Henry Munro (loyalist)


Henry Munro was a chaplain in the British Army who became a missionary to the Mohawk people during the 18th century.

Ancestry

Henry Munro was believed, by his son-in-law Donald Fisher, to have been the son of Robert Munro who in turn was the son of Alexander Munro, Laird of Killichoan. However, historian Alexander Mackenzie does not mention Henry Munro as a son of Robert in the Munro of Killichoan chapter of his book, History of the Munros of Fowlis . Fisher and Mackenzie also give different lineages for the connection of the Munros of Killichoan back to the Munros of Foulis Castle. According to Mackenzie the said Robert Munro was the son of Alexander Munro, 2nd Laird of Killichoan and that the Munros of Killichoan descended directly from George Munro, 10th Baron of Foulis. According to Fisher, Henry Munro's father, Dr Robert Munro, was the son of Alexander Munro, Laird of Killichoan and that the Munros of Killichoan descended directly from Sir Robert Munro, 3rd Baronet. Mackenzie does however state that in 1723 a woman called Mary Bain complained to the Kiltearn Session that Robert Munro, son of Alexander Munro of Killichoan, had fathered her child, which Robert denied, but that the Session ordered Robert Munro's servants to assist Mary Bain. In contrast to Mackenzie's account of Robert Munro, Fisher states that Robert was a physician by profession, and joined the royal forces, under Lord Loudon during the Jacobite rising of 1745 against Bonnie Prince Charlie. Fisher goes on to say that Robert served the whole of the long and fatiguing campaign of 1745, suffered exceedingly from exposure and privation, and died from the consequences the following year, quite a young man. Robert's gravestone dated 1744 with his initials and a Munro Eagle was believed to have been at the Cille Bhrea church, or St.Brig's Chapel or St.Mary's, but since 1966 it has disappeared.

Career in the Americas

Henry Munro became a chaplain in the army serving in America. In 1765 he changed to the Church of England, becoming a missionary in the New York frontier and had considerable influence among the Mohawks. He was imprisoned for his Loyalist sympathies, however he eventually escaped and returned to Scotland.

Killichoan

Henry Munro's former home Killichoan House, was burnt in 1982, although it had previously been renamed Mountrich by later owners. The remains of the old chapel at Killichoan were destroyed by the Highland Railway.