Charles Montagu (governor)

Lord Charles Montagu

Lord Charles Greville Montagu (born May 29, 1741 - February 3, 1784 in Guysborough County , Nova Scotia ) was a British colonial governor of the Province of South Carolina .

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Charles Montagu was the second son of Robert Montagu, 3rd Duke of Manchester (1710–1762). He studied at Christ Church College , which is part of the University of Oxford . He then began a political career. Between 1762 and 1765 he represented Huntingdonshire in the British House of Commons . In 1766 he was appointed the new colonial governor of the Province of South Carolina. There he replaced Acting Governor William Bull II on June 12, 1766 . He held this office until May 1768. In the following years, two further terms followed (October 30, 1768 to July 31, 1769 and from September 15, 1771 to March 6, 1773). In the meantime he has always been temporarily represented by Lieutenant Governor Bull.

In his early days as governor, he pardoned some criminals. Later he came into conflict with the colonial parliament. It was mainly and financial issues such as B. the question of the legality of UK taxes. Montagu dissolved parliament several times. The elections that followed did not change the existing problems. In his last term of office he also had to deal with emerging aspirations that were to lead to the War of Independence a little later . In the meantime he returned to England, where he ran unsuccessfully for his return to the House of Commons in 1774. During the Revolutionary War, he tried to win American prisoners of war for the British armed forces. In the meantime, he himself became a prisoner of war. But he was soon released. After the British defeat, Montagu and the British troops left South Carolina forever. He settled in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, where he died on February 3, 1784.

Web links

• Montagu in the South Carolina Encyclopedia
• Montagu at Carolana.Com
• Montagu at The History of Parliament