Henry Robinson Montagu 6th Baron Rokeby 1798 - 1883

Lieutenant General Henry Robinson Montague 6th Baron Rokeby 1798 - 1883 was the  Commander of the 1st Division of the British Armed Forces during the mid-late 1850s.

Baron Rokeby was a Patron of the London Homeopathic Hospital, and a sponsor of Mary Jane Seacole, and he experienced the benefits of homeopathy personally during his service in the Crimea.

Rokeby fought at the Battle of Waterloo and was related by marriage to Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington,

He lived at Hazelwood, Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire from 1838 until his death.

On 11-12th June 1855, a fund raising Bazaar was held for the London Homeopathic Hospital at the Riding School of the Cavalry Barracks in Kensington, attended by the Marchioness of Aylesbury, the Duchess of Beaufort, Augusta and Honora Cadogan, Augusta Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Mary of Cambridge, the Countess of Craven, Mrs. Crisp, Mrs. Drysdale, Lady Ebury, Mrs. Fussell, Mrs. Hamilton, Mrs. Joseph Hoar, Baron Knesebech, Mrs. Leadam, Miss Meymott, Mrs. Moore, Viscountess Newport, Lady Rokeby, Mrs. Rosher, Alphonse de Rothschild, the Duchess of St. Arpino, Grand Duchess Mecklenburg Strelitz, Mrs. Wilkinson, Lady Willoughby de Broke, the Countess of Wilton, Mrs. Yeldham - on sale were items donated to the cause by Princess Alice, the Duchess of Kent, the Princess of Prussia, and many others,

With thanks to Peter Morrell and the Illustrated London News April 1858:

The supporters of homeopathy are now striving to establish a large metropolitan hospital, which shall be conducted according to the principles inculcated by Hahnemann, which will be a school for homeopathic students, and which will afford to allopathic physicians the means of inquiring into the merits of the new doctrine and practice.

A public dinner in aid of the building fund of this charity took place on Wednesday, April 21 at Willis’s Rooms, when the Duke of Beaufort, George Ponsonby O’Callaghan 2nd Viscount Lismore, Arthur de Vere Capell Viscount Malden, Lord Rokeby, Lord Grey de Wilton, Lord Cosmo Russell, Robert Grosvenor, Mr Truman MP, Major Blake, Edmund Gardiner Fishbourne, *H D Pritchard, Mr Sheriff Rutherford, Frederick Hervey Foster Quin, John Rutherford Russell, and about 150 other gentlemen, known as supporters and practitioners of homeopathy in the metropolis and in the provinces.

The usual toasts were given, viz– “The Queen;” “The Prince Consort and the Royal Family;” and “The Army and Navy,” responded to by Lord Rokeby and Edmund Gardiner Fishbourne, who alluded to their experience of the benefits personally derived by them from homeopathy during their service in the Niger expedition and in the Crimea.

On 10.6.1858, another fund raising event was held in support of the London Homeopathic Hospital at the Riding School of the Cavalry Barracks in Kensington, attended by Colonel Parker, the Duchess of Abercorn, Lady Acton, the Marchioness of Aberdeen, the Marchioness of Aylesbury, Viscountess Barrington, the Duchess of Beaufort, the Countess of Bradford, Lady Bryant, Erneste de Bunsen, Burne, Adelaide Cadogan, Augusta Duchess of Cambridge, Georgiana Codrington, the Countess of Cowley, the Countess of Craven, Curson, Blanche Dapplin, Lady Ebury, Lady Elcho, the Marchioness of Exeter, Lady Forester, the Countess of Gainesborough, the Countess of Glengall, Lady Gray of Gray, Lady Charlotte Greville, Lady Hall of Hanover, the Countess of Harrowby, Lady Ellinor Hopwood, the Countess of Kinnoull, Viscountess Lismore, Lady Lynd L’emplemore, the Duchess of Manchester, the Duchess of Montrose, Henrietta Morant, Viscountess Newport, Adeliza Norman, Lady Caroline Paget, the Duchess of Richmond, Lady Rokeby, Lady Cosmo Russell, the Countess of Sandwich, Lady Elizabeth de Emily Seymour, Viscountess Sidmouth, Villers, Lady Smith, Mrs. Felix Vaughn Smith, Mrs. Dudly Ward, Lady Willoughby, the Countess of Wilton, the Countess of Winchelsea,

General Henry Montagu 6th Baron Rokeby was born on 2 February 1798. He was the son of Matthew Montagu 4th Baron Rokeby and Elizabeth Charlton.

He married Magdalen Hurley, daughter of Lt. Col. Thomas Hurley and Mary Dallas, on 18 December 1826. He died on 25 May 1883 at age 85.

General Henry Montagu 6th Baron Rokeby gained the rank of Ensign in 1814 in the service of the 3rd Regiment Foot Guards. He fought in the Battle of Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815. He fought in the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815.

He succeeded to the title of 8th Baronet Robinson on 7 April 1847. He succeeded to the title of 6th Baron Rokeby of Armagh on 7 April 1847.

He fought in the Crimean War in 1854. He gained the rank of Major General in 1854. He gained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1854 in the service of the Scots Guards. He was invested as a Knight Commander, Order of the Bath (K.C.B.) in 1856. He gained the rank of Lieutenant General in 1861. He gained the rank of General in 1869. He was invested as a Knight Grand Cross, Order of the Bath (G.C.B.) in 1875.

Child of General Henry Montagu 6th Baron Rokeby: Magdalen (Lily) Montagu d. 30 Sep 1919; Children of General Henry Montagu 6th Baron Rokeby and Magdalen Hurley: Harriet Lydia Montagu d. 23 Nov 1894; Mary Montagu d. 6 Sep 1868; Elizabeth Montagu; Edmund Montagu b. 1835, d. 1852.

The Rokeby peerage became extinct on Henry’s death on 25 May 1883.

Of interest:

Magdalen ‘Lily’ Montagu 1831 - 1919, daughter of Henry Montagu 6th Baron Rokeby and his wife Magdalen Huxley, married Gerald Valerian Wellesley, the son of Henry Wellesley 1st Baron Cowley, the youngest brother of Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington,

Rokeby was a friend and sponsor of Mary Jane Seacole, who left him a diamond ring in her will. Rokeby attended the “Seacole Fund Grand Military Festival” which was held at the Royal Surrey Gardens, from Monday 27 July to Thursday 30 July 1857, with the intention of keeping Mary Jane Seacole in the public eye, and her autobiography published in 1857 was dedicated to Rokeby,