Geo. Wroughton, Esq.; and grandson of Admiral John Montagu,[1] himself the great-grandson of Hon. Jas. Montagu, third son of Henry, first Earl of Manchester, ancestor of the present Duke of that name. He is brother of Lieut.-Colonel Geo. Wroughton Wroughton, of Wilcot, co. Wilts, and of Capt. Jas. Montagu, R.N.; and brother-in-law of the late Vice-Admiral Sir John Gore, K.C.B., by the marriage to that officer of his eldest sister, Georgiana, now a Bedchamber Woman to Queen Adelaide. One of his uncles, James, was killed in command of the Montagu 74 in the action of 1 June, 1794; and another, Edward, Lieut.-Colonel of Artillery, Hon.E.I.Co.’s service, fell at the storming of Seringapatam in 1799. Capt. Montagu is second-cousin of the present Lieut. E. P. Montagu, R.N.
This officer entered the Royal Naval Academy in 1803; and embarked, about 1806, as Midshipman, on board the Captain 74, Capt. Geo. Cockburn; in which ship, on 27 Sept. in that year, he witnessed the capture, in the Bay of Biscay, of the French frigate Le Président of 44 guns. In Feb. 1807 he became Master’s Mate of the Fame 74, Capt. Rich. Henry Alex. Bennett; and on 9 Oct. 1809, after having been employed off Cadiz and on boat-service at the defence of Rosas, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. His succeeding appointments were – 31 March, 1810, to the Standard 64, Capt. Aiskew Paffard Hollis, attached to the force in the Baltic – 29 Oct. following, to the Emerald 36, Capt. Fred. Lewis Maitland, under whom he served off the coast of Ireland and made a voyage to the Cape of Good Hope – and, 18 Dec. 1811, 14 June, 1812, and 29 March, 1814, to the Edinburgh 74, Capt. Robt. Rolles, Cerberus 32, Capt. Thos. Garth, and Revenge 74, flag-ship of Sir John Gore, all stationed in the Mediterranean. On 29 Jan. 1813 he commanded one of the boats of the Cerberus at the capture of a trabaccolo, armed with 2 guns, and deeply laden with corn and flour for the garrison of Corfu; he assisted, in the following May, in bringing out from under a martello tower, to the southward of Brindisi, a vessel mounting 1 6-poundcr, from Otranto bound to Ancona; and on 28 of the same month, taking charge of two boats belonging to the Cerberus, he participated, in conjunction with two others under the orders of Lieut. Wm. Henry Nares of the Apollo 38, in a most determined and gallant attack upon a convoy protected by 11 gun-boats near Otranto, where the cliffs were covered with French troops.[2] In the Revenge Lieut. Montagu served at the blockade of Venice and at the capture of Corfu. Attaining the rank of Commander 31 May, 1814, he was successively, 1 and 31 March, 1819, appointed in that capacity to the Cadmus and Brisk sloops; in the latter of which, until posted, 30 Nov. 1820, we find him actively employed in the suppression of smuggling. He assumed command, 7 June, 1828, of the Crocodile 28, fitting for the East Indies, whence he returned in the summer of 1832; and he was lastly, from 23 Nov. 1839 until March, 1841, employed in the Britannia 120 and Queen 110, as Flag-Captain to Sir Edw. Codrington, Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth. He accepted the Retirement 1 Oct. 1846.
Capt. Montagu married, 12 March, 1840, Isabella Elizabeth, daughter of Chas. Geo. Beauclerk, Esq., of St. Leonard’s Forest, Sussex, by whom he has issue.
MONTAGU. (Commander, 1841. f-p., 16; h-p., 12.)
John William Montagu is son of the late Admiral Robt. Montagu;[3] and a descendant of Admiral Sir Henry Montagu, M.P., who was created Earl of Sandwich as a reward for his loyalty in inducing the fleet to declare in favour of King Charles II. Commander Montagu’s grandfather, John, fourth Earl of Sandwich, was First Lord of the Admiralty in 1763, and again from 1771 to 1782.
This officer entered the Navy, 4 Dec. 1819, as Midshipman, on board the Phaeton 46, Capt. Wm. Augustus Montagu. After serving for two years and a half in that frigate on the coast of North America, he was next, from July, 1822, until Dec. 1825, employed in the Espiègle sloop, and colonial brig Wizard, in surveying the west coast of Africa, in cruizing in suppression of the slave-trade, and in civilizing the natives of Madagascar. Between 1 Jan. 1826, in the course of which year he passed his examination, and 3 Aug. 1827, Mr. Montagu appears to have been attached, at Portsmouth and on the coast of Ireland, to the Victory 104, William and Mary yacht. Tiger cutter, and Royal Charlotte yacht; the latter under the command of the present Sir Chas. Malcolm, by whom we find him officially described as a young officer of high promise, “zealous, manly, and steady in the performance of his duty.” He obtained a Lieutenant’s commission on 18 Sept. in the year last mentioned; and was subsequently appointed – 25 Aug. 1828, to the Britomart 10, Capts. Russell Henry Manners and Edw. John Johnson, employed on the coast of Portugal – 26 Oct. 1830, to the Revenge 78, Capts. Jas. Hillyar and Donald Hugh Mackay, in which ship he continued for about three years on the Home station – 16 Aug. 1834, as Second-Lieutenant (a rank he had for some time held in the Revenge), to the Malabar 74, Capt. Sir Wm. Augustus Montagu, with whom he served for two years, chiefly in the Mediterranean and off Lisbon – 20 Aug. 1839, for 12 months, to the Coast Guard in Norfolk and Kent – and 19 Aug. 1841, as Senior, to the Isis 44, Capt. Sir John Marshall, fitting at Chatham. He attained his present rank 23 Nov. 1841; and has since been on half-pay.
Commander Montagu is married and has issue. Agent – Frederick Dufaur.
MONTAGU. (Commander, 1815. f-p., 14; h-p., 34.)
Montagu Montagu entered the Navy, 6 April, 1799, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Dryad 36, Capts. Chas. John Moore Mansfield and Robt. Williams; with whom he continued employed on the
- ↑ Admiral John Montagu served his country with zeal and fidelity for 63 years. He commanded the squadron employed on the coast of North America previous to the colonial war; was afterwards appointed Governor of Newfoundland; and held the chief command at Portsmouth subsequent to the peace of 1783. He died in 1795.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1813, p. 1794.
- ↑ Admiral Robt. Montagu was confirmed a Post-Captain in the Seahorse of 20 guns, 3 March, 1781. He commanded the Exeter 64 in the action between Sir Edw. Hughes and M. de Suffrein, off Negapatnam, 6 July, 1782; and was afterwards appointed to the Flora 38, Aquilon 32, Sampson 64, and Hector and Cumberland 74’s. In consideration of his having, when in the Sampson in the autumn of 1794, convoyed 19 of the Hon.Co.’s ships home from the East Indies, in company with the Lion 64 (on board of which was Lord Macartney returning from his embassy to China), Capt. Montagu was presented, by the Court of Directors, with the sum of 350 guineas. In the Hector he served in Hotham’s partial action oi 13 July, 1795. Being advanced to the rank Rear-Admiral 14 Feb. 1799, he was subsequently, in 1801-2, employed in the chief command on the Jamaica station, vacant by the death of Lord Hugh Seymour; and, after the renewal of hostilities, in command of a part of the North Sea fleet under Lord Keith. He became a Vice-Admiral 9 Nov 1805; and a full Admiral 31 July, 1810.
the whole to about 800 sail, as far to the southward as Cape Finisterre. Immediately on the arrival of the intelligence of Lord Howe’s victory of 1 June, he was again ordered to sea in search of a valuable French convoy expected from America; and on 9 of that month, with eight 74-gun ships, one 64, and several frigates under his command, he fell in with the enemy’s fleet, consisting of 14 effective line-of-battle ships, and of 5 others which had been disabled in the recent battle. In the face of a force so superior the Rear-Admiral, of course, could only act on the defensive. After a few days’ further cruize he returned to Cadsand Bay and struck his flag. He was advanced to the rank of Vice-Admiral 1 June, 1790; and on 1 Jan. 1801 to that of full Admiral. From June, IS03, until Jan. 1809, he held the Office of Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth; and so highly did he acquire the respect and esteem of the Captains who during that period fitted out at the port, that in Aug. 18 10 he was presented, by a large body of them, with a superb piece of plate. He was nominated a G.C.B. in 1815; and died an Admiral of the Red in 1829.
