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	== Member of Parliament ==		== Member of Parliament ==

	In 1768, Returning home, he was elected as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)\|Member of Parliament]] for the [[Inverness Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)\|Inverness Burghs]], which he continued to represent for over thirty years, though much of this period was spent in India. He was one of the shareholders<ref>{{Cite ODNB\|title=Munro, Sir Hector (1725/6–1805/6), army officer {{!}} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography\|language=en\|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/19546\|year = ~~2022~~}}</ref> of the failed [[Douglas, Heron & Company\|Ayr Bank]] of Douglas, Heron and Company which collapsed in the financial [[crisis of 1772]]. The resultant financial embarrassment may be why in 1778 he returned to take command of the [[Madras Army\|East India Company's Madras Army]].		In 1768, Returning home, he was elected as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)\|Member of Parliament]] for the [[Inverness Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)\|Inverness Burghs]], which he continued to represent for over thirty years, though much of this period was spent in India. He was one of the shareholders<ref>{{Cite ODNB\|title=Munro, Sir Hector (1725/6–1805/6), army officer {{!}} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography\|language=en\|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/19546\|year = 2004}}</ref> of the failed [[Douglas, Heron & Company\|Ayr Bank]] of Douglas, Heron and Company which collapsed in the financial [[crisis of 1772]]. The resultant financial embarrassment may be why in 1778 he returned to take command of the [[Madras Army\|East India Company's Madras Army]].

	== Return to India ==		== Return to India ==

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{{Short description|Scottish army officer and politician (1726–1805)}}
{{Other people|Hector Monro}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[Sir]]
| name = Hector Munro
| honorific-suffix = [[Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath|KB]]
| birth_date = 1726
| birth_place = [[Ross, Scotland|Ross]], [[Scotland]]
| death_date = 27 December {{Death year and age|1805|1726}}
| death_place = Scotland
| image = Sir Hector Munro by David Martin.jpg
| caption =
| imagesize =
| order =
| office1 = Member of Parliament for [[Inverness Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)|Inverness Burghs]]
| term_start1 = 1801
| term_end1 = 1802
| predecessor1 = ''Himself, as a member of the Parliament of Great Britain''
| successor1 = [[Sir Alexander Cumming-Gordon, 1st Baronet|Alexander Cumming-Gordon]]
| term_start2 = 1768
| term_end2 = 1801
| predecessor2 = [[Sir]] Alexander Grant
| successor2 = ''Himself, as a member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom''
| nickname =
| allegiance = {{flag|Kingdom of Great Britain}}
| branch = {{army|UK}}
| serviceyears = 1747–1782
| rank = [[General (United Kingdom)|General]]
| unit = [[Loudon's Highlanders]], [[31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot|31st Foot]], 34th Foot, [[48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot|48th Foot]], [[70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot|70th Foot]], 89th Foot
| commands = [[Commander-in-Chief, India|Commander-in-Chief of Bengal]]
| battles = [[Jacobite rising of 1745]]<br />[[Battle of Buxar]]<br />[[Second Anglo-Mysore War]]
| awards = [[Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath]]
| relations =
| laterwork =
}}

[[General (United Kingdom)|General]] '''Sir Hector Munro, 8th Laird of Novar''', [[Order of the Bath|KB]] (1726 – 27 December 1805) was a Scottish army officer and politician who served as the ninth [[Commander-in-Chief, India|Commander-in-Chief of Bengal]] from 1764 to 1765.

==Early military career in Scotland==
[[File:Courtyard at Novar House (geograph 2461638).jpg|thumb|260px|Novar House]]
He was the son of Hugh Munro, 7th laird of [[Novar House|Novar]], in [[Ross, Scotland|Ross]], [[Scotland]]. His family also had a home at Clayside in [[Golspie]], [[Sutherland]], which was then a collection of cottages and not the formed town that it later became. He served in the Golspie militia which fought on the Government side at the [[Battle of Littleferry]] on 15 April 1746 in Sutherland where the Jacobites were defeated.<ref name="Marriott">{{cite book |last=Marriott |first=Patrick |year=2022 |title=The Battle of Littleferry - A History and Trail Guide |location=Sutherland |publisher=Golspie Heritage Society |pages=8, 9}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Ross |first=John |date=April 16, 2022 |url=https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/highlands-islands/4174940/memorial-helps-community-remember-both-sides-in-forgotten-battle/ |title='Placing peace above war': Memorial helps community remember both sides in 'forgotten' battle |work=[[The Press and Journal (Scotland)|The Press and Journal]] |access-date=April 16, 2022}}</ref> He entered the regular army at an early age, probably in the [[Loudon's Highlanders|64th (Loudon's Highlanders) Regiment of Foot]] in 1747.

Hector is said to have got his first commission in the army after helping the [[Duke of Gordon|Duchess of Gordon]] who was travelling alone in Sutherland.<ref name="MacKenzieMunroNovar">[[Alexander Mackenzie (historian)|Mackenzie, Alexander]]. (1898). ''[https://archive.org/stream/historyofmunroso00mack#page/514/mode/2up History of the Munros of Fowlis]''. pp. 515–536.</ref> Hector took over from a drunken coachman and brought her to safety. The Duchess later used her influence to procure him a Lieutenant's commission in the [[34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot]].<ref name="MacKenzieMunroNovar"/>

Hector's family home was at [[Novar House]]. Early maps call it 'Tenuer' ([[Scottish Gaelic]]: Tigh 'n fhuamhair, house of the giant).<ref>Munro, R. W. (1987). ''Mapping the Clan Munro''. Published by the Clan Munro Association. Printed by Lindsay & Co Ltd, Edinburgh.</ref>

==Apprehension of Jacobite rebels==
{{main|Raid on Rannoch}}

In 1753, or 1754,<ref name="MacKenzieMunroNovar"/> Hector Munro was ordered to [[Badenoch]] with three squadrons of [[Dragoon]]s to apprehend certain rebels in that district, with special instructions to apprehend [[John Du Cameron]], better known as "''Sergent Mòr''".<ref name="MacKenzieMunroNovar"/> Hector Munro captured Cameron after he was betrayed by a local farmer.<ref name="MacKenzieMunroNovar"/> John Cameron was soon afterwards executed in [[Perth, Scotland|Perth]].<ref name="MacKenzieMunroNovar"/>

Hector Munro was also tasked with capturing [[Ewen MacPherson of Cluny]], who took part in the [[Jacobite rising of 1745]].<ref name="MacKenzieMunroNovar"/> However, Macpherson evaded Munro's grasp and escaped to France.<ref name="MacKenzieMunroNovar"/> Macpherson tradition is that one day Munro, with a large party of soldiers, surrounded Macpherson's house.<ref name="MacKenzieMunroNovar"/> With no means of escape, Macpherson dressed himself as a footman or groom, came forward and held Lieutenant Munro's horse while Munro searched his house for him.<ref name="MacKenzieMunroNovar"/> On return Munro is said to have handed the groom a shilling and then rode off. Another version of the story, however, is that Munro of Novar actually knew Macpherson quite well and winked at him as he threw him the grooms fee.<ref name="MacKenzieMunroNovar"/>

In 1759 he was appointed [[Major (United Kingdom)|major]] in the newly raised [[89th (Highland) Regiment of Foot]].<ref name="MacKenzieMunroNovar"/>

==War in India==

In December 1760, The 89th regiment embarked at [[Portsmouth]] for the [[East Indies]], and arrived at [[Bombay]] in November following. The [[Duke of Gordon]] was desirous of accompanying the regiment, but, at the request of his mother, [[George II of Great Britain]] induced him to remain at home to finish his education by telling him that, "there being only nine dukes in the Kingdom of Scotland", he could not be spared.<ref name=GarthII28>[[David Stewart (major-general)|Stewart of Garth, David]]. (1822). ''Sketches of the Highlanders of Scotland'', Volume II. John Donald Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh, p. 28.</ref>

The 89th had no particular station assigned to it, but kept moving from place to place until a strong detachment under Major Hector Munro joined the army under the command of Major [[John Carnac]], in the neighbourhood of [[Patna]]. Major Munro then assumed the command, and being well supported by his men, quelled a formidable mutiny among the troops. After 20 [[Sepoy]]s had been executed by Major Munro by blowing them off guns, and with discipline restored, he attacked the enemy at [[Buxar]], on 23 October 1764 in what became the [[Battle of Buxar]]. Though the force opposed to him was five times as numerous as his own, he overthrew and dispersed it. According to historian [[John William Fortescue]], the Mughal troops had 2000 men killed, and left 133 pieces of cannon on the field; whilst Munro's troops had 289 killed, 499 wounded and 85 missing.<ref>Fortescue, John William. (2004). ''A History of the British Army: Volume III''. The Naval and Military Press. Uckfield, Sussex. p. 102</ref>

Major Munro received a letter of thanks on the occasion from the President and Council of [[Calcutta]]. "The signal victory you gained", they say, "so as at one blow utterly to defeat the designs of the enemy against these provinces, is an event which does so much honour to yourself, Sir, in particular, and to all the officers and men under your command, and which, at the same time, is attended with such particular advantages to the [[East India Company|Company]], as call upon us to return you our sincere thanks." For this important service Major Munro was immediately promoted to the brevet rank of [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant colonel]].

== Member of Parliament ==

In 1768, Returning home, he was elected as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for the [[Inverness Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)|Inverness Burghs]], which he continued to represent for over thirty years, though much of this period was spent in India. He was one of the shareholders<ref>{{Cite ODNB|title=Munro, Sir Hector (1725/6–1805/6), army officer {{!}} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/19546|year = 2022}}</ref> of the failed [[Douglas, Heron & Company|Ayr Bank]] of Douglas, Heron and Company which collapsed in the financial [[crisis of 1772]]. The resultant financial embarrassment may be why in 1778 he returned to take command of the [[Madras Army|East India Company's Madras Army]].

== Return to India ==

Later in 1778 Munro took [[Pondicherry district|Pondichéry]] from the French, but in 1780 in the [[Second Anglo-Mysore War]] the defeat of a British force by [[Hyder Ali]] at the [[Battle of Pollilur (1780)|Battle of Perambakam]] near [[Conjeeveram]] forced him to fall back on [[St. Thomas Mount]]. There, Sir [[Eyre Coote (East India Company officer)|Eyre Coote]] took command of the army, and in 1781 won a major victory against Hyder Ali [[Battle of Porto Novo|at Porto Novo]] ([[Parangipettai]]), where Munro was in command of the right division. [[Negapatam]] was taken by Munro in November of the same year; and in 1782 he retired to [[Scotland]].

In 1782, the [[Fyrish Monument]] was ordered built by Munro in Fyrish, near [[Evanton]], [[Easter Ross]], Scotland. He did this to provide work for the local unemployed population.

In 1787, he was given the colonelcy of the [[42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot]], a position he held until his death in 1805.

==Family==
[[File:The Death of Munrow MET DP-1687-021 (cropped).jpg|thumb|''The Death of Munrow'', a notorious hunting accident in India in 1792, evidently still famous in the 1820s, when this [[Staffordshire figure]] group was made]]
Sir Hector Munro, 8th laird of Novar having reached the full rank of General finally retired in 1798.<ref name="MacKenzieMunroNovar"/> He died unmarried on or about 27 December 1805 at Novar House. He had four natural children by different mothers:

#Hector Sutherland Munro, born 10 July 1775 (but baptised and indexed in error only as Hector Sutherland).<ref>British India Office Births and Baptism IOR/L/MIL/9/109/405-06</ref> He joined the East India Company's military service as a cadet in 1792,<ref>East India Company Cadet Register IOR/L/MIL/9/255/88v, 89v</ref> but on his way to Madras was mauled by a tiger on Saugor Island, Bengal on 21 December 1792 and died the following day.<ref>''Madras Courier'' (10 Jan 1793)</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Seton-Karr |first=Walter Scott |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Selections_from_Calcutta_Gazettes_of_the/v0gOAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA359&printsec=frontcover |title=Selections from Calcutta Gazettes of the Years 1789, 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1796, and 1797 |publisher=O. T. Cutter, Military Orphan Press |year=1865 |volume=2 |location=Calcutta |pages=359 |chapter=The 3rd January 1793: Extract from a letter from a passenger on board the “Ardaseer,” dated Cox's Island, December 22nd, 1792 |quote="when, in the midst of our merriment, surrounded by dandees cutting wood, and ourselves not a little noisy, an exceeding large and ferocious royal tiger rushed in among us from the jungle at our backs, and, to the unspeakable horror and grief of us all, seized on the much-regretted Munro, and carried him off, though neither of us were three yards distant at the time." |access-date=21 April 2022}}</ref> The incident was widely publicised in the British press and the story has been retold many times. It has also been also commemorated in a series of [[Staffordshire figures]] of the "Death of Munrow".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Munro|first=Colin|date=4 January 2018|title=Thus were the British defeated|url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/v40/n01/colin-munro/thus-were-the-british-defeated|journal=London Review of Books|volume=40|issue=1|pages=21–22}}</ref> Mackenzie<ref name="MacKenzieMunroNovar"/> erroneously identified the victim as his half-brother Hugh (below)
#Hugh Munro born 22 March 1777, who joined the East India Company as a Writer in 1796,<ref>British India Office Births and Baptisms IOR/J/1/16/121-24 : 1796</ref> and rose to be a Senior Merchant, Collector and Mintmaster of Bombay. His father, who held the post of Barrack Master of North Britain, appears to have appointed him Deputy.<ref name="MacKenzieMunroNovar" /> He died in 1814, aboard the ''[[Henry Addington (1800 EIC ship)|Henry Addington]]'', on the journey home from India via China.
#Alexander Munro, baptised 26 July 1787, who also joined the East India Company as a cadet in 1803 and died, said to have been devoured by a shark,<ref name="MacKenzieMunroNovar" /> at Bombay on 12 November 1804.<ref>''Bombay Courier'' (19 Nov 1804)</ref>
#Jane Munro, who married Sir Ronald Crawford Ferguson of Raith, county of Fife. She died in 1803, shortly after the birth of her second child. Her son [[Robert Munro Ferguson|Robert Munro-Ferguson of Raith]] and grandson [[Ronald Munro Ferguson, 1st Viscount Novar|Ronald Munro-Ferguson, 1st Viscount Novar]] later succeeded to the Novar estate, in accordance with the terms of the entail executed by Jane's father Sir Hector Munro.<ref name="MacKenzieMunroNovar" />

Sir Hector Munro, 8th laird of Novar was initially succeeded by his brother, Sir Alexander Munro, 9th of Novar who was Consul-General at Madrid and then Commissioner of Customs in England.<ref name="MacKenzieMunroNovar"/> Alexander first married his cousin Margaret Munro (d. 1768) but their only son Capt. Alexander Munro was killed in India in 1778. Alexander remarried Miss Johnstone, sister of General Johnstone of Auchen Castle, Dumfries<ref name="MacKenzieMunroNovar"/> with two sons and a daughter. He was succeeded by his third son [[Hugh Andrew Johnstone Munro of Novar]] who himself left several illegitimate children including [[Hugh Andrew Johnstone Munro]].<ref name="MacKenzieMunroNovar"/> However, as already mentioned, on the death of Hugh Andrew Johnstone Munro of Novar the estate of Novar passed to Colonel Robert Munro-Ferguson, son of Jane Munro, natural daughter of General Sir Hector Munro, 8th of Novar.<ref name="MacKenzieMunroNovar"/> The Munro-Fergusons of Novar, descendants of Robert Munro-Ferguson's daughter Alice, are still in possession of the Novar Estate today.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Munro, Hector}}

== External links ==
* {{NPG name|name=Sir Hector Munro}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090617195742/http://www.tigerandthistle.net/scots431.htm Portrait of Sir Hector Munro] at the [[Scottish National Portrait Gallery]]
*{{DNB Cite|wstitle=Munro, Hector|volume=39}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{succession box | title=[[Commander-in-Chief, India]] | before=[[John Carnac (Commander-in-Chief of India)|John Carnac]] | after=[[John Carnac (Commander-in-Chief of India)|John Carnac]] | years=1764–1765}}
|-
{{succession box | before=[[Lord John Murray]] | title=Colonel of the [[42nd Regiment of Foot|42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot]] | years=1787–1805 | after=[[George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon]]}}
|-
{{s-par|gb}}
{{s-bef|before= [[Sir Alexander Grant, 5th Baronet|Sir Alexander Grant, Bt.]]}}
{{s-ttl
|title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Inverness Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)|Inverness Burghs]]
|years = 1768–[[1801 United Kingdom general election|1801]]
}}
{{s-aft | after=[[Sir Alexander Cumming-Gordon, 1st Baronet|Alexander Cumming-Gordon]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Commander-in-Chief, India}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munro, Hector}}
[[Category:1726 births]]
[[Category:1805 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Ross and Cromarty]]
[[Category:Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:British Army generals]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies]]
[[Category:Scottish soldiers]]
[[Category:48th Regiment of Foot officers]]
[[Category:East Surrey Regiment officers]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army generals]]
[[Category:Administrators in British India]]
[[Category:Bengal Presidency]]
[[Category:British Commanders-in-Chief of India]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1801–1802]]
[[Category:Clan Munro|Hector Munro, 8th of Novar]]
[[Category:British MPs 1768–1774]]
[[Category:British MPs 1774–1780]]
[[Category:British MPs 1780–1784]]
[[Category:British MPs 1784–1790]]
[[Category:British MPs 1790–1796]]
[[Category:British MPs 1796–1800]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Mysore War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War]]

Hector Munro, 8th Laird of Novar - Revision history

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