Charles Lawrance
| Charles Lawrance | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 30, 1882 Lenox, Massachusetts |
| Died | June 24, 1950 (aged 67) East Islip, New York |
| Nationality | United States |
| Education |
Yale University École des Beaux-Arts |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Spouse(s) | Emily Margaret Gordon Dix |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Francis C. Lawrance Jr. Sarah Eggleston Lanier |
| Engineering career | |
| Projects | Lawrance J-1 |
| Significant advance | Air-cooled aircraft engine |
| Awards | Elliott Cresson Medal (1928) |
Charles Lanier Lawrance (September 30, 1882 – June 24, 1950) was an American aeronautical engineer and an early proponent of air-cooled aircraft engines.
Lawrance was born on September 30, 1882 in Lenox, Massachusetts, the son of Francis Cooper Lawrance Jr. (1858-1904) and his first wife, Sarah Eggleston Lanier (1862-1893). Lawrance's maternal grandfather was Charles D. Lanier (1837-1926), who was a close friend of Pierpont Morgan. His great-grandfather was James F. D. Lanier (1800-1881), who founded Winslow, Lanier & Co. Lawrance's sister, Kitty Lanier Lawrance (1893-1936), was raised by their grandfather, as their parents died when she was still young. In 1915, Kitty married W. Averell Harriman (1891-1986), the Governor of New York. They later divorced in 1928. His paternal grandfather was Francis Cooper Lawrance (1830-1911) of Paris and Pau, France. After his mother's death in 1893, his father married Susan Ridgeway Willing. Willing's sister was Ava Lowle Willing, who married John Jacob Astor IV. They had a daughter, a half-sister to Lawrance, Frances Alice Willing Lawrance, who married Prince Andrzej Poniatowski (1899–1977) of the House of Poniatowski in 1919. In 1885, his paternal aunt, Frances Margaret Lawrance, married George Venables-Vernon (1854–1898), the 7th Baron Vernon.
Lawrance attended and graduated from Yale University in 1905, where he was a member of Wolf's Head. Shortly thereafter, he joined a new automobile firm that went bankrupt by the financial panic of 1907. He then went to Paris, where he studied architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts, experimenting with aeronautics at the Eiffel Laboratory.
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