Scandalous `Mad judge' at the ends of the earth.

The second son of lawyer and bankruptcy legal scholar Basil Montagu. His mother, Laura Rush, died in 1806 and he was raised by family friends William and Dorthy Wordsworth. Admitted to Gray's Inn in 1817; called to the Bar in 1826; 1828 appointed attorney-general of Van Diemen's Land (Australia), apparently as part of the `Arthurite Clique'.

Immediate controversy resulted in Australia. The AuDB:

"He conducted prosecutions with skill and fairness, and voluntarily abstained from private practice. By 1831 Arthur was `perfectly satisfied' with his work... Viscount Goderich agreed, and Montagu's elevation to the Supreme Court bench was gazetted on 1 February 1833, a very popular appointment.

Montagu soon became a controversial figure. His talents and his sound knowledge of law had won him acclaim... but his eccentric ideas sometimes led to most indecorous behavior. ...

In 1834 Montagu incurred the enmity of the anti-Arthurite press, and was attacked as the `mad Judge'. In his sturdy independence he was no respecter of high persons. In ... 1840.. in Launceston ... he found Lady Franklin in residence in the government cottage, which had traditionally been available for judges on circuit. Believing that the court was affronted when its privileges were waived in favour of vice-regal amusements, he wrote petulant letters to Sir John Franklin... until persuaded to apologize." (AuDB)

Married Maria Adams in 1832; lived at the limit of his means; invested heavily in experimental farming and yachting; in 1841 proposed that he exchange offices with the attorney-general as the colony had no able barrister (he wanted to be a private practice lawyer at the same time that he was the head government lawyer; he couldn't do that while he was the head government judge!).

This plan didn't go over so well, but his brother Alfred Otter Montagu arrived from England in 1843, was immediately admitted to the Bar, and `built up a flourishing practice'. This cozy and convenient arrangement lasted until Alfred was drowned in 1849 when his yacht capsized in a squall.

The Australian Supreme Court was apparently set up such that it's judges could not be sued. Apparently there were a number of people who would have liked the chance to sue the controversial Algernon, and politics finally gave them an outlet when he issued a ruling that declared a local dog tax invalid, thus casting doubt on the entire revenue legislation of the colony. He was removed from office in December 1848, but sailed immediately for England and appealed to the Privy Council.

He was appointed resident magistrate of the Falkland Islands (in the South Atlantic) in 1850. He also ended up being coroner, chairman of the magistrate's court, and police court, and member of the Executive Council. He resigned in 1854 and returned to London, abandoning his wife in the Falklands (she survived by opening a small school).

Appointed registrar of deeds of Sierra Leone, Africa (I believe the British had established Sierra Leone primarily for blacks captured on slave ships seized by the British Navy, as it tried to eliminate the slave trade). Freetown is the capital of Sierra Leone. The Australian Dictionary of Biography notes:

"Montagu had at least two illegitimate children in Freetown and, with his Creole mistress, was involved in some absurd scandals. Yet in spite of his lurid private life and quarrels with several governors, he did valuable work in Sierra Leone. He served as master of the Court of Records, clerk of the Crown and registrar of the Court of Chancery. He was permitted private practice and on occasions ... acted as chief justice. In 1857 he published in London the Ordinances of the Colony of Sierra Leone; it was an immediate success and ran to seven editions. In 1874 he published ... similar collections of the laws of the Gold Coast and of Lagos." (AuDB)

The AuDB quotes the Hobart Town Courier:

"He moved in an eccentric orbit; and if he terrified by those motions, he occasionally delighted us by the brilliant light which he cast around his path. Fresh, vigorous, and original, his intellect always commanded respect and not unfrequently admiration." (AuDB)

Sources:
[AuDB].