Its owners and some historical connections - Lackham Countryside ...

The Manor of Alderton 3rd edition
Frederick Conway Courtenay Montagu 337 and two daughters.
George received a commission in the Wiltshire Militia after leaving the Army,
he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. At this time (1794) a subscription
was raised to augment the regiment by purchasing two field pieces, that one of
the companies may be trained to the guns 338 .
He was a famous naturalist, publishing several books, the best known of which
were the Ornithological Dictionary (1802 ) & Testacea Brittanica (1803) 339 ; his
bird collection went to the British Museum and the Montagu Harrier is named
after him 340 . He also named many species, an example being the sea slug 341 .
He was one of the earliest members of the Linnaen Society, joining in 1788. It
has been said that he “played a not insignificant role in the development of
modern biology” 342 .
“His great contribution was to establish scrupulous standards in the
acceptance of evidence which for many years were not to be
surpassed. This was precisely what [natural history] needed at that
particular stage in it’s history: a man without blinkers, prepared to
337
Cunnington, (1852) Memoir of George Montagu WAM III p 91 He was brigade
Officer in the 23 rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers under Lord Baesford when he was killed at
the Battle of Albuera in Portugal, aged 26
338 Kite (1899) Old Lackham House and its contents Wilts Notes and Queries III
339 see Dictionary of National Biography for a full publication list. He was a
correspondent of Gilbert White’s.
340 Falco cineraceus, identified by Montagu, was given the name Montagu’s Harrier by L.
P.Viellot after Montagu’s death (Badeni (1992) ibid p 71)
341
Thecacera pennigera (Montagu, 1815)
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINIA
Family: Polyceridae
Subfamily: Polyceridae
Distribution : originally reported from the Atlantic coast of Europe, it is now known
from South Africa, Pakistan, Japan, Brazil, eastern Australia and New Zealand.
342 http:/www.Montagumillenium.com/research/h_1815_george.htm
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