Montagu Stephen Williams Q.C. (30 September 1835 – 23 December 1892) 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 ...

teacher,

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer, actor, playwright, barrister and magistrate. Williams was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

and started his career as a schoolmaster at

Ipswich School Ipswich School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for pupils aged 3 to 18 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. North of the town centre, Ipswich School has four parts on three adjacent sites. The Pre-Prep and Nursery ...

. On the outbreak of the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

he joined the Royal South Lincoln Militia, then the 96th Regiment of Foot and finally the

41st (Welch) Regiment of Foot The 41st (Welch) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1719. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Welch Regiment in 1881. History Early hi ...

, but was too late and never got to fight at

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

. Instead, he spent most of his service in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

. In the early 1860s he wrote several farces in partnership with F. C. Burnand, He later went onto the stage and was called to the bar in 1862. In 1879 he was appointed junior

Treasury counsel A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in ...

, retiring from the post in 1886 due to a growth on the larynx which seriously affected his voice, being succeeded by Sir Charles Willie Mathews, 1st Baronet. Williams took up a post as metropolitan stipendiary magistrate in 1886 and was appointed

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

in 1888. His clients included Catherine Wilson, whom he defended twice on murder charges;

George Henry Lamson George Henry Lamson (8 September 1852 – 28 April 1882) was an American doctor and murderer. Early life Lamson was born on 8 September 1852. He was the son of Julia Wood Schuyler and Rev. William Orne Lamson (1824–1909), who married in 1850. ...

, hanged in 1882 for poisoning his brother-in-law;

Percy Lefroy Mapleton Percy Lefroy Mapleton (also known as Percy Mapleton Lefroy; 23 February 1860 – 29 November 1881) was a British journalist and murderer. He was the British "railway murderer" of 1881. He is important in the history of forensics and policing a ...

, the "railway murderer", hanged in 1881; John Young, acquitted of manslaughter after his opponent in a boxing match died, establishing a legal precedent. He married Louise Keeley, daughter of Robert Keeley in 1858: she died in 1877. He died at Ramsgate in 1892 of

uraemia Uremia is the term for high levels of urea in the blood. Urea is one of the primary components of urine. It can be defined as an excess of amino acid and protein metabolism end products, such as urea and creatinine, in the blood that would be nor ...

Publications

* ''Leaves of a life'', 2 vols, 1890 * ''Later leaves'' (Macmillan, London) 1891 * ''Round London: Down East and Up West'' (Macmillan, London) 1892

References

* * 1835 births 1892 deaths 19th-century King's Counsel People educated at Eton College Stipendiary magistrates (England and Wales) English barristers {{UK-law-bio-stub