Montague Druitt - Early Life

Early Life

Druitt was born in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England. He was the second son and third child of prominent local surgeon William Druitt, and his wife Ann (née Harvey). William Druitt was a Justice of the Peace, a governor of the local grammar school, and a regular worshiper at the local Anglican church, the Minster. Montague was christened at the Minster by his maternal great-uncle, Rev. William Mayo, six weeks after his birth. The Druitts lived at Westfield House, which was the largest house in the town and set in its own grounds with stables and servants' cottages. The house still stands in Wimborne Minster at the end of Westfield Close and is now subdivided into flats. Montague had six brothers and sisters, including an elder brother William who entered the law, and a younger brother Edward who joined the Royal Engineers.

Montague was educated at Winchester College, where he won a scholarship at the age of 13, and excelled at sports, especially cricket and fives. He was active in the school's debating society, an interest that might have spawned his desire to become a barrister. He spoke in favour of French republicanism, compulsory military service, and the resignation of Benjamin Disraeli, and against the Ottoman Empire, the influence of Otto von Bismarck, and the conduct of the government in the Tichbourne case. He defended William Wordsworth as "a bulwark of Protestantism", and condemned the execution of King Charles I as "a most dastardly murder that will always attach to England's fair name as a blot". In a light-hearted debate, he spoke against the proposition that bondage to fashion is a social evil. In his final year at Winchester, 1875–76, he was Prefect of Chapel, treasurer of the debating society, school fives champion, and opening bowler for the cricket team. In June 1876, he played cricket against Eton College, whose winning team included cricketing luminaries Ivo Bligh and Kynaston Studd, and future Principal Private Secretary at the Home Office Evelyn Ruggles-Brise. Druitt bowled out Studd for four. With a glowing academic record, he was awarded a Winchester Scholarship to New College, Oxford.

At New College, he was popular with his peers, and was elected Steward of the Junior Common Room by his fellow students. He played cricket and rugby for the college team, and was the winner of both double and single fives at the university in 1877. In a seniors' cricket match in 1880, he bowled out William Patterson, who later captained Kent County Cricket Club. Druitt graduated from Oxford in 1880 with a third class Bachelor of Arts degree in Classics. Montague's youngest brother, Arthur, entered New College in 1882, just as Montague followed in his eldest brother William's footsteps by embarking on a career in the law.