Paperweight found in the Residency room in which Major-General Sir Henry Lawrence was wounded, 1857 (c)

Silver and stone, made by S Blanckensee & Son Ltd, hallmarked Birmingham 1901.

Sir Henry Lawrence organised the defence of the Lucknow Residency during the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859). On 2 July 1857 he was mortally wounded when a shell exploded in his apartment. He died two days later and is supposed to have told those gathered around his bed: 'Put on my tomb only this; Here lies Henry Lawrence who tried to do his duty'. The paperweight was recovered from the Residency in 1858 by Captain Fredrick Graham of the 3rd Oudh Irregular Cavalry.