Children**:** Emlen Newbold Lawrence (1837–1925) and John Burling Lawrence (1844–1929). Kinship: Third great-grandfather of the post–World War II Smith generation.

Family Background George Newbold Lawrence was born into a family whose roots combined the New York mercantile Lawrences with the New Jersey Newbolds and, through his wife, with the Emlens, a prominent Quaker family of Philadelphia. His marriage to his cousin Mary Ann Newbold strengthened the ties between these three influential families.

Early Life and Love of Ornithology From his youth, Lawrence displayed a strong interest in birds, devoting his leisure to observing and studying them. At the age of fourteen he was permitted to have a gun, and during summers at his father’s country seat, Forest Hill (see Houses and Estates), he spent long hours collecting specimens and learning their habits. Forest Hill lay about eight miles from City Hall, on the high ground overlooking Manhattanville and the Hudson River, not far from the later site of the American Museum of Natural History. It was during the family’s residence there that John James Audubon acquired land nearby and built his home, now known as Audubon Park. Lawrence formed a friendship with Audubon’s sons, Victor and John, though he saw little of Audubon himself, who was then in failing health.

Business Career At sixteen, Lawrence entered his father’s business as a clerk and, by the age of twenty, had become a partner. He remained engaged in business throughout his life, but it was his work as an ornithologist that won him distinction.

lawrence-george-newbold-1806-1895

Contributions to Ornithology Lawrence made important contributions to American ornithology. He undertook Pacific bird surveys for Spencer Fullerton Baird and John Cassin, with whom he later co-authored Birds of North America in 1860, a foundational work in the field. His personal collection of bird skins, numbering approximately 8,000 specimens, was sold to the American Museum of Natural History in 1887, greatly enriching its holdings. His fellow ornithologists honored him by naming a bird genus and twenty species after him, including Lawrence’s Goldfinch (Spinus lawrencei), which bears both his common and scientific name.

Later Years and Death George and Mary Ann Lawrence died within five days of one another at the beginning of 1895. Their combined estates amounted to $528,900, which was divided between their two sons, Emlen and John.