Laurance Lyon was a Canadian lawyer, who left his native country for Paris in 1905 and later settled in London. He was the owner of The Outlook from 1916 until 1919. When Sir Arthur du Cros chose to fight Clapham rather than Hastings at the 1918 General Election, Laurance Lyon was chosen to fight in his place and was returned with a majority of 7,654 over Joseph Butler of the British Socialist Party. He stood down as a result of being declared bankrupt in 1921.
He was born in Toronto in 1875, the older son of John Laurance Lyon of Osgoode Hall, Toronto, Barrister-at-law, and Lucy, daughter of Rt. Hon. Sir Henry Strong, PC, Chief Justice of Canada. He was educated at Trinity College School, Port Hope. Called to the Ontario Bar in 1898 and to the Quebec Bar in 1900, he practised until 1905; and then departed to Europe.
He had married Yvonne Taschereau in 1901 She was the 5th daughter of Sir Henri Taschereau, Chief Justice of Quebec; they had two daughters, but were divorced in 1923.
From 196 until 1919 Lyon was the proprietor of The Outlook. He won Hastings as a Coalition Unionist by 11,210 votes to 3,556 for his socialist opponent at the 1918 General Election.
In February 1920 Lyon entered into an agreement with Robert Donald, who held the majority of shares in Business Newspapers Ltd, the owners of The Globe, to buy the paper for £24,000. Lyon paid the first instalment of £5,000 but was unable to find the remaining amount. The Globe Newspaper Company was formed with Donald holding £7000 debenture shares on his own account and £15,000 on behalf of the liquidator of Business Services Ltd. The newspaper ran at a loss from the start and had to be wound up in April 1921.
Proceedings to declare Lyon bankrupt seem to have started in August 1920, two of his principal creditors being Grant Morden M.P. and Colonel Pretyman Newman M.P. and a receiving order was made on 8 December. Meetings of creditors were held on 11 December and 3 January. Lyon did not surrender to proceedings, but through his barrister applied for an adjournment on 3 January in order that he might submit a proposal for composition. The Official Receiver had proofs of debts amounting to £21,393 and appears to have known that Lyon was residing at an expensive hotel in Paris. Tthough one of the creditors supported the plea for an adjournment; the Official Receiver was clear that Lyon was in contempt and determined that an application for an order of bankruptcy should be made. He was adjudged bankrupt on 19 January and did not appear for the public examination in the Bankruptcy Court on 4 February. The hearing was adjourned sine die. In April he was appointed bailiff and Steward to the Manor of Northstead, an office of profit under the Crown, thus causing him to leave the Commons. In the subsequent bye-election Lord Eustace Percy was elected in his place.
Lyon had a number of books published in the following decade, among them The Pomp of Power (1922); The Path to Peace (1923); Where Freedom Falters (1927); The Fruits of Folly (1929); and By the Waters of Babylon (1930).
Lyon died in Montreal after a long illness on 12 November 1932.
He was a member of the Order of the Crown of Belgium.