Robert Montgomery (colonial administrator)
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Sir Robert Montgomery, GCSI, KCB (born 2 December 1809, Moville, County Donegal, Ireland – died 28 December 1887, India) was a British colonial administrator in India.
Life
Montgomery was born at the family seat at New Park, Moville. He was educated at Foyle College, Derry; Wraxall Hall School, Wiltshire; and, from 1823 to 1825, at Addiscombe Military Seminary, Croydon, Surrey.[1] In 1827 he was appointed to the Indian Civil Service.
He married in India and brought up a family. His second son was Henry Hutchinson Montgomery, father of Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery. Henry inherited the family estate in Ireland after his father's death.[2]
His first notable position was as a commissioner in Cawnpore. In May 1857, at the start of the Indian Mutiny, he was in Lahore in the Punjab,[3] where he was Judicial Commissioner (and in-charge of Chief Commissioner at Lahore) of the province. He immediately had the native garrison disarmed, which prevented them from taking any action in the rebellion. He was awarded with a knighthood for this action. During the period of 3 April 1858 to 15 February 1859, he was Chief Commissioner of Oudh. He was then the second Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab from 1859 to 1865, preceded by Sir John Lawrence and succeeded by Sir Donald McLeod.[4] He served as Lieutenant-Governor up to an advanced age.[2]
He was made a civil K.C.B. on 19 May 1859. On 20 February 1866 he was made a G.C.S.I.
Death
He died on 28 December 1887 in London of bronchitis, aged 79, and was interred in the vault of his family in County Londonderry on 3 January 1888.
Family
He married Frances Thomason, a sister of James Thomason; she died of smallpox at Allahabad in 1842.
Eponyms
- The city of Sahiwal, Pakistan, founded in 1865, was formerly named "Montgomery", after Sir Robert Montgomery.[5][6]
- The district of Montgomery in Punjab.
References
- ↑ Vibart 1894, pp. 403–405.
- 1 2 Alan Moorehead, Montgomery. Page 13. Four Square Books, London 1958.
- ↑ Provinces of British India - Lieutenant governors
- ↑ http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V20_337.gif
- ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica
- ↑ South Punjab Portal - Sahiwal
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Hamilton, John Andrew (1894). "Montgomery, Robert (1809-1887)". In Lee, Sidney. Dictionary of National Biography 38. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Further reading
- Hamilton, J. A.; Penner, Peter (rev.) (2004). "Montgomery, Sir Robert (1809–1887)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19075. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- Montgomery, Brian (1984). Monty's Grandfather: Sir Robert Montgomery, GCSI, KCB, LLD 1809-1887: a life's service for the Raj. Poole: Blandford Press. ISBN 0713714018.
- Vibart, H. M. (1894). Addiscombe: its heroes and men of note. Westminster: Archibald Constable. pp. 403–405.
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