p. 305, 13 March 1775). He refused, however, to take any part in saving his life after he was convicted of forgery (Sir James Stephen, Nuncomar and Impey, i. 232-3; see art. Impey, Sir Elijah).
Monson engaged also in the conflict with the supreme court, severely condemning the conduct of the judges in a minute of 11 April 1775 (ib. ii. 133). Throughout he appears to have been almost entirely under the influence of Francis, 'who ruled him by making him believe that he was ruled by him,' but who found him very difficult to manage. He was, says Impey, 'a proud, rash, self-willed man, though easily misled and very greedy for patronage and power' (Merivale, i. 326).
Accusations of corruption were made against him (Gleig, i. 511), but doubtless without foundation. He repeatedly expressed aversion even to the customary presents (Forrest, p. 130). Possibly his opposition to Hastings was embittered by illness, for he suffered almost from the day of his arrival in India. He was soon 'obliged to go to sea to save his life' (Busteed, Echoes of Old Calcutta, from Francis's Diary, p. 154); he recovered for a time, and resigned his position in September 1776 with the intention of returning to England, but he died on the 25th of the same month. He was made colonel of the 50th foot 1 Sept. 1775, and before news of his death reached England he had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. He married in 1757 Lady Anne Vane, daughter of Henry, earl of Darlington, and widow of the Hon. Charles Hope Weir, who was four years his senior. Her mother was Lady Grace Fitzroy, and she was thus a great-granddaughter of Charles II. There was some scandal about her early life; she was a prominent figure in Calcutta society and 'a very superior whist-player' (Macrabie, Diary). She died on 18 Feb. 1776. They had no children.
[Information kindly supplied by Viscount Oxenbridge; The Selections from the Letters, Despatches, and other State Papers preserved in the Foreign Department of the Government of India, ed. G. W. Forrest, Calcutta, 1890, the primary authority for the most important part of Monson's life; Gleig's Life of Warren Hastings; Mill's History of British India, ed. H. H. Wilson, vol. iii.; Sir J. F. Stephen's Nuncomar and Impey; Collins's Peerage, 5th edit. 1779, vii. 289; Busteed's Echoes of Old Calcutta; Parker and Merivale's Life of Philip Francis.]
MONSON, Sir JOHN (1600–1683), second baronet, royalist, eldest son of Sir Thomas Monson [q. v.] of Carlton in Lincolnshire, and of his wife Margaret, daughter of Sir Edmund Anderson [q. v.], lord chief justice of the common pleas, was born in the parish of St. Sepulchre, London, in 1600. Sir William Monson (1569-1643) [q. v.], naval commander, was his uncle, and care must be taken to distinguish him from his uncle's son, also Sir John Monson. Sir William Monson (d. 1672?) [q. v.] was his brother. John, who was not entered at either of the universities, studied law in London, represented the city of Lincoln in the first parliament of Charles I (elected 25 April 1 625), and the county of Lincoln in the second parliament, and was made knight of the Bath by Charles at his coronation, 2 Feb. 1625-6.
In 1635, in view of the necessity of reclaiming and draining the low-lying lands by the banks of the river Ancholme in Lincolnshire, the commissioners for the Fens endeavoured to negotiate with 'some foreign undertakers' for the carrying out of the works, but failed to come to terms. Thereupon Monson offered himself as undertaker, 'out of a noble desire to serve his country,' and his services were accepted (Dugdale, Imbanking and Draining, p. 151). The drainage was completed to the satisfaction of the commissioners on 19 Feb. 1638-9, and 5,827 acres of the reclaimed land were allotted to Monson on 4 March following, in accordance with previous arrangement. Complaints and dissatisfaction, however, arose among the neighbouring landlords. An order made in 1635 by Monson as justice of the peace for Lincolnshire condemned the moral character of John Pregion, registrar of Lincoln. When the Bishop of Lincoln [see Williams, John, archbishop of York] was brought before the Star-chamber in 1637, on a charge of revealing counsels of state, Pregion was one of the bishop's leading witnesses, and Williams endeavoured to obtain a reversal of Monson's judgment. But Monson's decision was upheld, and he was awarded a thousand marks compensation out of the bishop's fine (cf. Monson's letters to Laud, of 11 Dec. 1635 and 9 Aug. 1606, and his petition to the king in Lambeth MSS.}
In 1641 Monson succeeded to his father's baronetcy. His legal acumen had been noticed by the king, and he offered Charles much useful advice during his disagreements with the parliament (1640-2). On the departure of Charles from London, Monson retired to Oxford, where, on 1 (or 2) Nov. 1642, he was created D.C.L. In 1643, when the proximity of the armies threatened the safety of Oxford, Monson sent his wife to London, while he remained behind to take part in the negotiations. In May 1646 Fairfax demanded
