Sir Robert Montgomery
GCSI
The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes:
# Knight Grand Commander (:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India, GCSI)
# ...
, KCB (2 December 1809 – 28 December 1887), was a British administrator and
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 ...
in
colonial India
Colonial India was the part of the Indian subcontinent that was occupied by European colonial powers during the Age of Discovery. European power was exerted both by conquest and trade, especially in spices.
The search for the wealth and prosper ...
. He was
Chief Commissioner of Oudh during the period of 1858 to 1859 and later served as
Lieutenant Governor of Punjab between 1859 and 1865.
Biography
Early life
Montgomery was born at the family seat at New Park in
Moville, a small town in
Inishowen
Inishowen () is a peninsula in the north of County Donegal in Ireland. Inishowen is the largest peninsula on the island of Ireland.
The Inishowen peninsula includes Ireland's most northerly point, Malin Head. The Grianan of Aileach, a ringfort ...
in the north of
County Donegal
County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...
in
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. He was educated at
Foyle College
Foyle College is a co-educational non-denominational voluntary grammar school in Derry, Northern Ireland. The school's legal name is Foyle and Londonderry College. In 1976, two local schools, Foyle College and Londonderry High School, merged und ...
,
Derry
Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...
; Wraxall Hall School, Wiltshire; and, from 1823 to 1825, at
Addiscombe Military Seminary, Croydon, Surrey.
Career
In 1826, he entered the civil service of the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
. His first notable position was as a commissioner in
Cawnpore
Kanpur or Cawnpore (Help:IPA/English, /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation (Wikipedia:Media help, help·:File:Kanpur.ogg, info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one ...
.
In 1849, Montgomery was made a Commissioner at
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
. The following year he replaced
Charles Grenville Mansel
Charles Grenville Mansel (1806–1886) was an English administrator in India.
Biography
Mansel was appointed a writer in the British East India Company's service on 30 April 1826. He was made assistant to the secretary of the western board of reve ...
on the
Board of Administration, the body responsible for governing the
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
.
His two colleagues in the Board of Administration,
Henry Lawrence and
John Lawrence were both, like Montgomery, alumni of Foyle College.
Following a re-organisation in 1853, the Board of Administration was replaced with John Lawrence as Chief Commissioner, and Montgomery was made both his Deputy and Judicial Commissioner. Over the next four years, he was the Chief Judge of Appeal in the Punjab, head of the police force, superintendent of roads, controller of local and municipal funds and responsible for education.
In May 1857, at the start of the
Indian Rebellion
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...
, he was in Lahore. 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 returned to the Punjab in 1859 to succeed John Lawrence as Lieutenant-Governor. He was made a
K.C.B.
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as o ...
on 19 May 1859. On 1 March 1862 he opened the first section of the
Punjab Railway
The Punjab Railway was one of the pioneering railway companies that operated during the British Raj between 1855 and 1885 in Punjab.
History
The Punjab Railway was established shortly after the ''Scinde Railway Act'' of Parliament in July 1855 ...
, connecting Lahore with
Amritsar
Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...
, to much fanfare. His tenure as Lieutenant-Governor ended in 1865 and he was succeeded by his son-in-law
Donald Friell McLeod
Sir Donald Friell McLeod (6 May 1810 – 28 November 1872) was an Anglo-Indian civil servant who served as Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab between 1865 and 1870. He was one of the founders of Lahore Oriental College, now part of the Punjab ...
. 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 family vault in
St Columb's Cathedral
St Columb's Cathedral in the walled city of Derry, Northern Ireland, is the cathedral church and episcopal see of the Church of Ireland's Diocese of Derry and Raphoe. It is also the parish church of Templemore. It is dedicated to Saint Columba, ...
,
Londonderry on 3 January 1888.
[Hamilton and Penner 2004.] There is a memorial to him in
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
.
Family
He married Frances Thomason, a sister of
James Thomason
James Thomason (3 May 1804 – 17 September 1853) was a British administrator of the East India Company and Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces between 1843 and 1853.
Early life
The son of Thomas Truebody Thomason, a British cle ...
whilst in India; she died of smallpox at
Allahabad
Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...
in 1842.
His second son was
Henry Hutchinson Montgomery, father of
Field Marshal
Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...
The 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein. Henry inherited the family estate in Ireland after his father's death.
Eponyms
* The city of
Sahiwal
Sahiwal (Punjabi language, Punjabi and ur, ), formerly known as Montgomery, is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 21st largest city of Pakistan by population and the administrative capital of both ...
, Pakistan, founded in 1865, was formerly named "Montgomery", after Sir Robert Montgomery.
[''Encyclopaedia Britannica'']
* The district of
Montgomery in Punjab.
References
;Attribution
*
Further reading
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, Robert (colonial administrator)
Administrators in British India
Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
People from County Donegal
People from Kanpur
1809 births
1887 deaths
Alumni of Addiscombe Military Seminary
Governors of Punjab (British India)
Indian Civil Service (British India) officers
Clan Montgomery