Grammar,' 1817, 12mo. 2. 'Pindar' (English prose translation with notes), 1824, 8vo. 3. 'Herodotus' (English translation from Gaisford's text), 1827, 8vo; 1837, 8vo; also 1846, 8vo. 4. 'Outlines of the French Grammar,' Oxford, 1827, 8vo. 5. 'An Introduction to ... Ancient Geography,' 1830, 8vo; 1832, 8vo.

[Gent. Mag. 1837, new ser. viii. 436; Brit. Mus. Cat.]  LAURENTIUS (d. 619), archbishop of Canterbury. [See Lawrence (d.619) (DNB00).]  LAURIE, PETER (1779?–1861), lord mayor of London, born about 1779, was son of John Laurie, a small landowner and agriculturist, of Stitchell, Roxburghshire. He was at first intended for the ministry of the established church of Scotland, but his tastes inclining him to a commercial life, he came to London as a lad to seek his fortune. He obtained a clerkship in the office of John Jack, whose daughter Margaret he afterwards married, and subsequently set up for himself as a saddler, carrying on business at 296 Oxford Street (Post Office London Directory, 1807). Becoming a contractor for the Indian army his fortune was rapidly made, and in 1820 he took his sons into partnership; he himself retired from the business in 1827. He was chairman of the Union Bank from its foundation in 1839 until his death. In 1823 he served the office of sheriff, and on 7 April 1824 received the honour of knighthood. On 6 July 1826 he was chosen alderman for the ward of Aldersgate. In 1831 he contested the election for the mayoralty with Sir John Key, who was put forward for re-election. Laurie was defeated, but served the office in the following year in the ordinary course of seniority. He was master of the Saddlers' Company in 1833. During his mayoralty and throughout his public life Laurie devoted himself largely to schemes of social advancement. He gained the reputation of being a good magistrate, and took an active part in the proceedings of the court of common council, where he showed himself a disciple of Joseph Hume [q. v.] In 1825 he succeeded in throwing open to the public the meetings of the court of Middlesex magistrates, and in 1835 the meetings of the court of aldermen were also held in public through his endeavours. He was president of Bridewell and Bethlehem Hospitals, and a magistrate and deputy-lieutenant for the city of Westminster and the county of Middlesex. His town residence was situated in Park Square, Regent's Park, where he died of old age and infirmity on 3 Dec. 1861. He was buried in Highgate cemetery on the 10th of that month. Laurie had no children, and was left a widower in 1847.

There is a mezzotint portrait of him engraved by James Scott from a painting by Thomas Philipps, R.A., and published in 1839; and an inferior lithographic print from a drawing by F. Cruikshank was published by Hullmandel. A portrait by an unknown painter, presented to him by the company on 24 Feb. 1835, hangs in Saddlers' Hall.

Laurie published: 1. 'Maxims ...,' 12mo, 