Home station in the same vessel, and in the Russell and Minotaur 74’s, until May, 1805, nearly the whole time in the capacity of Midshipman. In the ship last mentioned, under Capt. Mansfield, he assisted, we believe, at the capture, 28 May, 1803, of the French 36-gun frigate Franchise. Being nominated, 3 Dec. 1805, Acting-Lieutenant of the Superb 74, he was afforded an opportunity of participating, under the flag of Sir John Thos. Duckworth, m the action off St. Domingo 6 Feb. 1806, and was in consequence officially promoted by a commission dated 5 of the ensuing month. His succeeding appointments were – 5 Aug. 1806, to the Royal George 100, bearing the flag of the same officer, with whom he passed the Dardanells in Feb. 1807, and afterwards served in the West Indies and Channel – 13 May, 1809, to the San Josef 110, also flag-ship of Sir J. T. Duckworth, lying at Spithead – in the course of the latter year and of 1810, to the Hyperion 36, Capt. Thos. Chas. Brodie, Shark sloop, Capt. Edm. Denman, Oakland 22, Capts. Charlton and Graves, and Avon sloop, Capt. Henry Tillieux Fraser, all on the Jamaica station, whence he invalided in March, 1811 – 29 Oct. 1812, to the Barrosa 36, Capt. Wm. Henry Shirreffi attached to the force on the coast of North America – 31 Dec. 1813 (seven months after he had left the Barrosa), to the Puissant 74, Capt. Benj. Wm. Page, at Spithead – and, in the early part of 1815, to the Impregnable 98, York 74, and St. George 100, as Flag-Lieutenant to Sir J. T. Duckworth at Plymouth. Since his attainment of the rank of Commander, 13 June, 1815, he has been on half-pay. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.
MONTAGU, Kt., C.B., K.C.H. (Rear-Admiral of the White, 1841. f-p., 23; h-p., 28.)
Sir William Augustus Montagu entered the Navy, 4 Sept. 1796, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Glatton 50, Capt. Henry Trollope; under whom he continued employed on the Home station, as Midshipman, in the Russell 74 (part of the victorious fleet in the action off Camperdown 11 Oct. 1797), and Juste 80, until transferred, about the close of 1800, to the Sirius 36, Capt. Sir Rich. King. In that ship he witnessed, 27 Jan. 1801, the surrender of the French 36-gun frigate La Dédaigneuse. After a servitude of four years in the East Indies on board the Dasher, of which sloop (commanded at first by Capt. Delafons) he was successively confirmed Lieutenant and Commander by commissions dated 14 Nov. 1804 and 31 Oct. 1805, he was there nominated, 8 June, 1807, Acting-Captain of the Terpsichore frigate – an appointment sanctioned, 8 Dec. following, by the approval of the Admiralty. In March of the following year Capt. Montagu, whose ship mounted but 28 guns and had only 180 men on board, fell in with, fought, and (with a loss to himself of 21 men killed and 22 wounded) fairly beat off the French frigate Sémillante of 40 guns and a crew of at least 300 men. Being soon afterwards appointed to the Cornwallis of 50 guns and 335 men, he assisted, in the early part of 1810, at the reduction of the island of Amboyna, where he elicited from Capt. Edw. Tucker, the senior officer present, the greatest praise for the able nature of his support in the different actions with the enemy’s batteries and forts, and for the judgment he displayed in the navigation of his ship amidst baffling winds and strong currents.[1] About the same period Capt. Montagu succeeded in effecting the capture of the Dutch corvettes Mandarin and De Ruyter. In the following Nov. he was intrusted with the command of the naval brigade landed to assist at the reduction of the Isle of France; during the operations connected with which, particularly on the occasion of the defeat of the French troops before St. Louis, 1 Dec, his zeal and exertions were such as to call forth the sincere acknowledgments of Major-General Abercromby. His last appointments were – 8 Sept. 1812, to the Niobe 40, employed until June, 1814, on the Channel, American, and Lisbon stations – 29 Oct. 1819, to the Phaeton 46, which ship he commanded on service at Halifax until put out of commission in Sept. 1822 – and 25 July, 1834, to the Malabar 74, fitting for the Mediterranean, where, and off Lisbon, he continued until ordered home at the close of 1837 for the purpose of being paid off. He attained Flag-rank 23 Nov. 1841.
The Rear-Admiral (a Deputy-Lieutenant for co. Huntingdon) was nominated a C.B. 8 Dec. 1815; a K.H. 5 Oct. 1830; and a K.C.H. (accompanied with the honour of Knighthood) in Jan. 1832. He married, 26 Aug. 1823, Anne, third daughter of the late Sir Geo. Wm. Leeds, Bart., of Croxton Park, Cambridgeshire.
MONTGOMERIE. (Captain, 1820. f-p., 15; h-p., 30.)
Alexander Montgomerie is second son of the late Alex. Montgomerie, Esq., of Annick Lodge, co. Ayr (brother of Hugh, twelfth Earl of Eglinton, and grand-uncle of the present Peer), by Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Taylor; and brother-in-law of the Right Hon. David Boyle, Lord Justice-Clerk. His brother, Hugh, married a daughter of Lieut.-General Rumley, E.I.Co.’s service; and his grand-uncle, James, died a Lieut.-General in the Army 13 April, 1829. His eldest brother, the present Wm. Eglinton Montgomerie, Esq., of Annick Lodge, is a Magistrate and Deputy-Lieutenant, and Lieut.-Colonel Commandant of the Ayrshire Yeomanry Cavalry.
This officer entered the Navy, 27 June, 1802, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Hazard sloop, Capt. B. J. Neve, lying at Portsmouth; and from the following Aug. until Aug. 1808, was employed as Midshipman and Master’s Mate in the Argo 44, and Tigre 74, both commanded by Capt. Benj. Hallowell. In the Argo, after visiting the coast of Africa, he assisted at the reduction of Ste. Lucie and Tobago; and when in the Tigre, besides accompanying Lord Nelson to the West Indies in pursuit of the combined fleets of France and Spain, he participated in the operations of 1807 in Egypt, was present at the capture of Alexandria, and saw much boat service on Lake Mareotis. In Sept. 1809, on passing his examination, he joined the Orpheus 36; and from that ship he was soon transferred to the Sceptre 74, Capt. Sam. Jas. Ballard, for a passage to the West Indies; where, on 18 of the ensuing Dec, we find him contributing, in the boats of a squadron under the personal command of Capt. Hugh Cameron, who was killed, to the destruction, in L’Ance la Barque, Guadeloupe, of the 40-gun frigates Loire and Seine, laden with stores, and protected by numerous strong batteries. As a reward for his conduct on the occasion, which was officially reported, he was nominated, the next day, Acting- Lieutenant of the Freija frigate, Capt. John Hayes – an appointment the Admiralty confirmed by a commission dated 4 May, 1810. Previously to that event Mr. Montgomerie, during the operations which led to the reduction of Guadeloupe, had been employed in the boats of his own ship and the Sceptre in destroying the various batteries erected on the island. After three months’ command of the Magnanime at Sheerness, he was appointed, 28 Jan. 1811, to the Aquilon 32, Capts. Wm. Bowles and Jas. Boxer, under whom he served for upwards of three years and a half on the North Sea, Baltic, and South American stations. When in the Baltic in 1812, and engaged with the boats under his orders in an attempt to bring some vessels off from the island of Rugen, he greatly distinguished himself by his conduct in capturing a temporary fort occupied by a superior number of troops, whom, on their being reinforced and endeavouring to recover their loss, he several times repulsed. On his return from the Rio de la Plata in Sept. 1814, Mr. Montgomerie, who had been latterly First-Lieutenant of the Aquilon, found that he had been promoted to the rank of Commander on 7 of the preceding June, and appointed to the Racoon sloop, which vessel, however, being at the time on the coast of Brazil, he
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1810, p. 1482.
