John Lawley
From Sawiki
John Lawley was born at Foulden in Norfolk on December the 31st 1859. The family later moved to Bradford where he obtained employment as a mill hand. In 1877, at the age of seventeen, John was converted at the Christian Mission by James Dowdle, 'The Saved Railway Guard.' He soon launched himself into full service becoming the Mission's fortieth evangelist. Lawley assumed his first command with the opening of Spennymoor Christian Mission Station which commenced operations on Sunday, April 28th 1878.
John Lawley was completely uninhibited in his preaching. To illustrate the boundless sea of God's love and forgiveness he once dived from the platform onto the floor of the hall and continued his sermon while doing the breast stroke. He wrote his first song to the tune of 'I'm a soldier bound for Glory,' while stationed at Jarrow-on-Tyne in 1879 and went on to acquire a world wide reputation as a writer and singer of Salvation Army songs.
By 1916 no fewer than nineteen of his songs were in the large Salvation Army Song Book, with many more published elsewhere. For the last twenty two years of the Founder's life, John Lawley was his constant aide and companion. In the early 1900's he accompanied William Booth on several motor tours of Britain and traveled extensively with him on overseas tours including visits to Japan, Australia and U.S.A..
Lawley often contributed solos of his own songs to Booth's Salvation Meetings, the best known being, 'Hark, hear the Saviour knocking.' In his last years Commissioner Lawley was a soldier of the Watford corps from where he was promoted to Glory at the age of sixty two.
The funeral procession to Abney Park Cemetery on the afternoon of September 14th 1922 was accompanied by no fewer than eight Salvation Army bands, with Commissioner Lawley's home corps band of Watford given the honoured position in front of the funeral car.
The memorial service at Clapton Congress Hall the same evening was lead by General Bramwell Booth who said of the Commissioner, 'He sang his way through this life and he will sing his way through Eternity'.
