THE KING'S COLOUR, 96TH REGIMENT OF FOOT (MONSON'S), CIRCA 1761-65
SOLD BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE 10TH BARON MONSON
THE KING'S COLOUR, 96TH REGIMENT OF FOOT (MONSON'S), CIRCA 1761-65 of silk, sewn from twelve white, eight blue and three red pieces to form a Union Flag of the type in use 1707-1800 and embroidered in the centre with a Union Wreath, of roses and thistles, in coloured silks enclosing, in silver wire and yellow silk thread, the title REGT, over the numerals XCVI; a hoist tube of crimson silk; some slight damage in the upper hoist corner and some contemporary patching of small holes 167.7cm; 66in x 198.2cm; 78in This Colour would have been one of two used by the regiment in the four years of its existence; the other Colour would have been the Regimental Colour, which would have been of the regimental 'facing' colour (buff) with a similar design in the centre and a small Union Flag in the canton.
96th Foot (Monson's) was formed in India early in 1761 from four companies of 70th Foot (Parslow's) and five Independent Companies, all of which had been shipped from Britain for the purpose. Command of the 96th was given to The Hon. George Monson (1730-76), third son of 1st Baron Monson, who had gone to India in 1759 as major in 79th Foot (Draper's) and distinguished himself at the siege and capture of Pondicherry, being promoted lieutenant-colonel in 1760. During 1761 and 1762, the 96th was divided between Bombay and Madras, with a detachment at Tellicherry, and in 1762 Monson served as quartermaster-general during an expedition to Manila in the Philippines. In May 1763, the 96th was united in Madras as part of a force being formed to undertake punitive action against the ruler of the Carnatic city and province of Madura, which was besieged by the force, commanded by Monson, by the end of August. Madura proving a tougher nut to crack than expected, the siege failed, with the 96th being in action against native cavalry and in the besieging trenches for the remainder of 1763 but being withdrawn to Madras in mid-December that year: the small patched holes in this Colour may have resulted from it having been damaged in action at Madura August-December 1763. Monson sailed for home in May 1764 and some elements of his regiment fought at the battle of Buxar in October 1764; given its provenance, it seems probable that Monson brought this Colour home with him. Those officers and men of the 96th who had not elected to remain in India in other regiments, or in the East India Company's service, probably returned to Britain in 1764 and 1765: the regiment is considered as having ceased to exist by 1765.
See A. Cormack 2006, pp. 215-222, esp. pp. 217-221.
Lot 230
Price paid £16,800
Estimate £3,000-5,000
Buyer US Institutional Collection
The King’s Colour, 96th Regiment of Foot (Monson’s), circa 1761-65.
A bit more information on,
George Monson, Brig. Gen., Hon.
Birthdate: 1730
Death: circa September 1776
Hooghly, India
Immediate Family: Son of John Monson, 1st Baron Monson of Burton and Margaret Watson, Baroness Monson
Husband of Lady Anne Monson / Hall, of Darlington
Brother of John Monson, 2nd Baron Monson of Burton and Lewis Watson, 1st Baron Sondes
About George Monson, Brig. Gen., Hon.
between 1759 and 1764 (Age 29) Served in India with the 96th Regiment of Foot, including at the siege of Madura
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George Monson, Brig. Gen., Hon.'s Timeline
1730 1730 Birth of George
1776 September 1776
Age 46 Death of George at Hooghly, India
Hooghly, India
Constituency
Dates
LINCOLN
1754 - 1768
Family and Education
b. 18 Apr. 1730, 3rd s. of John, 1st Baron Monson, by Lady Margaret Watson, da. of Lewis, 1st Earl of Rockingham. educ. Westminster 1738; Grand Tour 1747-9. m. 1757, Anne, da. of Henry, 1st Earl of Darlington, div. w. of Charles Hope Weir, s.p.
Offices Held
Ensign 1 Ft. Gds. 1750, lt. and capt. 1753, maj. 64 Ft. 1757, lt.-col. 1760; lt.-col. commdt. 96 Ft. 1761-3; brig.-gen. (India only) 1763; col. army 1769; col. 50 Ft. 1775- d.
Groom of the bedchamber to Prince of Wales 1756-60, to the King 1760-3.
Biography
In 1754 Monson contested Lincoln on his brother’s interest, and topped the poll after a corrupt and expensive election. On 6 Nov. 1757 Newcastle wrote to Sir John Ligonier, that had he known about the appointments of officers for the East Indies, he would have recommended a very near relation of his:1
Captain Monson of the Guards, who is a very pretty young man, and only wishes to go abroad, anywhere, to serve. I have long recommended him to the Duke, but without success. H.R.H. ... was pleased some time ago, to offer him to purchase a majority for £1200, but poor man, he had not the money, though his brother my Lord Monson spent above £6000 to choose him for Lincoln. The favour I now ask for him (who is a pretty old captain) is a majority; he would like it best in America, the East or West Indies, or at Gibraltar, that he might be on service.
On 18 Nov. Monson was appointed major in the 64 Foot and sailed for India, 5 Mar. 1758. He was second-in-command at the siege of Pondicherry, 1761, and was to have superseded Eyre Coote, but was seriously wounded. Monson, who distinguished himself at the capture of Manilla, 1762, was appointed a brigadier-general in India in 1763, and returned to England in December 1764.2 Even now, Gilly Williams wrote to George Selwyn, 19 Mar. 1765:3
His friends see ... little of him. He lives shut up with Lady Anne, and is going to settle for life in some remote county ... he has never been at White’s, and not twice at the House of Commons.
In Rockingham’s list of July 1765 he was classed as a supporter; in that of November 1766 as ‘Whig’, and in Newcastle’s of 2 Mar. 1767 as ‘friend’. But he did not vote on the land tax, 27 Feb. 1767; and it is uncertain whether he voted on the nullum tempus bill, 17 Feb. 1768—in Rockingham’s list he is shown to have voted with the Opposition, from the lists of Burke and Almon he is absent. There is no record of his having spoken in the House.
Monson did not stand again in 1768, though he was willing to do so in 1770 when a vacancy was expected.4 When he was appointed by the Regulating Act of 1773 to the supreme council of Bengal, the King wrote to North, 8 June 1773:
I am much pleased at Col. Monson’s going third in Council. I have ever found him desirous of service, and though not a showy man, has excellent sense.
Monson himself does not seem to have been keen on going out to India. When in November 1773 two regiments were vacant, North tried to obtain one for Monson, ‘a very deserving officer, who is embarked in a most arduous and important undertaking at the desire of Lord North’; but the King, though very favourable to Monson, refused because in that case Monson would join his regiment and relinquish going to India.5 And Philip Francis, in the review of events sent to Welbore Ellis, 18 Nov. 1777,6 says that no one ‘could have set out on such a service with less inclination to it’—‘he would gladly have resigned his appointment ... if he could have obtained a regiment in lieu of it’. He left England, together with General Clavering and Philip Francis, on 1 Apr. 1774, and reached Calcutta on 19 Oct.; and soon engaged in the bitter campaign against Hastings by which he is chiefly known. Burke’s eulogy of Monson, after his death, can be disregarded as much as Elijah Impey’s diatribe against him. He seems to have been an honourable man of mediocre abilities, indebted for his rise to his political connexions; he started out with certain prejudices against the East India Company acquired during his earlier stay in India, and soon became involved in a struggle to which he was hardly equal.
He died in India 25 Sept. 1776.
Timberman