Born in USA, the artist became one of Alaska's foremost artists. He and his first wife met and married in New York before coming to St Ives in 1889.  Laurence, in the Census of 1891, is listed as Sidney M Lawrence, and as a British subject born in Brooklyn.

He was engaged as an illustrator and (Boer) war artist for Black and White magazine in 1900. His first wife, Alexandrina DUPRE (in Census as Mrs Alex T Lawrence), was also a painter and British Subject, born in New Jersey, USA. In St Ives, they lived at Richmond Place and one of their sons was born there, the other in Kent. 

The couple parted after ten years in 1899, and Sydney settled in Alaska where he is identified as a foremost painter of Mount McKinley, one of the world's highest mountains.