The Montreal Estate has been in existence for over 250 years.
While most people remember General Wolfe for his capture of Quebec, it was General Jefferey Amherst who received the ultimate French surrender at Montreal in 1760, leaving the whole of North America in British hands.
General Jeffrey Amherst was born in one of our Estate properties – Brook Place in 1717. Jeffery Amherst was the commander-in-chief of British forces in North America during the Seven Years’ War, which saw France surrender Canada to the British. Having accepted the surrender, he then went on to accumulate additional land in the area and named it Montreal Estate.
The historical association with Canada continued into the 20th century when the Canadian army were based in Millbank Wood on the Estate, during the second world war, under camouflage, ahead of the Normandy invasion. They were kind enough to leave us tarmacked tracks which are still being used today for the Estate’s forestry operations and footpaths.
The Amherst family were the owners of The Montreal Estate right up until 1926 when the whole Estate was sold to Julius Runge, a businessman. Sadly, Runge died prematurely, and the size of the death duties then meant the majority of the Estate was put up for sale in 1938. Between 1952 and 1963 a housing development promoted by a local builder, William Fasey, was built on c. 100 acres of Estate land to create Montreal Park, in Sevenoaks. Find out more here
Today, all that remains to remind us of Lord Amherst is an octagonal gatehouse, a derelict stone summerhouse and a large obelisk.
The subsequent owner, Mr Jack Jacques was predominantly interested in developing the Estate’s Woodland and owned the Estate for almost 60 years, dying aged 93 in 2009.
