Page:Dictionary of National Biography. Sup. Vol III (1901).djvu/202

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Montagu
188
Montagu

paymaster-general. He served as under-secretary for the colonies from February 1868 to the close of 1870, and as postmaster-general from January 1871 to November 1873. On 12 Jan. 1874 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Emly. His name is identified with the abortive scheme for the 'establishment of an Irish national university upon a federal basis,' which Gladstone brought forward in 1873. The pamphlets published by Gladstone in 1874-5 against Vaticanism met with his disapproval (Purcell, A. P. de Lisle, ii. 54-65).

With the rise of the land league Monsell lost his popularity. He opposed the movement for home rule, and he was accordingly removed from the chairmanship of the board of poor-law guardians. He had been high sheriff of Limerick in 1835, and he was made lord-lieutenant of the county in 1871. He was also vice-chancellor of the royal university of Ireland.

Lord Emly died at Tervoe on 20 April 1894, and was buried in the family vault at Kilkeedy. He married, on 11 Aug. 1836, Anna Maria Charlotte Wyndham Quin, only daughter of the second earl of Dunraven. She died at St. Leonard's, Sussex, on 7 Jan. 1855 without leaving issue. In 1857 he married Bertha, youngest daughter of the Comte de Montigny. She died on 4 Nov. 1890, leaving one son, who succeeded to the peerage, and one daughter.

Monsell contributed to the 'Home and Foreign Review.' He was an intimate friend of Cardinal Newman (Purcell, Manning, ii. 312-20), was closely associated with Montalembert and his party, and was 'an enthusiastic advocate of liberal Catholicism and political reform.' He published in 1860 'A Lecture on the Roman question.'

[Burke's Peerage; Men of the Time, 13th edit.; Foster's Alumni Oxon.; Baines's Forty Years at the Post Office, i. 218; Gent. Mag. 1855, i. 329; Times, 21 April 1894, p. 7; Ann. Reg. 1894. p. 159; Tablet, 28 April 1894, pp. 661-2; Ward's W. G. Ward and the Catholic Revival, pp. 143-4, 185-6, 205, 224-8, 243, 268-70; Ward's W. G. Ward and the Oxford Movement, p. 5.]

MONTAGU, JOHN (1797–1853), colonial official, born on 21 Aug. 1797, was the youngest son of Lieutenant-colonel Edward Montagu (1755–1799) [q. v.] He was educated at Cheam in Surrey and at Parson's Green, near Knightsbridge. On 10 Feb. 1814 he was appointed, without purchase, to an ensigncy in the 52nd foot. He was present at Waterloo, and on 9 Nov. 1815 was promoted to a lieutenancy by purchase; he also bought his company in the 64th foot in November 1822, exchanging into the 40th foot on 7 Aug. 1823. In the same year he proceeded to Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) with the lieutenant-governor, (Sir) George Arthur [q. v.], and on his arrival in May 1824 was nominated his private secretary. This post he retained until 1827, holding his captaincy on half-pay. In 1826 Van Diemen's Land, which had hitherto been attached to New South Wales, was constituted a separate colony, and Montagu became clerk of the executive and legislative councils. This office he held until 1829, when his military duties recalled him to England. In 1830 Sir George Murray (1772-1846) [q.v.], secretary of state for the colonies, offered to reappoint him on condition of his quitting the army. He accordingly sold out on 10 Sept. and returned to Van Diemen's Land. In 1832 he took charge for a year of the colonial treasury, and in 1834 he was nominated colonial secretary. In October 1836 Arthur relinquished the government to Sir John Franklin [q. v.], under whom Montagu retained his office. From February 1839 to March 1841 he was absent on a visit to England, and on his return he found himself involved in differences with the governor. He behaved to Franklin in a somewhat arbitrary manner, insisting on the dismissal of several government officials, although the governor was not convinced of their culpability. Finally Franklin reinstated one of these officers, and Montagu in consequence ceased to co-operate cordially in the work of administration, openly charged him with suffering his wife to influence his judgment, and finally declared himself unable to rely upon the accuracy of the governor's statements. On 25 Jan. 1842 Montagu was suspended from office. He sought a reconciliation, and Franklin, in his despatch to Lord Stanley [see Stanley, Edward George Geoffrey Smith, fourteenth Earl of Derby], with great generosity, spoke highly of his ability, and recommended him for other employment. Colonial sympathy was largely on Montagu's side, and Stanley, after investigation, came to the conclusion that Franklin was not justified in his action, and that Montagu's dismissal was unmerited.

In 1843 Montagu was nominated colonial secretary at the Cape of Good Hope, a post which he retained until death. He arrived at the Cape and entered on office on 23 April. Shortly after his arrival he submitted to the governor, Sir George Thomas Napier [q. v.], a project for improving the financial condition of the colony. Napier recognised its