Hector Munro, 8th Laird of Novar
Alexander Cumming-Gordon | |
---|---|
In office 1768–1801 | |
Preceded by | Sir Alexander Grant |
Succeeded by | Himself, as a member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom |
Personal details | |
Born | 1726 Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Kingdom of Great Britain |
Branch/service | British Army |
Years of service | 1747–1782 |
Rank | General |
Unit | Loudon's Highlanders, 31st Foot, 34th Foot, 48th Foot, 70th Foot, 89th Foot |
Commands | Commander-in-Chief of Bengal |
Battles/wars | Jacobite rising of 1745 Battle of Buxar Second Anglo-Mysore War |
General Sir Hector Munro, 8th Laird of Novar, KB (/mənˈroʊ/; 1726 – 27 December 1805) was a Scottish army officer and politician who served as the ninth Commander-in-Chief of Bengal from 1764 to 1765.
Early military career in Scotland
He was the son of Hugh Munro, 7th laird of Novar, in Ross, Scotland. His family also had a home at Clayside in Golspie, Sutherland, which was then a collection of cottages and not the formed town that it later became. He served in the Golspie militia which fought on the Government side at the Battle of Littleferry on 15 April 1746 in Sutherland where the Jacobites were defeated.[1][2] He entered the regular army at an early age, probably in the 64th (Loudon's Highlanders) Regiment of Foot in 1747.
Hector is said to have got his first commission in the army after helping the Duchess of Gordon who was travelling alone in Sutherland.[3] Hector took over from a drunken coachman and brought her to safety. The Duchess later used her influence to procure him a Lieutenant's commission in the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot.[3]
Hector's family home was at Novar House. Early maps call it 'Tenuer' (Scottish Gaelic: Tigh 'n fhuamhair, house of the giant).[4]
Apprehension of Jacobite rebels
In 1753, or 1754,[3] Hector Munro was ordered to Badenoch with three squadrons of Dragoons to apprehend certain rebels in that district, with special instructions to apprehend John Du Cameron, better known as "Sergent Mòr".[3] Hector Munro captured Cameron after he was betrayed by a local farmer.[3] John Cameron was soon afterwards executed in Perth.[3]
Hector Munro was also tasked with capturing Ewen MacPherson of Cluny, who took part in the Jacobite rising of 1745.[3] However, Macpherson evaded Munro's grasp and escaped to France.[3] Macpherson tradition is that one day Munro, with a large party of soldiers, surrounded Macpherson's house.[3] With no means of escape, Macpherson dressed himself as a footman or groom, came forward and held Lieutenant Munro's horse while Munro searched his house for him.[3] On return Munro is said to have handed the groom a shilling and then rode off. Another version of the story, however, is that Munro of Novar actually knew Macpherson quite well and winked at him as he threw him the grooms fee.[3]
In 1759 he was appointed major in the newly raised 89th (Highland) Regiment of Foot.[3]
War in India
In December 1760, The 89th regiment embarked at
The 89th had no particular station assigned to it, but kept moving from place to place until a strong detachment under Major Hector Munro joined the army under the command of Major
Major Munro received a letter of thanks on the occasion from the President and Council of
Member of Parliament
In 1768, Returning home, he was elected as
Return to India
Later in 1778 Munro took
In 1782, the Fyrish Monument was ordered built by Munro in Fyrish, near Evanton, Easter Ross, Scotland. He did this to provide work for the local unemployed population.
In 1787, he was given the colonelcy of the
Family
Sir Hector Munro, 8th laird of Novar having reached the full rank of General finally retired in 1798.[3] He died unmarried on or about 27 December 1805 at Novar House. He had four natural children by different mothers:
- Hector Sutherland Munro, born 10 July 1775 (but baptised and indexed in error only as Hector Sutherland). erroneously identified the victim as his half-brother Hugh (below)
- Hugh Munro born 22 March 1777, who joined the East India Company as a Writer in 1796,[14] and rose to be a Senior Merchant, Collector and Mintmaster of Bombay. His father, who held the post of Barrack Master of North Britain, appears to have appointed him Deputy.[3] He died in 1814, aboard the Henry Addington, on the journey home from India via China.
- Alexander Munro, baptised 26 July 1787, who also joined the East India Company as a cadet in 1803 and died, said to have been devoured by a shark,[3] at Bombay on 12 November 1804.[15]
- Jane Munro, who married Sir Ronald Crawford Ferguson of Raith, county of Fife. She died in 1803, shortly after the birth of her second child. Her son Robert Munro-Ferguson of Raith and grandson Ronald Munro-Ferguson, 1st Viscount Novar later succeeded to the Novar estate, in accordance with the terms of the entail executed by Jane's father Sir Hector Munro.[3]
Sir Hector Munro, 8th laird of Novar was initially succeeded by his brother, Sir Alexander Munro, 9th of Novar who was Consul-General at Madrid and then Commissioner of Customs in England.[3] Alexander first married his cousin Margaret Munro (d. 1768) but their only son Capt. Alexander Munro was killed in India in 1778. Alexander remarried Miss Johnstone, sister of General Johnstone of Auchen Castle, Dumfries[3] with two sons and a daughter. He was succeeded by his third son Hugh Andrew Johnstone Munro of Novar who himself left several illegitimate children including Hugh Andrew Johnstone Munro.[3] However, as already mentioned, on the death of Hugh Andrew Johnstone Munro of Novar the estate of Novar passed to Colonel Robert Munro-Ferguson, son of Jane Munro, natural daughter of General Sir Hector Munro, 8th of Novar.[3] The Munro-Fergusons of Novar, descendants of Robert Munro-Ferguson's daughter Alice, are still in possession of the Novar Estate today.
References
- ^ Marriott, Patrick (2022). The Battle of Littleferry - A History and Trail Guide. Sutherland: Golspie Heritage Society. pp. 8, 9.
- The Press and Journal. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Mackenzie, Alexander. (1898). History of the Munros of Fowlis. pp. 515–536.
- ^ Munro, R. W. (1987). Mapping the Clan Munro. Published by the Clan Munro Association. Printed by Lindsay & Co Ltd, Edinburgh.
- Stewart of Garth, David. (1822). Sketches of the Highlanders of Scotland, Volume II. John Donald Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh, p. 28.
- ^ Fortescue, John William. (2004). A History of the British Army: Volume III. The Naval and Military Press. Uckfield, Sussex. p. 102
- ^ a b public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Munro, Hector". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 10. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19546. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ British India Office Births and Baptism IOR/L/MIL/9/109/405-06
- ^ East India Company Cadet Register IOR/L/MIL/9/255/88v, 89v
- ^ Madras Courier (10 Jan 1793)
- ^ Seton-Karr, Walter Scott (1865). "The 3rd January 1793. Extract from a letter from a passenger on board the "Ardaseer", dated Cox's Island, December 22nd, 1792". Selections from Calcutta Gazettes of the Years 1789, 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1796, and 1797. Vol. 2. Calcutta: O. T. Cutter, Military Orphan Press. p. 359. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
...when, in the midst of our merriment, surrounded by dandees cutting wood, and ourselves not a little noisy, an exceeding large and ferocious royal tiger rushed in among us from the jungle at our backs, and, to the unspeakable horror and grief of us all, seized on the much-regretted Munro, and carried him off, though neither of us were three yards distant at the time.
- ^ Munro, Colin (4 January 2018). "Thus were the British defeated". London Review of Books. 40 (1): 21–22.
- ^ British India Office Births and Baptisms IOR/J/1/16/121-24 : 1796
- ^ Bombay Courier (19 Nov 1804)
External links
- Portraits of Sir Hector Munro at the National Portrait Gallery, London
- Portrait of Sir Hector Munro at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery
- Lee, Sidney, ed. (1894). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 39. London: Smith, Elder & Co.