William Montgomerie (1797–1856) was a Scottish military doctor with the East India Company, and later head of the medical department at Singapore. He is best known for promoting the use of gutta-percha in Europe. This material was an important natural rubber that made submarine telegraph cables possible. Montgomerie was involved in spice cultivation as head of the Singapore botanical experimental gardens and at his personal estate in Singapore. The latter never became economically viable, but he received a Society of Arts gold medal for nutmeg cultivation. He was also responsible for building the first lunatic asylum in Singapore. Montgomerie died at Barrackpore in India a few years after taking part in the Second Anglo-Burmese War as Superintendent Surgeon.
Early life and family Montgomerie was born in Scotland in 1797. In 1827, he married Elizabeth Graham in Calcutta. A son is mentioned in a newspaper article. His brother was Major-General Sir P. Montgomerie of the Madras Artillery who fought in the First Opium War.
Career In 1818, Montgomerie became a medical officer with the East India Company and was posted to India. In May 1819, he was posted to Singapore with the 2nd Battalion of the 20th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry with the rank of Assistant Surgeon. Upon his arrival, he took over as senior surgeon of Singapore from a more junior officer, and was given the rank of acting Surgeon. In 1827, Montgomerie was posted back to Bengal. In 1835, the medical department headquarters was moved from Penang to Singapore, whereupon Montgomerie was made the head. He retired to England in January 1844. He was recalled to Bengal some years later as Garrison Surgeon at Fort William, Calcutta, and was Superintendent Surgeon in the field during the Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852–1853). He died of cholera at Barrackpore, India, on 21 March 1856 and was buried in Fort William. While he was stationed at Singapore, Montgomerie was usually the doctor attending Singapore's leaders. These included Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore, and William Farquhar, who was stabbed by a would-be assassin in 1823. Farquhar had expressed concern over Montgomerie's youth when he arrived in Singapore in 1819. Montgomerie was very young at this point, even younger than the Sub-assistant Surgeon from whom he took over and was now in charge. If anything happened to Farquhar, Montgomerie would have been left in charge of Singapore as the next most senior official. Farquhar wrote to Calcutta asking them to put alternative arrangements in place. In Singapore, Montgomerie was appointed a magistrate in 1819, head of the botanical experimental gardens in 1823 (where he concentrated on cultivating spices), and sheriff in 1837.
Agriculture Montgomerie keenly pursued agriculture in Singapore. He owned the 32-acre (13 ha) Duxton Hill estate for most of his time there, but never succeeded in making it profitable. It was sold after his death and briefly renamed "Woodsville". The area is now built-up and the name has reverted to Duxton Hill, a name also preserved in Duxton Road. The primary crop grown was sugar, but later he planted nutmeg trees. The estate was bounded by a river where Montgomerie had a large watermill. A short distance from the mill, the Serangoon Road crosses the river on a crossing known as Montgomerie's Bridge.
Spice cultivation On his return to Singapore in 1835, Montgomerie found that the government spice plantations had been neglected. The clove crop had been destroyed by blight, but since the nutmeg trees still looked healthy, Montgomerie decided to start his own plantation with seeds procured from Penang. He believed that enough nutmeg could be grown in Singapore to supply the entire British Empire by 1850, and that the price could be driven down to something affordable by ordinary people. However, he complained that the government land leasing arrangements were not favourable in Singapore, and discouraged farming. He compared this to Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka, but at the time a British possession) where land could be bought outright. In 1842, Montgomerie sent a box of nutmeg and mace to the Society of Arts (later to become the Royal Society) for which he was awarded a gold medal.
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