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Matthew Montagu, 4th Baron Rokeby (23 November 1762 – 1 September 1831), FRS, known as Matthew Robinson until 1776, was a British Member of Parliament, and briefly a baronet and Peer of the Realm.

Early life

Montagu was born Matthew Robinson on 23 November 1762 and was baptised in the parish of St Andrew Holborn. He was the second son of Jane (née Greenland) Robinson and Morris Robinson, an attorney of the Six Clerks Office in Chancery of London. He was the younger brother of Morris Robinson, 3rd Baron Rokeby and nephew of Matthew Robinson, 2nd Baron Rokeby.

He was the favoured nephew of Elizabeth (Robinson) Montagu (widow of Edward Montagu, grandson of the Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich), at whose request he took the name of Montagu on 3 June 1776 by Royal Licence in advance of inheriting her estate at Sandleford Priory in Berkshire and elsewhere.

He was educated at Harrow School from 1775 to 1780 and Trinity College, Cambridge in 1780.

Career

A "faithful follower of Pitt", Montagu represented the Cornish constituencies of Bossiney (1786–1790) and Tregony (1790–1795) in the Parliament of Great Britain; and St Germans (1806–1812) in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Montagu was a friend and supporter of William Wilberforce, and thus favoured the abolition of the slave trade. Wilberforce stayed at Sandleford from 27th to the 28th of July, 1789:

27th. Set off for Bath and reached Sandleford. The old lady wonderfully spirited, are all very kind in their reception. 28th. Almost compelled to stay with the Montagus all day. Mrs. Montagu senior has many fine, and great, and amiable qualities. Young Montagu all gratitude and respect and affection to her and of most upright and pure intentions.

Wilberforce was at Sandleford one night in July 1791:

Monday 28 July. Off betimes on Sierra Leone business-reached Sandleford (M. Montagu's) in the evening. Dr. Beattie was already arrived.

In 1829, he succeeded his brother as 4th Baron Rokeby in the Irish peerage and the 6th Baronet of Rokeby Park.

Fellow of the Royal Society

Montagu was elected a fellow in 1795. His proposers were Arden, Lucas Pepys, J. Rennell, John Sinclair, G. Shuckburgh Evelyn, William Marsden, George, 16th Earl of Morton, Pat Russell, George Atwood, John Henniker Major, and C. F. Greville.

Personal life

On 9 July 1785, Montagu married Elizabeth Charlton, daughter and heir of Francis Charlton of Kent. Before her death, they had six sons and seven daughters, including:

• Edward Montagu, 5th Baron Rokeby (1787–1847), who died unmarried in Naples.
• Henry Robinson-Montagu, 6th Baron Rokeby (1798–1883), who married Magdalen (née Huxley) Croft, the daughter of Thomas Huxley and widow of Frederick Croft.
• Hon. John Montagu (d. 1848), a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Coldstream Guards.
• Hon. Elizabeth Montagu (d. 1875), who married Charles Oldfield Bowles, son of Oldfield Bowles, in 1815.
• Hon. Catherine Montagu (d. 1865), who married Edward Goulburn, son of Munbee Goulburn and Hon. Susannah Chetwynd (a daughter of the 4th Viscount Chetwynd), in 1831.
• Hon. Spencer Dudley Montagu (1807–1882), a cricketer who married Anna Louisa Flint, a daughter of Sir C. W. Flint, in 1842. They divorced and he then married Henrietta Elizabeth Harriet Pemberton, a daughter of C. R. Pemberton, in 1868.
• Hon. Caroline Montagu (d. 1867), who married William Godolphin Osborne, son of Francis Osborne, 1st Baron Godolphin, in 1843.
• Hon. Jane Montagu (d. 1857), who married politician Henry Goulburn, also a son of Munbee Goulburn and Hon. Susannah Chetwynd, in 1811.
• Hon. Mary Montagu (d. 1877), who married Col. Robert Ellison of the Grenadier Guards in 1820.
• Hon. Eleanor Montagu (d. 1847), who married politician John-Nicholas Fazakerley in 1822.
• Hon. Emily Montague (d. 1832), who died unmarried.

His wife died on died 7 March 1817, before he succeeded to the barony. Lord Rokeby died at Montagu House, Portman Square on 1 September 1831. He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son, Edward. Upon Edward's death in Naples in 1847, the titles passed to his younger son Henry upon whose death the baronetcy and barony became extinct.

References

1. Rokeby.), Matthew MONTAGU (Baron) (1830). Minutes of evidence taken before the Committee for Privileges, to whom the petition of ... Matthew Baron Rokeby ... praying that his right to vote at the Election of Peers of Ireland to sit in the Parliament of the United Kingdom may be admitted, stands referred. p. 11. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
2. ^ Cokayne, George Edward (1895). Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, Or Dormant. G. Bell & sons. pp. 390–393. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
3. ^ Thorne, R. G. (1986). "MONTAGU, Matthew (1762–1831), of Sandleford Priory, nr. Newbury, Berks. and Montagu House, Portman Square, Mdx.". In Thorne, R. G. (ed.). The House of Commons 1790–1820. The History of Parliament Trust.
4. The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754–1790, edited by Lewis Namier, John Brooke, 1964.
5. R. G. Thorne in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790–1820, edited by R. G. Thorne, 1986.
6. The life of William Wilberforce, by Robert Isaac and Samuel Wilberforce, 1839, page 236.
7. The life of William Wilberforce, by Robert Isaac and Samuel Wilberforce, 1839, page 306.
8. Royal Society archive
9. ^ L. G. Pine, The New Extinct Peerage 1884-1971: Containing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms (London, U.K.: Heraldry Today, 1972), page 237.

• 1762 births
• 1831 deaths
• People from Newbury, Berkshire
• People educated at Harrow School
• Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
• Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall
• Barons in the Peerage of Ireland
• People associated with Sandleford, Berkshire
• British MPs 1784–1790
• British MPs 1790–1796
• Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Cornwall
• UK MPs 1806–1807
• UK MPs 1807–1812
• UK MPs who inherited peerages
• Fellows of the Royal Society