Monteith, Hugh Glencairn (1919)

updated November 12, 2013.

Hugh Glencairn Monteith ca.1907

b. May 11, 1882, Moniaive, Glencairn, Dumfries, Scotland – d. October 10, 1963, Truro, Cornwall, England. Fettes College; BA, BSc (Cantab.) 1902; studied medicine at Pembroke College, Cambridge. RAMC, Lieutenant July 29, 1910. Captain January 29, 1914. Acting Lieutenant-Colonel July 1, 1917 - March 17, 1919. Hong Kong nlt.1919, 47th Field Ambulance [1]. Acting Lieutenant-Colonel July 10, 1919. Major July 29, 1922. Deputy Assistant Director, Medical Services January 19, 1934. Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel May 1, 1934. Colonel January 1, 1937. Director of Medical Services, Army in Burma, 1938-40. Retired, May 1, 1940. Honor: DSO 1915 [2]; MID (2) January 1, 1916 and July 10, 1919; OBE net1919-nlt1924.

HONG KONG nlt.1919. Acting member of the Medical Board and Acting Medical Officer of Health (vice Alice Deborah Sibree) August 12, 1919.

s/o Rev. John Monteith, b.1837-d.1886, of Glencairn Parish and Ellen Maria Neve, b.ca.1844-d.1912. Siblings: 1. John Cassels Monteith. 2. William Neve Monteith [3]. 3. Muriel Monteith [4].
m. Dorothy Huntly Dunell 1915. Had issues: 1. Ronald Hugh Monteith [5]. 2. Cynthia Helen Monteith, m. John William Maxwell Aitken [6] 1939.

[Monteith started playing rugby while studying at Cambridge. He played for the Scottish (National) Rugby Team from 1905 to 1908, and was listed in 1905 as an army player with eight international caps.]

[Monteith could possibly be the only Medical Officer of Health in Hong Kong who didn't have a medical degree. Should I keep him in this roll if he wasn't a doctor? I suppose there is no urgency in making a decision now.]

[1] RAMC provided non-emergency ambulatory assistance to the Hong Kong Fire Services prior to 1953.

[2] "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in picking up and attending to the wounded under heavy fire in the actions near St. Jean and Wieltje, east of Ypres, between 23rd and 27th April, 1915, when the casualties in the battalion to which he was attached were very heavy.", The London Gazette, September 14, 1915, p.9176.

[3] He lost two brothers in the Great War, who were killed within a week of each other: John Cassels Monteith, Lieutenant-Colonel of the 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire (K.I.A. October 1, 1915); and William Neve Monteith, Lieutenant (Reverend) of the 2nd Battalion, Rifle Brigate (The Prince Consort's Own)(K.I.A. September 25, 1919). The two were respectively the first and second son of his father.

[4] Muriel Monteith, b.ca.1882-d.1964; m. Lieutenant Colonel Jack Balfour Paul, DSO; had issues: 1. Hugh Glencairn Balfour Paul, British Ambassador to Iraq, Jordan and Tunisia; historian (specialized in the Middle East) and poet.

[5] Ronald Hugh Monteith, b.1918. Grenadier Guards, Cadet; Second Lieutenant September 21, 1940; Captain; died on active service (said to be as a result of accident in scout car and tank transporter), Rhineland; bur. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

[6] John William Maxwell Aitken, a Canadian, was, among other offices held, Chancellor of the University of New Brunswick. He was an extraordinary British life peer who disclaimed his barony title three days after he inherited it from his father.

Selected bibliography: Army Rugby Union › International Caps – Army Players [internet]. ESPN › Scrum › Scotland › Players & Officials [internet]. British Military List 1939. Family Search – Community Trees [internet]. Goalserve.com [intrnet]. Grenadier Guards Officers Casualties- WWII [internet]. The Hong Kong Government Gazette, August 22, 1919, Appointment #379; August 29, 1919, Appointment #398. The London Gazete, March 16, 1934; May 8, 1934; May 7, 1940. Medical and Sanitary Reports for the Year 1919, Hong Kong. The Peerage [internet]. Roll of Honor › Dumfrieshire › Moniaive War Memorial [internet]. Supplement to the London Gazette, July 10, 1919. p.8774; October 1, 1940, p.5775. University of Glasgow › Name Search › Special Collection [internet].