John Monteath (9 October 1878 – 11 June 1955) was an Irish first-class cricketer and colonial official in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. Monteath was the son of Sir James Monteath, a colonial administrator in

. He was educated at

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , hea ...

, before going up to

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

in 1897. He graduated with a first-class in 1900, before joining the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...

(ICI) in 1902. His first post in the ICI was as an Assistant Collector at

Dharwar Dharwad (), also known as Dharwar, is a city located in the north western part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Dharwad district of Karnataka and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merge ...

, a position he held until 1908. During this time, he played a

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

match for the

Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common genetic ancestry, common language, or both. Pan and Pfeil (20 ...

against the

Parsees Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim ...

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the '' de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the sec ...

. Batting twice in the match, Monteath was dismissed without scoring in the European's first-innings by

Kekhashru Mistry Colonel Kekhashru Maneksha Mistry (7 November 187422 July 1959) was an Indian cricketer who was a member of the first all-Indian cricket team to tour England in 1911. A left-handed batsman and a left-arm bowler, he was considered one of India ...

, and was dismissed by the same bowler for a single run in their second-innings. Fellow Irishman

James McDonogh James John Murphy McDonogh (13 April 1871 – 26 January 1912) was an Irish first-class cricketer. McDonogh was born at Killarney in County Kerry in April 1871. His debut in first-class cricket came in New Zealand for the North Island ag ...

was also a member of the Europeans team. He served as an Assistant Political Agent in

Kathiawar Kathiawar () is a peninsula, near the far north of India's west coast, of about bordering the Arabian Sea. It is bounded by the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest and by the Gulf of Khambhat (Gulf of Cambay) in the east. In the northeast, it ...

from 1908–1915, before taking up the post of Municipal Commissioner in Ahmedabad, a position he held for a few months in 1915. He was the

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsibl ...

for the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

in 1915–1916, before taking up the same post from 1916–1919 in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...

. He was a District Magistrate for the

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

and Sind from 1921–1926, and from 1926–1928 he was the Secretary to the Bombay Government Home Department. In the Indian General Election of 1926 he was elected to the

Central Legislative Assembly The Central Legislative Assembly was the lower house of the Imperial Legislative Council, the legislature of British India. It was created by the Government of India Act 1919, implementing the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms. It was also some ...

. He later served as the

Dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the el ...

or Prime Minister of Junagadh State, a post he held from 1933–1939. Monteath was made a Companion of the

Order of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander ( GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) No app ...

in the

1937 New Year Honours The 1937 New Year Honours were appointments by King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were the first honours of George VI's reign and were announ ...

. He returned to England around the time of Indian Independence, and was living at Bury St Edmunds. He died at Awliscombe in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

in June 1955.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Monteath, John 1878 births 1955 deaths Sportspeople from Bangor, County Down Ulster Scots people People educated at Clifton College Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Cricketers from County Down Indian Civil Service (British India) officers Irish cricketers Cricketers from Northern Ireland Europeans cricketers Indian Political Service officers Postmasters-General Members of the Central Legislative Assembly of India Prime Ministers of Junagadh State Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire British people in colonial India