Sir Charles Munro, 9th Baronet of Foulis (20 May 1795 – 12 July 1886) was a Scottish

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

and soldier. He was also chief of the Highland

Clan Munro Clan Munro (; ) is a Highland Scottish clan. Historically the clan was based in Easter Ross in the Scottish Highlands. Traditional origins of the clan give its founder as Donald Munro who came from the north of Ireland and settled in Scotland i ...

Biography

Sir Charles Munro was the son of George Munro of Culrain and a lineal descendant of Sir

George Munro, 1st of Newmore Sir George Munro, 1st of Newmore (1602–1693) was a 17th-century Scottish soldier and shire commissioner of Parliament from the Clan Munro, Ross-shire, Scotland. He was seated at Newmore Castle. Between 1629 and 1634 Munro held command in t ...

. Sir Charles was born in 1795 and educated at

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. Sir Charles Munro entered the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

Ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

in the 45th (Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot, and served with much distinction, under the

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (; 1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was a British Army officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during t ...

- who in the General Orders of Madrid described Sir Charles Munro as "one of the bravest officers in the British Army", in the Peninsular Campaign, from 1810 to the conclusion of the war in 1815. He was badly wounded at the storming of

Badajoz Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...

. As an acknowledgement of his distinguished services, he was awarded a medal with seven clasps: for the

Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1812) The siege of Ciudad Rodrigo was the successful investment of the French-occupied city of Ciudad Rodrigo by Lord Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese Army from 7-20 January 1812. Wellington's army, which numbered up to 40,000 men, faced a small ...

(18 January 1812), Battle of Badajoz (6 April 1812),

Battle of Salamanca The Battle of Salamanca (in French and Spanish known as the Battle of the Arapiles) took place on 22July 1812. An Anglo-Portuguese Army, Anglo-Portuguese army under the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Earl of Wellington (future ...

(22 July 1812), Battle of Nive (13 December 1813),

Battle of Orthez The Battle of Orthez (27 February 1814) saw the Anglo-Spanish-Portuguese Army under Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington attack an Imperial French army led by Marshal Nicolas Soult in southern France. The outnumbered F ...

(17 February 1814), and Battle of Toulouse (10 April 1814). It has been reported that Charles Munro also served in the War of Independence in South America and in 1817 commanded the 1st Regiment of English Lancers in the service of

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

under the celebrated patriot, General

Simon Bolivar Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

. He certainly negotiated to do so but in the event, he appears not to have left British shores.

Family

Sir Charles Munro married first while a captain in the army on 20 June 1817, Amelia, daughter of Frederick Browne, 14th Light Dragoons, with issue: #George Frederick Munro. (died young) #Charles Robert Munro, 10th Baronet. (heir and successor) #Harry Munro. (whose son was Sir George Hamilton Munro, 12th Baronet) #Frederick Ledsum Munro. (moved to Australia) #Gustavus Francis Munro (Lieutenant Colonel in the

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

). #Arthur Munro #Marion Ross Munro. #Amelia Agnes Munro. Amelia Munro died in 1849, and was buried in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of North Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in P ...

. Sir Charles Munro married secondly, in 1853, Harriet Midgely (1808-1886) by whom he had had a son, Charles, in about 1826. Charles Munro was of irascible and litigious temperament, with a burning resentment that his father had been cheated out of his rightful inheritance by Sir Hector Munro of Novar. To fund a protracted and ultimately futile attempt to prevent the succession of Mary Seymour Munro, daughter of the 8th baronet, to

Foulis Castle Foulis Castle is situated two miles south-west of Evanton in the parish of Kiltearn, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland. It is a white washed mansion that incorporates an old tower house with gun loops. The castle was held by the Clan Munro from t ...

, Charles granted bonds on his prospective inheritance of the estate. In 1843 he was arrested for unpaid debts amounting to nearly £80,000. Falling heir in any case on Mary's death without succession in 1849, he inherited an estate much depleted by the costs of the litigation on her side, and heavily in debt to his own lawyers. Ultimately he left the task of extricating the estate from these legal entanglements to his son and heir Charles. He never resided at Foulis Castle, preferring instead to live with his second wife in Southport, Lancashire, where he died in 1886.

References

* ''History of the Munros of Fowlis''. Published in Edinburgh 1898. Written by Alexander Mackenzie. Pages 155 to 157. {{DEFAULTSORT:Munro, Charles, 9th Baronet 1795 births 1886 deaths People from Ross and Cromarty Nobility from Highland (council area) Baronets in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia Charles Munro, 9th Baronet of Foulis Sherwood Foresters officers British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars 19th-century British businesspeople

Biography

Family

See also

References