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 ...

Sir Montagu Frederick Ommanney, (4 April 1842 – 19 August 1925) was a British

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

and Head of the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of col ...

1900–1907.

Biography

Ommanney was born in

East Sheen East Sheen, also known as Sheen, is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its long high street has shops, offices, restaurants, cafés, pubs and suburban supermarkets and is also the economic hub for Mort ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, in 1842, the son of Francis Ommanney, of York House, Worcester Park. He was educated at

Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent School Day and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Huggett ...

and the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...

. He was commissioned into the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

, from which he retired 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 1878. He was Private Secretary to the

Earl of Carnarvon Earl of Carnarvon is a title that has been created three times in British history. The current holder is George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon. The town and county in Wales to which the title refers are historically spelled ''Caernarfon,'' hav ...

Secretary of State for the Colonies The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, British Cabinet government minister, minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various British Empire, colonial dependencies. Histor ...

, from 1874-1878, and from 1877 served as a Crown Agent for the Colonies. In 1900 he was appointed

Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies Permanent may refer to: Art and entertainment * ''Permanent'' (film), a 2017 American film * ''Permanent'' (Joy Division album) * "Permanent" (song), by David Cook Other uses * Permanent (mathematics), a concept in linear algebra * Permanent (cy ...

, and thus head of the Colonial Office. He resigned in 1907. He was a Director of the North Borneo Company.

Honours

Ommanney was appointed a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG) in the

1882 Birthday Honours The 1882 Birthday Honours were appointments by Queen Victoria to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of the Queen, and wer ...

, knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order (KCMG) in the New Year Honours list 1890, was appointed Secretary of the Order in 1900, and was promoted to a Knight Grand Cross (GCMG) of the order in the 1904 Birthday Honours list. He later served as a

King of Arms of the Order of St Michael and St George The King of Arms of the Order of St Michael and St George is the herald A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of ar ...

1909-1924. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(KCB) in the 1901 Birthday Honours list, and invested as such by King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

St James's Palace St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court, and is located in the City of Westminster in London. Altho ...

on 17 December 1901. He received the

Imperial Service Order The Imperial Service Order was established by King Edward VII in August 1902. It was awarded on retirement to the administration and clerical staff of the Civil Service throughout the British Empire for long and meritorious service. Normally a pe ...

(ISO) in 1903.

Family

He married, in 1866, Charlotte Helen Ommanney, daughter of his relative Octavius Ommanney. They had several children, including Dorothy Helen Ommanney, who married Douglas Champion Jones, of the Royal Engineers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ommaney, Montagu 1842 births 1925 deaths People educated at Cheltenham College Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Civil servants in the Colonial Office Ommanney, Montagu Companions of the Imperial Service Order Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George