Sir George Montgomery, 2nd Baronet (1765 – 10 July 1831) was a

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 ...

officer and

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

politician of Scottish and

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

descent.

Biography

Montgomery was the son of

Sir William Montgomery, 1st Baronet Sir William Montgomery, 1st Baronet (9 November 1717 – 25 December 1788) was a Scottish-born politician in Ireland. Biography Montgomery was born in Scotland, the son of William Montgomery of Magbie Hill in Peeblesshire. His family was a cadet b ...

by his second wife, Anne Evatt. In 1778 he received a commission in the

68th Regiment of Foot The 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1758. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 106th Bombay Light Infantry to form the Durham Light Infantry in 1881, the 68t ...

. He was promoted to captain in 1783 and transferred to the

14th Dragoons The 14th King's Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated with the 20th Hussars to form the 14th/20th King's Hussars in 19 ...

in 1786. In 1788, Montgomery succeeded to his father's

baronetcy 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 ...

, his elder half-brother, William, having predeceased the first baronet. He resigned from the army in 1790. Shortly afterwards he received the position of clerk of the head permit office in the

Dublin Castle administration Dublin Castle was the centre of the government of Ireland under English and later British rule. "Dublin Castle" is used metonymically to describe British rule in Ireland. The Castle held only the executive branch of government and the Privy Cou ...

, worth £800 a year in income, from

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt (28 May 1759 – 23 January 1806) was a British statesman who served as the last prime minister of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1783 until the Acts of Union 1800, and then first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, p ...

's ministry. Montgomery continued to receive reimbursement for the office until 1812, when

Lord Liverpool Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) was a British Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. Before becoming Prime Minister he had been Foreign Secretary, ...

removed him from the compensation list. He appealed to the new

Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British Dublin Castle administration, administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretar ...

Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850), was a British Conservative statesman who twice was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835, 1841–1846), and simultaneously was Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834–183 ...

, who managed to pacify Montgomery by offering a compensatory pension. Montgomery stood for election as the Member of Parliament for the Scottish constituency of

Peeblesshire Peeblesshire (), the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a Counties of Scotland, 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 Lanarkshire ...

in the January 1831 by-election caused by the retirement of his cousin, Sir James Montgomery, 2nd Baronet. He won the election unopposed, promising to ‘promote the safety of the king and constitution’. He was again returned for the seat unopposed in the

1831 United Kingdom general election The 1831 United Kingdom general election was held from 28 April 1831 to 1 June 1831. With electoral reform becoming a major issue, the Whigs under Prime Minister Earl Grey won a decisive victory with a majority of 82 seats. This was the last e ...

, but died on 10 July 1831 shortly after parliament had reconvened. He is not recorded as having spoken in any debates in the Commons. He died having never married, at which point his title became extinct. Montgomery's property in Scotland and Ireland was divided according to his will, with the family house at Magbie Hill going to his nephew, John Isaac Beresford.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, George, 2nd Baronet 1765 births 1831 deaths 14th King's Hussars officers 68th Regiment of Foot officers Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Tory members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832