Vol 3 - Lackham Countryside Centre

The Manor of Lackham Vol 3 : The Montagu family
The supposed facts of GM’s apparently clandestine
marriage to Ann Courtenay, like some other suppositions
concerning his early life, are confusing and contradictory, as
has been pointed out by Cleevely (1978) 421 . Assuming Ann
was not yet sixteen she could not have married GM without
her parents’ consent, under English law. In theory she could
have done so if she had eloped to Scotland with her lover.
Under Scottish law, as then prevailing, anyone over [sic]
sixteen could be married without parental consent and
Gretna was favoured because it was often the first place
young lovers reached when fleeing from England to Scotland
Cleevely supports the suggestion of the elopement in his entry on
George Montagu in the DNB
Ann was a granddaughter of the Earl of Bute, Prime Minister to George
III. By this time George Montagu had been promoted to the rank of
lieutenant 422 .
Shortly after the marriage the regiment was sent to America 423 , this
was during the American War of Independence and it was here that the
Regiment earned one of its nicknames, The Snappers
“The Regiment had exhausted it’s supply of musket balls, but
still had powder. They were told to keep “snapping” which was
the act of charging a musket with powder only and firing it
off (rather similar to today’s blank ammunition). By doing this
the Regiment convinced their attackers that they still had
421 Cleevely RJ (1978) Some background to the life and publications of Colonel George
Montagu (1753-1815) Archives of Natural History * (4) pp 445-480
422 Badeni, J (1992) Past People in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire p67
It isn’t known whether this promotion was involved or a later one, but James Montagu
“noted [in his will] that he had already spent £1,500 to advance his son George in the
Army”
423 Cunnington, W (1852) Memoir of George Montagu WAM III
105