George Montagu (1753 – 20 June 1815) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
army officer and
naturalist. He was known for his pioneering ''
Ornithological Dictionary'' of 1802, which for the first time accurately defined the status of Britain's birds. He is remembered today for species such as the
Montagu's harrier
Montagu's harrier (''Circus pygargus'') is a migratory bird of prey of the harrier family. Its common name commemorates the British naturalist George Montagu.
Taxonomy
The first formal description of Montagu's harrier was by the Swedish na ...
, named for him.
Life and work
George Montagu was born to James Montagu (1713–1790), who was great-great-grandson of Lord James Montagu (d. 1665), who was younger son of
Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester
Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester (7 November 1642) was an English judge, politician and peer.
Life
He was the 3rd son of Edward Montagu of Boughton and grandson of Sir Edward Montagu, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1539 to ...
.
Montagu is best known for his ''
Ornithological Dictionary'' (1802) and his contributions to early knowledge of British birds. He showed that many previously accepted species were invalid, either because they were birds in summer or winter plumage or males and females of the same species. His study of harriers resulted in the discovery that the
Montagu's harrier
Montagu's harrier (''Circus pygargus'') is a migratory bird of prey of the harrier family. Its common name commemorates the British naturalist George Montagu.
Taxonomy
The first formal description of Montagu's harrier was by the Swedish na ...
was breeding in southern England. He was also involved in the first British records of
cirl bunting
The cirl bunting ( ), (''Emberiza cirlus''), is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae.
It breeds across southern Europe, on the Mediterranean islands an ...
, whose breeding range in England is around his home in Devon, as well as of
cattle egret
The cattle egret (''Bubulcus ibis'') is a cosmopolitan species of heron (family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics, and warm-temperate zones. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Bubulcus'', although some authorities regard it ...
,
little gull
The little gull (''Hydrocoloeus minutus'' or ''Larus minutus''), is a small gull that breeds in northern Europe and across the Palearctic. The genus name ''Hydrocoloeus'' is from Ancient Greek , "water", and , a sort of web-footed bird. The speci ...
and
gull-billed tern
The gull-billed tern (''Gelochelidon nilotica''), formerly ''Sterna nilotica'', is a tern in the family Laridae. It is widely distributed and breeds in scattered localities in Europe, Asia, northwest Africa, and the Americas. The Australian gull ...
.
[Mearns, 1988.]
He was born at the family home of Lackham House in
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
, some three miles south of
Chippenham
Chippenham is a market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...
in the northwest of that county, and baptised at
Lacock
Lacock is a village and civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) south of the town of Chippenham, and about outside the Cotswolds area. The village is owned almost in its entirety by the National Trust a ...
Church on 9 July 1753. In 1770 he joined the army as an
Ensign
An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...
in the
15th Regiment of Foot. He resigned his commission as a
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
in 1777, but eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the
Wiltshire Militia
The Royal Wiltshire Militia was a militia regiment in Great Britain and the later United Kingdom from 1758 to 1881, when it was amalgamated into The Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire Regiment).
The regiment was organised in late 1758, as the Wiltshi ...
. In 1773 he married Ann Courtenay, niece of
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, (; 25 May 1713 – 10 March 1792), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British nobleman who served as the 7th Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1762 to 1763 under George III. He was arguabl ...
. They settled at Alderton House in Wiltshire. In 1798 Montagu left his wife and moved to Prospect House, near
Kingsbridge
Kingsbridge is a market town and tourist hub in the South Hams district of Devon, England, with a population of 6,116 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards bear the name of ''Kingsbridge'' (East & North). Their combined population at the abo ...
in
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
. It was here that he wrote his two-volume ''Ornithological Dictionary; or Alphabetical Synopsis of British Birds''.
[ He subsequently entered a relationship with ]Elizabeth Dorville
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
(daughter of Georg Wolff), who worked with him illustrating several of his scientific articles. They went on to have four children together.
Montagu had an interest in marine and freshwater natural history, and in 1803 published his ''Testacea Britannica, a History of British Marine, Land and Freshwater Shells''. This described 470 species of molluscs
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil sp ...
, 100 of which were new to the British list, and many of which would later be classified as foraminifera
Foraminifera (; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class of amoeboid protists characterized by streaming granular Ectoplasm (cell biology), ectoplasm for catching food and ot ...
. He supplied some new species of crustacean
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...
to William Elford Leach
William Elford Leach Royal Society, FRS (2 February 1791 – 25 August 1836) was an English zoologist and marine biologist.
Life and work
Elford Leach was born at Hoe Gate, Plymouth, the son of an attorney. At the age of twelve he began a me ...
at the British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, and recorded some species of fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...
for the first time in English waters, as well as discovering new species including Montagu's blenny and Montagu's snapper (Lutjanidae
Lutjanidae, or snappers are a family of perciform fish, mainly marine, but with some members inhabiting estuaries, feeding in fresh water. The family includes about 113 species. Some are important food fish. One of the best known is the red snapp ...
). He also described the lesser horseshoe bat for the first time.[ Montagu's ray, Montagu's sucker and Montagu's sea snail are also named for him.]
He died of tetanus
Tetanus, also known as lockjaw, is a bacterial infection caused by ''Clostridium tetani'', and is characterized by muscle spasms. In the most common type, the spasms begin in the jaw and then progress to the rest of the body. Each spasm usually ...
after stepping on a nail at Knowle House. He was buried at Kingsbridge Parish Church. Montagu's collection of birds was bought by the British Museum, about 200 of which are now housed at the Tring Museum. His annotated copies of the ''Dictionary'' and ''Testacea'' were bequeathed to the Linnean Society
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...
.[ Montagu's shell collection is held by the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery in Exeter and the Natural History Museum in London.
]
Works
* ''Ornithological Dictionary; or Alphabetical Synopsis of British Birds'', J. White, 1802.
References
Sources
* Mearns, Barbara; Mearns, Richard (1988). ''Biographies for Birdwatchers''. Academic Press.
* Moss, Stephen (2005). ''A Bird in the Bush: A Social History of Birdwatching.'' Aurum. (First published 2004)
External links
*
Archive.org: Montagu's Ornithological Dictionary
'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montagu, George
1753 births
1815 deaths
People from Chippenham
East Yorkshire Regiment officers
Wiltshire Regiment officers
British Militia officers
English zoologists
English ornithologists
Infectious disease deaths in England
Deaths from tetanus
George Montagu
Military personnel from Wiltshire