Charles Henry Monro was an English author, jurist and benefactor.
Background
He was born in London, 17 March 1835, the second of three sons of Cecil Monro (1803-1878) of Hadley, chief registrar of the Court of Chancery, son of John Monro and a descendant of Alexander Monro, principal of Edinburgh University 1685-1690. Charles"s mother was Cecil"s wife Elizabeth (d 1883), daughter of Colonel Henry Howe Knight-Erskine of Pittodrie.
Education
He graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1857 with a first class in classics and eighth Classic in his year.
Career
Charles"s older brother, Cecil James, was incapacitated by phthisis soon after his election to a fellowship at Trinity in 1855. Monro entered Harrow in 1847, was Monitor in 1853, and proceeded to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, as Sayer scholar in 1853. In the same year he was elected to a fellowship, which he resigned in 1897.
Called to the bar at Lincoln"s Inn in 1863, he did not practise, but continued his study of law, though the work was hampered by ill-health, necessitating much residence abroad.
In 1900 he represented Cambridge University at the 500th anniversary of the second foundation of the University of Cracow. Monro died in Eastbourne on 23 February 1908, where he was buried.
By his will he left a large sum to his college, which perpetuated his memory by a Monro fellowship, a Monro lectureship in Celtic, a Monro endowment to the Squire law library in Cambridge, and a Monro extension to the college library. The Monro lectureship was first held by Edmund Crosby Quiggin, and was a significant step in introducing formal Celtic teaching at Cambridge, now effected by the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic.
Membership
From 1872 to 1896 he was law lecturer at his college and at some point was appointed a member of the Syndicate of Modern Languages in the University, being a good linguist.