Montague James Mathew
Encyclopedia
Lieutenant General
Montague James Mathew (18 August 1773 - 19 March 1819) was an Anglo-Irish
soldier and politician, a member
of the Irish House of Commons
for Ballynakill
until 1800 and of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom for County Tipperary
from 1806 until his death in 1819.
In politics, he was both a Whig and a supporter of Catholic Emancipation
and other Roman Catholic causes
, which brought him into conflict with many members of his class in Ireland
.
as a Cornet
in 1792, became a Lieutenant
in 1793, and on 13 September 1794 was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel in the 114th Foot
, a new regiment raised that year by his father. He was further promoted Colonel
in 1800, Major General
on 25 April 1808, and Lieutenant General
on 4 June 1813.
From 1797 to 1800, Mathew was a member of the Irish House of Commons
for Ballynakill
in what was then Queen's County
, succeeding Eyre Coote.
In 1806, Mathew was proposed as a member of Dublin's Kildare Street Club
but was blackballed by no fewer than eighty-five members, so was rejected. His brother Francis Mathew, 2nd Earl Landaff
, denounced the "eighty-five scoundrels", who he claimed had all promised him they would give his brother their support, and stalked out of the Club, never to return.
Mathew was first elected as a Member of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom for County Tipperary
in November 1806, succeeding his brother Francis when he became an Irish representative peer
in the House of Lords
, and held the seat until his death in 1819. In politics, he was a Whig. On 22 January 1808, the Tory
Sir Arthur Wellesley
, Chief Secretary for Ireland
, wrote to the Duke of Richmond
:
On 5 May 1808, Mathew urged Wellesley and Perceval's government to increase its financial support for St Patrick's College, Maynooth
, reminding them of a recent offer made by order of Napoleon Bonaparte to encourage Irish students to go from Lisbon
to France
for their education and promising them financial assistance.
In 1809, the magazine Select reviews reported that
On 6 June 1811 Mathew was appointed Colonel of the 99th Foot
.
In 1815 the parliamentary sketch-writer Thomas Barnes wrote of Mathew that he showed "...all the characteristic fervour of his countrymen in favour of the cause of the Catholics
, but at the same time evinces a blindness of blundering greater than even foolish illiberality ever ascribed to his nation".
Mathew never married. He died suddenly, and intestate
, at Castle Fogerty, Thurles
, County Tipperary, on 19 March 1819. He was buried at his ancestral home, Thomastown in the parish of Kilfeacle
. Of his death it was later recorded that he was "one of the last of the four-bottle men in the county", and that he had died at dinner.
A distant relation noted in 1890:
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
Montague James Mathew (18 August 1773 - 19 March 1819) was an Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...
soldier and politician, a member
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
of the Irish House of Commons
Irish House of Commons
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords...
for Ballynakill
Ballynakill (Parliament of Ireland constituency)
Ballynakill was a constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons until 1800.-History:In the Patriot Parliament of 1689 summoned by King James II, Ballynakill was not represented.-1689–1801:...
until 1800 and of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom for County Tipperary
Tipperary (UK Parliament constituency)
Tipperary, also known as Tipperary County, was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which from 1801 to 1885 returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.-Boundaries:...
from 1806 until his death in 1819.
In politics, he was both a Whig and a supporter of Catholic Emancipation
Catholic Emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in Great Britain and Ireland in the late 18th century and early 19th century which involved reducing and removing many of the restrictions on Roman Catholics which had been introduced by the Act of Uniformity, the Test Acts and the penal laws...
and other Roman Catholic causes
Roman Catholicism in Ireland
The Catholic Church in Ireland is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, the Christian Church with full communion with the Pope, currently Benedict XVI...
, which brought him into conflict with many members of his class in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
Life
The second son of the first Earl Landaff (c. 1738-1806), Matthew was a regular army officer. He was commissioned into the British ArmyBritish Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
as a Cornet
Cornet (military rank)
Cornet was originally the third and lowest grade of commissioned officer in a British cavalry troop, after captain and lieutenant. A cornet is a new and junior officer.- Traditional duties :The cornet carried the troop standard, also known as a "cornet"....
in 1792, became a Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in 1793, and on 13 September 1794 was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel in the 114th Foot
114th Regiment of Foot (1794)
The 114th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1794 to 1795.It was raised in April 1794 and was disbanded the following year.-References:*, regiments.org...
, a new regiment raised that year by his father. He was further promoted Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in 1800, Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
on 25 April 1808, and Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
on 4 June 1813.
From 1797 to 1800, Mathew was a member of the Irish House of Commons
Irish House of Commons
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords...
for Ballynakill
Ballynakill (Parliament of Ireland constituency)
Ballynakill was a constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons until 1800.-History:In the Patriot Parliament of 1689 summoned by King James II, Ballynakill was not represented.-1689–1801:...
in what was then Queen's County
County Laois
County Laois is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It was formerly known as Queen's County until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. The county's name was formerly spelt as Laoighis and Leix. Laois County Council...
, succeeding Eyre Coote.
In 1806, Mathew was proposed as a member of Dublin's Kildare Street Club
Kildare Street Club
The Kildare Street Club was a gentlemen's club in Dublin, Ireland, at the heart of the Anglo-Irish Protestant Ascendancy.The Club remained in Kildare Street between 1782 and 1977, when it merged with the Dublin University Club...
but was blackballed by no fewer than eighty-five members, so was rejected. His brother Francis Mathew, 2nd Earl Landaff
Francis Mathew, 2nd Earl Landaff
Francis James Mathew, 2nd Earl Landaff KP , styled The Honourable Francis Mathew from 1783 to 1797 and Viscount Mathew from 1797 to 1806, was an Irish peer and politician....
, denounced the "eighty-five scoundrels", who he claimed had all promised him they would give his brother their support, and stalked out of the Club, never to return.
Mathew was first elected as a Member of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom for County Tipperary
Tipperary (UK Parliament constituency)
Tipperary, also known as Tipperary County, was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which from 1801 to 1885 returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.-Boundaries:...
in November 1806, succeeding his brother Francis when he became an Irish representative peer
Representative peer
In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords...
in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, and held the seat until his death in 1819. In politics, he was a Whig. On 22 January 1808, the Tory
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
Sir Arthur Wellesley
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
, Chief Secretary for Ireland
Chief Secretary for Ireland
The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, from the late 18th century until the end of British rule he was effectively the government minister with responsibility for governing Ireland; usually...
, wrote to the Duke of Richmond
Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond
Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, 4th Duke of Lennox KG, PC was a British soldier and politician and Governor General of British North America.-Background:...
:
On 5 May 1808, Mathew urged Wellesley and Perceval's government to increase its financial support for St Patrick's College, Maynooth
St Patrick's College, Maynooth
St Patrick's College, Maynooth is the "National Seminary for Ireland" , and a Pontifical University, located in the village of Maynooth, 15 miles from Dublin, Ireland. The college and seminary are often referred to as Maynooth College. The college was officially established as the Royal College...
, reminding them of a recent offer made by order of Napoleon Bonaparte to encourage Irish students to go from Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
for their education and promising them financial assistance.
In 1809, the magazine Select reviews reported that
99th (Lanarkshire) Regiment of Foot
The 99th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1824 and amalgamated into The Duke of Edinburgh's in 1881....
.
In 1815 the parliamentary sketch-writer Thomas Barnes wrote of Mathew that he showed "...all the characteristic fervour of his countrymen in favour of the cause of the Catholics
Roman Catholicism in Ireland
The Catholic Church in Ireland is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, the Christian Church with full communion with the Pope, currently Benedict XVI...
, but at the same time evinces a blindness of blundering greater than even foolish illiberality ever ascribed to his nation".
Mathew never married. He died suddenly, and intestate
Intestacy
Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies owning property greater than the sum of their enforceable debts and funeral expenses without having made a valid will or other binding declaration; alternatively where such a will or declaration has been made, but only applies to part of...
, at Castle Fogerty, Thurles
Thurles
Thurles is a town situated in North Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Eliogarty and is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly...
, County Tipperary, on 19 March 1819. He was buried at his ancestral home, Thomastown in the parish of Kilfeacle
Golden, County Tipperary
Golden is a village in South Tipperary in Ireland. The village is situated on the River Suir. It is located between the towns of Cashel and Tipperary on the N74 road. In older times the village was known as Goldenbridge...
. Of his death it was later recorded that he was "one of the last of the four-bottle men in the county", and that he had died at dinner.
A distant relation noted in 1890: