David Bernard Montgomery, 2nd Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (18 August 1928 – 8 January 2020) was a British politician and businessman. He was the son of British

World War Two World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilisi ...

Field Marshal

Bernard Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and the ...

Early life and education

Field Marshal the Viscount Montgomery of Alamein Kg Gcb Dso 1887-1976 ZZZ7687D

Montgomery was the only child of

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

The 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, a senior military commander in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and his wife Elizabeth Carver, ''née'' Hobart. He had two older half brothers from his mother's previous marriage, John and Dick. Montgomery's mother died in 1937 while on holiday in Burnham-on-Sea after suffering from an infected insect bite which caused septicaemia following amputation of her leg. David attended

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

from May 1942 onwards, and his father, posted abroad from the middle of the year, arranged for his time in school holidays to be divided between his prep school headmaster and family friends, Major Thomas Reynolds and Mrs. Phyllis Reynolds, and Jocelyn, wife of David's half-brother John Carver, as well as strict instructions that "on no account" was the boy to visit his aged paternal grandmother, whom the then Sir Bernard Law Montgomery detested, 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 ringfor ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

, in

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

. Montgomery gained an engineering degree at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

Career

Montgomery entered business, working for

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

, Yardley and several other companies, and he built close links with Latin America. He served as a patron and chairman of various Anglo-Latin American organisations, including the Anglo-Argentine Society, Canning House and the Hispanic and Luso Brazilian Council. He succeeded to the viscountcy following his father's death in 1976 and originally sat as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

until 1999, when he and most other hereditary peers were removed from the House under the

House of Lords Act 1999 The House of Lords Act 1999 (c. 34) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given royal assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords ...

. He was returned to the Lords as a

crossbencher A crossbencher is a minor party or independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. They take their name fr ...

in an election of hereditary cross-bench peers in 2005, following the death of Baroness Strange. Montgomery was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in 1975 and 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, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

(CMG) in 2000. He also received decorations from Germany,

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, Spain,

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

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 ...

and

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. He co-wrote ''The Lonely Leader: Monty 1944–45'' with

Alistair Horne Horne became a senior member at St Antony's College, Oxford in 1970 and a fellow of the college in 1978. He was made an honorary fellow in 1988, a position he held until his death. He was knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2003 for ...

about his father in 1994, which documented his own early life as well as his father's.

Personal life

In 1953,

The Hon. ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of cert ...

David Montgomery, as he was then, married Mary Connell. They divorced in 1967 after having a son and a daughter: *Henry David Montgomery, 3rd Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (2 April 1954): he married Caroline Jane Odey on 21 June 1980. They have three daughters: **

The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style ...

Alexa Maud Montgomery (30 August 1984) **The Honourable Flora Veronica Montgomery (4 May 1988) **The Honourable Phoebe Matilda Montgomery (4 February 1990) *The Honourable Arabella Clare Montgomery (born 21 November 1956); she married Sir Jeremy Stuart-Smith on 25 September 1982. They have five children: **Emma Stuart-Smith (6 October 1984) **Laura Stuart-Smith (1986-1987) **Edward Murray Stuart-Smith (6 May 1988) **Samuel Nicholas Stuart-Smith (6 December 1990) **Luke David Stuart-Smith (19 January 1993) He then married Tessa Browning, daughter of

Daphne du Maurier Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Gerald du Maurier, Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her gra ...

and

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

Sir Frederick Browning, a close colleague of his father. Lord Montgomery of Alamein became Patron of Freedom Flame UK, in May 2014, in recognition of the lighting of a Torch of Unity at the D Day stone,

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea began as a f ...

, by his father, Field Marshal The 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, on 13 September 1948. He died on 8 January 2020 at the age of 91. He has a son, Henry David Montgomery (b. 1954), who is the 3rd

Viscount Montgomery of Alamein Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, of Hindhead in the County of Surrey, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The viscountcy was created in 1946 for the military commander Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, commemorating ...

Arms

Montgomery of Alamein, Viscount (UK, 1946)
– website Cracroft's Peerage

References

Book

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, David, Viscount Montgomery of Alamein 1928 births 2020 deaths Montgomery of Alamein, David Bernard Montgomery, 2nd Viscount People educated at Winchester College Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers Montgomery of Alamein, David Bernard Montgomery, 2nd Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, David Bernard Montgomery, 2nd Viscount Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Crossbench hereditary peers Place of birth missing Place of death missing Clan Montgomery Montgomery of Alamein Montgomery of Alamein Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014