Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Moncrieff, Alexander
MONCRIEFF, Sir ALEXANDER (1820–1906), colonel and engineer, born at 27 George Square, Edinburgh, on 17 April 1829, was eldest son of Captain Matthew Moncrieff, of the Madras army, by Isabella, daughter of Alexander Campbell. His father was a descendant of Alexander Moncrieff [q. v.]. He retained the 'superiority' and designation of Culfargie, but the estate had passed to Lord Wemyss, and he lived at Barnhill near Perth.
Moncrieff was educated at Edinburgh and Aberdeen universities, and spent some time in a civil engineer's office, but did not settle down to a profession. He was commissioned as lieutenant in the Forfarshire artillery (militia) on 16 April 1855, and obtained leave to go to the Crimea during the siege of Sevastopol. He was promoted captain on 16 Sept. 1857, was transferred to the city of Edinburgh artillery (militia) on 9 Nov. 1863, became major on 26 March 1872, and was made colonel of the 3rd brigade, Scottish division, R.A., on 20 Feb. 1878.
As he watched the bombardment of 6 June 1855, and the silencing of the Russian guns in the Mamelon by shots through the embrasures, his mind turned to the problem of raising and lowering guns, so that they might fire over the parapet and then descend under cover for loading. He conceived the idea of mounting guns on curved elevators, which would allow them to recoil backwards and downwards, the energy of recoil being used to raise a counterweight which would bring the gun up again to the firing position. This method had the further advantage, that it lessened the strain on the platform by interposing a moving fulcrum between it and the gun. He carried out experiments at his own expense for several years, and a 7-ton gun mounted on his system was tried at Shoeburyness and favourably reported on in 1868.
From 1867 to 1875 Moncrieff was attached to the royal arsenal, to work out the details of his disappearing carriage, adapt it to heavier and lighter guns, and devise means of lading and sighting guns so mounted. He received 10,000l. for his invention and for any improvements on it. In 1869 he submitted designs for a hydro-pneumatic carriage, in which air was compressed by the recoil of the gun and formed a spring to raise it again. This was intended for naval use in the first instance, but it was adapted to siege and fortress guns, and eventually superseded the counterweight system. It met with opposition at first, being thought too oomplicated ; and Moncrieff complained bitterly of the obstacles placed in his way. He had controversy also with officers of the royal engineers, who held that he claimed too much for his system, and was not entitled to dictate how and where it should be used. There was substantial agreement, however, as to the great merit of his intention. He published in 1873 a pamphlet on the Moncrieff system, whioh he explained or defended in lectures at the Royal Institution (7 May 1869) and the United Service Institution (Journal, vols. x. xl. xiv. xvii. xix. xxviii.), in the 'Prooeedings of the Royal Artillery Intstitution' for 1868, and the R.E. professional papers of 1870. He was a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, was elected F.R.S. in 1871. was made C.B. in 1880, and K.C.B. in 1890.
A man of many interests, genial and sociable, he went to South Africa and Canada in search of sport, and exhibited at the Scottish Academy as an amateur artist. He was captain of the Wimbledon Golf Club in 1894. In later life he was a director of two banks, acquired wealth, and bought the estate of Bandirran in Perthshire. He claimed to be head of his family as the heir male of William Moncrieff, who died in 1570; but this claim affected the title to the baronetcy created in 1626, and was opposed by Lord Moncreiff of Tullibole, the holder of the baronetcy. The case came into court in June 1905. and the evidence produced led to the withdrawal of his petition. He died at Bandirran on 3 Aug. 1900, and was buried at Abernethy, Perthshire. In 1875 he had married Harriet Maxr, only daughter of James Rimington Wilson of Broomhead Hall, Yorkshire. They had five sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Malcolm Matthew (in the carabiniers), and a younger son, Alaric Rimington (in the Scots Greys), served throughout the South African war, the former being severely wounded.
[The Times, Aug. 1906; Seton, The House of Moncrieff, 1890; information from Mr. A. R. Hope Moncrieff.]