The Lawrence School, Sanawar

History

In the school's name, "Sanawar" is the name of the hill on which it stands. The nearest railway station is now usually spelt "Sonwara". Sanawar is believed to be the oldest mixed-gender boarding school anywhere in the world.

Henry Lawrence's intent was to provide for the education of the orphans of British soldiers and other poor white children. In 1845 he outlined the creation of a boarding school in the Indian highlands for boys and girls.[[File:Gulab Singh Dogra of Kashmir.jpg|thumb|left|Maharaja Gulab Singh, a large contributor to the founding of the school]] The school at Sanawar was established as the first such asylum on 15 April 1847, The school was co-educational from its beginning. The site had been chosen by Lawrence, after discussions with William Hodson and others, considering that it was an "ideal location" which "afforded the necessary requisites: isolation, ample space, water, a good altitude, and all not too far from British troops". The construction of the buildings was paid for by Lawrence and other British officers, with a large contribution from Gulab Singh, the first Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. In the early days some Anglo-Indian children were admitted, but Lawrence insisted that preference should be given to those of "pure European" parentage, as he considered they were more likely to suffer from the heat of the plains.

Under its first professional headmaster, W. J. Parker, who was appointed in 1848, the school was known as "Lawrence's Asylum", reflecting its focus on orphans. In 1858 it was renamed the "Lawrence Royal Military School".

In its first two decades, the school suffered an unexpectedly high death rate, with forty children dying between 1848 and 1858, of whom thirteen were the victims of an outbreak of cholera in 1857. In the next ten years, there were seventy-two further deaths, and in 1870 a Punjab Medical Department report proposed measures to improve the school's sanitation, as well as "a separate hospital for the treatment of contagious diseases".

However, the then-Governor General, Lord Mountbatten, presided at the centenary celebrations and read out a message from King George VI. In June 1952 the ministry resolved to administer the school through a society created under the Societies Registration Act 1860, subject to a Memorandum of Association and rules and regulations to be approved by the government. These provided that the government Secretaries in the Ministries of Education, Defence, and Finance would serve as ex-officio members of the society, with four other members appointed by the government. The employees of the school, previously government servants, lost that status. The property and other assets of the school, which then had an estimated value of twenty-five lakhs of rupees, were transferred to the society with effect from June 1954.

The school celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1997,

Present day

In 2003, It is an international member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, based in England.

Together with some other leading Indian schools, including The Doon School, The Scindia School, The Daly College, Mayo College, Rajkumar College, and Baldwin Boys High School, Sanawar is a member of the Round Square Conference, a worldwide association of some eighty schools which exchange students with each other. Other member schools include Aiglon College in Switzerland, Ballarat Grammar School in Australia, Deerfield Academy and Chadwick School in the United States, Wellington in England, and Gordonstoun in Scotland.

The school honours its original purpose by continuing to offer a reduction in fees for the children of military families. About a quarter of the boarders are the sons and daughters of former pupils. Till recently, as part of its annual Founder's Day celebrations, attended by many Old Sanawarians, the school continued to troop the Royal colours. Until 1990, a significant number of school-leavers continued to join the armed forces but there has been a sharp decline in this tradition, and in 2011 one Old Sanawarian brigadier was quoted in The Times of India as saying that in his day "the main aim was to join the forces, but now hardly anyone is interested in doing so".

Sanawar is divided into four houses—Himalaya, Nilagiri, Siwalik and Vindhya. The houses compete with each other at activities such as cricket, cross country running, debating and many other activities. Sanawar celebrates Founder's Day from The Tribune dated 5 October 2006. Retrieved 22 March 2012

A group of Sanawarians have entered the record books as they are the youngest team and the first school in the world to have conquered Mt. Everest. These teenagers were aged 15 and 16. One of the climbers is the youngest Asian and the second-youngest person in the world to scale the mountain.[[File:School motto, Lawrence School, Sanawar.jpg|thumb|The school motto, "Never give in"]]

Notable alumni

Sanawar's former pupils are known as "Old Sanawarians", "OS" for short

Public life

• Amarinder Singh (born 1942), Former Chief Minister of Punjab
• Sukhbir Singh Badal (born 1962), Former Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab president, Shiromani Akali Dal
• Omar Abdullah (born 1970), Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir
• Naveen Patnaik, Former Chief Minister of Odisha
• Dushyant Chautala, former Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana
• Gurinder Singh Dhillon, Sant Satguru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas
• Chander Mohan, former Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana
• Navin Chawla (born 1945), former Chief Election Commissioner of India
• Maneka Gandhi (born 1956), Union Minister Child and women welfare, environmentalist and animal welfare activist.
• Jetsun Pema, Queen consort of Bhutan
• Rao Inderjit Singh (born 1951), politician, Union Minister of State for Defence Production
• Bikram Singh Majithia, Former Minister in Government of Punjab
• Ajatshatru Singh, former Cabinet Minister in the Jammu and Kashmir Government
• Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Indian Ambassador to U.S.
• Uzair, former minister in government of Jammu and Kashmir.
• Vinod Sultanpuri, MLA, Himachal Pradesh

Armed services

• Vishnu Bhagwat, a former Chief of Naval Staff, India
• Arun Khetarpal (1950-1971), youngest officer recipient of the Param Vir Chakra
• K. C. Cariappa

Business

• Sonny Mehta, publisher and editor-in-chief of Alfred A. Knopf
• Jehangir Wadia, managing director of GoAir and Bombay Dyeing
• Ness Wadia (born 1970), managing director of the Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation
• Rakesh Mohan, Mohan Meakin Limited
• Nitin Khanna, entrepreneur, founder and CEO of MergerTech.
• Satjiv S. Chahil, Silicon Valley multimedia marketer
• Punit Renjen, Deloitte chairman
• Pankaj M Munjal, Hero Cycles chairman and managing director
• Kiran Nadar, Philanthropist and founder, Kiran Nadar Museum of Arts

Sports

• Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Indian Olympic team, 2012, world trap shooting champion, 2010, and Commonwealth Games gold medallist
• Ajeet Bajaj (born 1965), first Indian to ski to the North Pole and the South Pole within a year.
• Ranjit Bhatia, athlete who ran in the marathon and 5000 meters events at the 1960 Summer Olympics
• Shiva Keshavan, Asian Champion, represented India in luge in 6 Winter Olympic Games in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018.
• Rohit Singh, Indian National Rugby Team, season 2005-06
• Raghav Joneja, mountain climber

Performing arts

• Preity Zinta, actor and entrepreneur
• Sanjay Dutt, actor and producer
• Saif Ali Khan, actor, heir to last reigning the last Nawab of Pataudi State
• Kirat Bhattal, actor
• Papa CJ, stand-up comedian
• Shaad Ali, film director
• Pooja Bedi, actress and talk show host
• Feroze Gujral, model
• Siddharth Kak, film maker, television producer, and presenter
• Iqbal Khan, actor
• Apoorva Lakhia, film maker
• Tarun Mansukhani, director and writer
• Rahul Roy, actor
• Parikshit Sahni, film and television actor
• Amar Talwar, actor
• Bikramjeet Kanwarpal, film and television actor
• Vir Das, actor and stand-up comedian
• Varun Sharma, actor
• Sheena Chohan, actress and Celebrity Scientologist

Other

• Parveen Kumar, president of the British Medical Association
• Iloosh Ahluwalia, artist

Former headteachers

• 1848—1863: W. J. Parker
• 1864—1884: J. Cole
• 1884—1912: A. H. Hildersley
• 1912—1932: Rev. G. D. Barne, later Bishop of Lahore
• 1932—1933: E.S. Hunt
• 1933—1941: A.E. Evans
• 1941—1946: C.G O'Hagan
• 1946—1947: H.E. Hazell
• 1947—1956: E. G. Carter
• 1956—1970: Ravi Somdutt
• 1970—1970: Trevor C Kemp (acting)
• 1970—1973: B. R. Pasricha
• 1973—1974: Bhupendra Singh (acting)
• 1974—1988: Shomie Ranjan Das
• 1988—1995: Sumer B. Singh
• 1995—1999: Harish Dhillon OS
• 1999—2000: Rene A. Solomon (acting)
• 2000—2003: Andrew Gray
• 2003—2003 (May to September): Derek Mountford (acting)
• 2003—2004: Gautam Chatterjee
• 2005—2014: Praveen Vasisht
• 2014—2016: Shonu Mukherjee (Offg.)
• 2016—2019: Vinay Pande
• 2020–Present: Himmat Singh Dhillion

In fiction

In Rudyard Kipling's novel Kim (1901), a priest called Father Victor proposes that the central character, the boy Kim, should be sent to Sanawar, of which he says "It's miraculous beyond all whooping" and adds "We'll make a man of you at Sanawar - even at the price o' making you a Protestant".

References

References

1. "THE LAWRENCE SCHOOL, SANAWAR FEE STRUCTURE FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR -2022".
2. (21 May 2013). "Sanawar school boys become the youngest team to scale Mount Everest".
3. [http://www.sanawar.edu.in/ main page of sanawar.edu.in] (official school website). Retrieved 6 March 2012
4. A. C. C. DeRenzy, 'Report on the Lawrence Military Asylum', Appendix III to ''Report on the sanitary administration of the Punjab'' (Punjab Medical Department, 1870), paragraphs 6 to 10 at pp. 46A & 47A: "His Honour will be surprised to hear that the children are subject to a very high sickness and death-rate, but such is the fact ...a considerable part of the drainage from south aspect of the Sanawar hill flows within a few paces of the place where the spring emerges... The spring is about two miles, from the Asylum... a separate hospital for the treatment of contagious diseases is indispensable."
5. {{usurped
6. Rahul Singh, {{usurped
7. Dane Keith Kennedy, ''The Magic Mountains: hill stations and the British raj'' (1996), p. 136
8. when fourteen girls and boys arrived at Sanawar in the charge of Lawrence's sister-in-law Charlotte Lawrence, wife of [[George St Patrick Lawrence. George Lawrence]], and a superintendent Healey.Edward Backhouse Eastwick, ed., ''Handbook of the Punjab, western Rajputana, Kashmir, and upper Sindh'' (John Murray, 1883), p. 172: "In April, 1847, Mrs. George Lawrence arrived at Sanawar with 14 girls and boys, and Surgeon Healy acted as superintendent."
9. ''Outlook'' (Hathway Investments Pvt Ltd, 1997), p. 98
10. ''Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research'' vol. 81 (issues 325-328) (London: Society for Army Historical Research, 2003), p. : "After discussing the merits of a suitable site with Hodson and others it was decided that the school would be established on the hill of Sanawar, near Kasauli. This ideal location afforded the necessary requisites: isolation, ample space, water, a good altitude, and all not too far from British troops."
11. 'Photocopies and transcripts of extracts from diaries and papers of Maj-Gen William Clive Justice (1835-1908): 11: Copy of letter from Sir Henry Lawrence to Rev W. J. Parker' at {{usurped
12. The headmaster, John Cole, was inspired to write a book called ''Notes on Hygiene with Hints on Self-discipline for Young Soldiers in India'' (1882).Mark Harrison, ''Public Health in British India: Anglo-Indian Preventive Medicine'' (1994), p. 263
13. Ajay Sura, ''{{usurped
14. [http://www.indiankanoon.org/doc/662081/ Mohinder Singh vs Union Of India (15 May 1968); AIR 1969 Delhi 170] at indiankanoon.org. Retrieved 15 March 2012
15. Letter No. F. 19-51/53-H 3, dated 18 June 1954, from the Under Secretary to the Government, Ministry of Education, stated that the President of the Republic of India had been pleased to transfer to the Society's Board, at no charge, the movable and immovable properties of the School, as at 1 October 1952.
16. and India marked the occasion with a two-rupee commemorative postage stamp issued in October 1997 and inscribed "1847-1997 THE LAWRENCE SCHOOL SANAWAR".Issue date 04/10/1997, Serial Number 1738
17. [http://www.hmc.org.uk/schools/international.htm HMC Schools: International Members] {{webarchive. link. (15 March 2008 at hmc.org.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2012)
18. link. (18 February 2012 at roundsquare.org. Retrieved 14 March 2012)
19. {{usurped
20. [http://www.oocities.org/collegepark/quad/7767/nws_597.html The Sanawar News Letter dated 1 May 1997], online edition at oocities.org. Retrieved 22 March 2012
21. Vipin Pubby, ''[http://www.financialexpress.com/news/badal-vs-badal/697446/ Badal vs Badal]'' at financialexpress.com. Retrieved 6 March 2012
22. [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topiclist/Lawrence-School,-Sanawar-alumni Lawrence School, Sanawar alumni] ''The Times of India''. Retrieved 26 March 2012
23. [http://www.indian-elections.com/chief-election-commissioner.html Chief Election Commissioner of India] {{Webarchive. link. (3 March 2016 at indian-elections.com. Retrieved 14 March 2012)
24. Anand Bodh, {{usurped
25. [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050626/society.htm Himachal Pradesh Residential schools: Smart learning] ''The Tribune''. Retrieved 11 March 2012
26. [http://indianarmy.nic.in/PVC/photo_1.htm Arun Khetarpal] {{Webarchive. link. (31 July 2013 on Indian army's site, indianarmy.nic.in)
27. Manjeet Sehgal Warrior, ''{{usurped. The Telegraph]]''. Retrieved 25 April 2012
28. M. Prabha, ''The waffle of the toffs: a sociocultural critique of Indian writing in English'' (Oxford & IBH Publishing, 2000), p. 130
29. [https://www.scribd.com/doc/54670936/Wadia-Family Wadia Family] scribd.com. Retrieved 11 March 2012
30. ''{{usurped
31. {{usurped
32. {{usurped
33. "Our team". Snow Leopard Adventures.
34. Prabhsharan Singh Kang, ''[http://sirtaj.net/sanawar_leaders.html Leadership through Initiative and Innovation A Case Study on Sanawar] {{Webarchive. link. (7 March 2014 '' at sirtaj.net. Retrieved 7 March 2012)
35. [http://www.india-today.com/ttoday/062000/luge.htm Shiva Keshavan] {{webarchive. link. (24 February 2001 at india-today.com)
36. [http://www.sanjay-dutt.info/2.html Sanjay's Life] at sanjay-dutt.info. Retrieved 18 March 2012
37. Anshul Chaturvedi, ''{{usurped
38. Priya Gill, [https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/supplement/story/20090706-who-s-who-740196-2009-07-05 Who's Who] dated 6 July 2009, at indiatoday.intoday.in. Retrieved 13 March 2012
39. link. (24 October 2013 dated 23 October 2010 at glamgold.com. Retrieved 11 March 2012)
40. Anubha Sawhney, ''[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi-times/Pooja-Bedi-The-siege-within/articleshow/479019467.cms Pooja Bedi: The siege within]'' from ''[[The Times of India]]'', 1 June 2003. Retrieved 6 March 2012
41. Geetika Sasan Bhandari, [http://www.livemint.com/2010/06/25202518/Where-the-hills-come-alive.html Where the hills come alive] dated 16 July 2010 at livemint.com. Retrieved 11 March 2012
42. Hemal Ashar, [http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/may/090509-Shimla-Amann-Satya-Kachroo-Rajendra-Prasad-Government-Medical-College-Himachal-Pradesh.htm 'Ragging a reflection of our brutal world'] at mid-day.com. Retrieved 7 March 2012
43. [http://www.miqbalkhan.com/bio.htm Iqbal Khan The King Khan of Indian Television Industry studied in Lawrence School Sanwar] {{Webarchive. link. (6 April 2018 miqbalkhan.com)
44. [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Lawrence-School-founders-day-from-Oct-2/articleshow/10098239.cms Lawrence School founders day] from indiatimes.com. Retrieved 7 March 2012
45. [http://onlypunjab.com/fullstory2k5-insight-Pooja+Bedi+out+Ek+Ajnabee-status-23-newsID-69470.html Sanawarians in the film industry] onlypunjab.com
46. [http://www.mumbaifilmfest.com/Mami/index_v2.php?page=open_forums Daily Open Forums] mumbaifilmfest.com. Retrieved 14 March 2012
47. Geetika Sasan Bhandari, [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/Sanawarians-they-never-gave-in/articleshow/1812065565.cms Sanawarians, they never gave in!] dated 6 October 2001, ''The Times of India''. Retrieved 13 March 2012
48. N. D., ''[http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050123/society.htm#3 This sohni kurhi is going places]'' from ''[[The Tribune (Chandigarh). The Tribune]]'' at tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 25 March 2012
49. [http://www.s-asian.cam.ac.uk/Handlist_O.htm Oakden Papers] {{webarchive. link. (25 November 2001 at [[University_of_Cambridge]]'s Centre of South Asian Studies web site s-asian.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 11 March 2012)
50. A. J. Appasamy, ''Sundar Singh'' (2002), p. 225
51. ''Calcutta Review'' (University of Calcutta, 1936) p. 214: "G. D. Barne, Bishop of Lahore, to succeed the late Dr. A. C. Woolner as Vice-Chancellor of the Punjab University. From 1912 until his selection as Bishop in 1932, he was Principal of the Lawrence Royal Military School, Sanawar."
52. ''India Today'', vol. 17 (Thomson Living Media India Ltd, 1992) p. 27
53. Rajendra Pal Singh, ''Educating the Indian elite'' (Sterling Publishers, 1989), p. 110 & Appendix VII
54. [http://www.indussource.com/Author/-Harish-Dhillon-/2.aspx Harish Dhillon] indussource.com. Retrieved 22 March 2012
55. Amit Chaudhry, [http://www.indianexpress.com/oldStory/31010/ New principal in, Lawrence shuts out controversy] ''The Indian Express''. Retrieved 22 March 2012
56. Geetanjali Gayatri, [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20041216/himachal.htm#17 Sanawar school to re-assess all Gautam's appointments] in ''[[The Tribune (Chandigarh). The Tribune]]'' dated 16 December 2004. Retrieved 22 March 2012
57. [[Rudyard Kipling]], ''[[Kim (novel). Kim]]'' (1901; reprinted by Wildside Press, 2010), p. 81