Peter Lawrence, who has died aged 74, was in his early 60s when his youngest daughter, 35-year-old Claudia Lawrence, a chef at the University of York, went missing. Her disappearance in 2009 is a troubling case that remains unsolved. The event thrust Peter into the national spotlight, and in order to keep Claudia’s name alive and in the public consciousness, he led an energetic campaign for the rest of his life.
Ably supported by his friend and media spokesman Martin Dales, along with Claudia’s best friends, Suzy and Jen, Peter ensured that Claudia’s case was not forgotten, and although an investigation by North Yorkshire Police was wound down after a detailed re-evaluation of the case in 2017, it will be reactivated again immediately when any solid leads come forward.
Beyond Claudia’s case, Peter also helped the families of other missing people through the Missing People charity and, through relentless lobbying and campaigning, helped to bring about the Guardianship (Missing Person’s) Act 2017, also known as “Claudia’s Law”.
Peter was a solicitor by profession, and so his legal skills were useful in helping to draft the law, which allows relatives of missing people to pay bills and manage the mortgages of loved ones after they have been gone for 90 days. This, as Peter said, now means there is “one less burden” for families already dealing with the emotional pressure of a missing persons case.
Born in Lancashire, Peter moved to Darlington in County Durham when he was seven and went to the local grammar school, after which he gained a law degree at the University of Nottingham. He became a solicitor in 1970 and two years later joined the law firm of Pearsons & Ward in Malton, North Yorkshire. He rose to become senior partner there before setting up his own practice as a sole practitioner in 2004, principally working as a commercial property lawyer but also with considerable planning expertise. He went on to merge his practice with the Malton-based Ware & Kay firm in 2012 before retiring from legal practice in 2017.
I met Peter in 2012, when I approached him to write a book about his quest to find Claudia. Gone: The Disappearance of Claudia Lawrence and Her Father’s Desperate Search for the Truth was published in 2013, on the fourth anniversary of Claudia going missing.
After working closely with Peter I developed an enormous respect for him. He was a man of great dignity, and despite being emotionally drained by Claudia’s disappearance, he never wavered in his fight to uncover the truth.
In 2018 he was appointed OBE in recognition of his work on behalf of missing people and their families.
He is survived by his eldest daughter, Ali, from his 1970 marriage to Joan, which ended in divorce in 1996.
