Sir James Montgomery, 2nd Baronet Stanhope, FRSE (9 October 1766 – 27 May 1839) was a Scottish politician and lawyer who served as

Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate ( gd, Morair Tagraidh, sco, Laird Advocat), is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved p ...

of Scotland 1804 to 1806.

Life

James Montgomery was born in

Peebleshire Peeblesshire ( gd, Siorrachd nam Pùballan), the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a historic county of Scotland. Its county town is Peebles, and it borders Midlothian to the north, Selkirkshire to the east, Dumfriesshire to the south, and Lana ...

on 9 October 1766, the son of Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet Stanhope and Margaret Scott. The family moved to Stobo Castle when he was an infant. He was educated at the High School in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

from 1773 to 1778. He trained as an advocate passing the bar in 1787. He worked as an advocate at Argyll Square in

through the 1790s. He succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his father in 1803. He immediately set about remodelling Stobo Castle, commissioning the Edinburgh architect

Archibald Elliot Archibald Elliot (August 1761 – 16 June 1823) was a Scottish architect based in Edinburgh. He had a very distinctive style, typified by square plans, concealed roofs, crenellated walls and square corner towers. All may be said to derive from ...

to rebuild it in a castellated style. The very large project was completed in 1811 and brought the castle to its current appearance. In 1810 he inherited £20,000 on the death of the family friend,

William Douglas, 4th Duke of Queensberry William Douglas, 4th Duke of Queensberry, (16 December 172423 December 1810) was a Scottish noble landowner. He was popularly known as Old Q and was reputed as a high-stakes gambler. In 1799 he was estimated the eighth-wealthiest man (or small ...

, who had died childless. This was a true fortune at that time. From 1817 he served as Deputy Governor of the British Linen Company Bank. He held the office of

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(M.P.) for Peeblesshire between 1800 and 1831. His maiden speech as an MP was on the prevention of forgery of bank-notes. In 1807 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Sir James Hall, Alexander Dirom, and

Thomas Charles Hope Thomas Charles Hope (21 July 1766 – 13 June 1844) was a British physician, chemist and lecturer. He proved the existence of the element strontium, and gave his name to Hope's Experiment, which shows that water reaches its maximum density a ...

. In later life he had a town house at 20 York Place, Edinburgh. He died on 27 May 1839 aged 72.

Family

He married, firstly, Lady Elizabeth Douglas (d.1814), daughter of

Dunbar Douglas, 4th Earl of Selkirk Dunbar Hamilton Douglas, 4th Earl of Selkirk FRSE (1 December 1722 – 24 June 1799) was a Scottish peer. Early life Born Dunbar Hamilton, he adopted the name Dunbar Douglas upon his succession to the Earldom of Selkirk in 1744. He was the eld ...

and Helen Hamilton, on 1 August 1804. His brother-in-law during this marriage was Basil William Douglas. They had two daughters and one son: *Helen Anne Montgomery (d. 1870) married

William Forbes Mackenzie William Forbes Mackenzie (18 April 1807 – 24 September 1862) was a Scottish Conservative politician and temperance reformer. He is best known for the Forbes MacKenzie Act, legislation passed in 1853 to regulate public houses in Scotland. Li ...

MP. They had two children. *Elizabeth Montgomery (d. 15 Sep 1874) *James Montgomery (28 Apr 1811 - 16 July 1833) He married, secondly, Helen Graham (d.1828), daughter of Thomas Graham MP of

Kinross House Kinross House is a late 17th-century country house overlooking Loch Leven, near Kinross in Kinross-shire, Scotland. History Construction of the house began in 1685, by the architect Sir William Bruce as his own home. It is regarded as one of h ...

, in 1816. They had two daughters and three sons: *Anne Montgomery (30 June 1835). Unmarried. *Margaret Fleming Montgomery (d. 28 Feb 1840). Unmarried. * Sir Graham Graham-Montgomery, 3rd Baronet (9 July 1823 - 2 June 1901) *John Basil Hamilton Montgomery (11 Sep 1824 - 22 Feb 1911). Unmarried. *Capt. Thomas Henry Montgomery (21 Aug 1828 - 20 Jan 1879) married Hon. Anna Maria Elphinstone, daughter of Lt.-Col. James Drummond Buller-Fullerton-Elphinstone (a grandson of Charles Elphinstone, 10th Lord Elphinstone). They had two sons, and one daughter, including Sir Henry James Purvis-Russell-Hamilton-Montgomery, 7th Baronet.

Artistic Recognition

Montgomery was sketched in pastels by

Richard Cosway Richard Cosway (5 November 1742 – 4 July 1821) was a leading English portrait painter of the Georgian and Regency era, noted for his miniatures. He was a contemporary of John Smart, George Engleheart, William Wood, and Richard Crosse. ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, James, 2nd Baronet 1766 births 1839 deaths Lord Advocates Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831