George Frederick Lawley was born in London. His father, George Lawley, had already acquired some knowledge of boat-building when he and his family emigrated to the United States in 1851, and he soon found employment in the yard of Donald McKay in East Boston.
His earliest recollections were those of his wanderings among the chips and shavings of some of the mightiest ships of the clipper era. When he was less than twenty years old he helped his father establish a small boat yard at Scituate, where they began to build modest craft for Boston yachtsmen. Within a few years they established a larger yard at South Boston.
World-wide fame came to them in 1885 when they built for a syndicate of Boston yachtsmen the wooden sloop Puritan, designed by Edward Burgess, which defeated the English cutter Genesta in the fifth match for the America's Cup. The next year the firm built another cup defender, the Mayflower, designed by Burgess for Gen. Charles J. Paine, which defeated the British cutter Galatea. Although the builders had no facilities for constructing their own boats of iron, they rigged and outfitted the third Boston yacht to contend for the cup, the iron sloop Volunteer, which raced successfully against the Scotch cutter Thistle.
Orders came to the Lawley company from all parts of the world for pleasure craft, cruisers, and racers. Among the larger craft constructed during the period of the eighties and nineties were the schooners Sachem, Idler, Savarona, Latona, and Margaret. Owing to the demand for iron and steel construction, the plant was moved to Neponset, another suburb of Boston. With this move the elder Lawley retired from the business.
In the yard at Neponset some of the largest yachts flying the American ensign were fashioned, including the steel schooners Guinevere and Speejacks, the composite yacht Sea Call, and large power boats such as the Taormina and the Athero II. Having brought the company to a high state of efficiency George F. Lawley retired from active work in 1925 but continued his energetic interest in the plant which his son, Frederick Damon Lawley, had established in Quincy. Lawley died in his eightieth year at his home in South Boston.
George Frederick and his father gained the reputation for skilled and honest workmanship. By 1908, their firm "George Lawley & Son" had built over 800 ships, including schooners, sloops, steam yachts, three-masted auxiliary schooner and motor launches. Two yachts, Puritan and Mayflower were the winners of the 1885 and 1886 America's Cup.
Lawley was married to Hannah Damon.
