3-011-761 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Lawrence Hall, Lahore, founded in honour of Sir John Lawrence, 1864. 'As a sequel to the Illustrations in our last Number of the visit of Sir John Lawrence, Governor-General of India, to the capital of the Punjaub in the middle of October, we now give a view of the Lawrence Hall, a building erected some years since in the city of Lahore [formerly in India, now Pakistan] to serve for the public accommodation, and at the same time to form a monument of that distinguished man, who was then Lieutenant-Governor of the province'. Lawrence Hall was conceived as a social and entertainment space for Lahore's European (ie white) community. The plan of the building was that of a conventional English banqueting hall, with a rectangular, double-height room on the ground ?oor surrounded above by a narrow colonnaded gallery on all four sides. Throughout the colonial period, Lawrence Hall hosted a range of theatrical and musical performances by both local and traveling troupes. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.