Sir Robert Montgomery (1680–1731), fourth baronet and eleventh larid of Skelmorlie, was born at
Skelmorlie Castle in
Ayrshire, Scotland, to
Sir James Montgomery (1660–1694) and Margaret Johnstone, daughter of James Johnstone, Earl of Annandale. While Montgomery was a child, his father invested heavily in the Scottish
Stuarts Town colony in the
Province of Carolina before it was destroyed by Spanish raiders. On 19 June 1717, Montgomery secured a grant of land between the Altamaha and Savannah Rivers, which was nominally part of the Province of South Carolina following the division of the
Province of Carolina in 1712. He quickly outlined his plans for the colony in a prospectus: ''
A Discourse Concerning the Design'd Establishment of a New Colony to the South of Carolina in the Most delightful County of the Universe''. He proposed calling the territory the "Margravate of Azilia" and outlined a settlement plan
margraves of the
Holy Roman Empire. Due to the potential for clashes with both indigenous peoples of the region and Spanish forces at
Saint Augustine who also held claim over the territory, the margrave model of fortified settlement that would grow outward from a central city as the population increased was appealing to Robert. His plan called for forts along the rivers, as well as a large, fortified city, divided into 116 squares measuring each, four forested reserves for common use, public fields, and a large private estate in the center. If completed, the area within the fortifications would have measured . Comparing the latitude of Azilia to "Palestine Herself, That promis'd Canaan, which was pointed out by God's own Choice, to bless the Labours of a favourite People," Montgomery envisioned Azilia as a source of exotic goods, including coffee, tea, figs, raisins, currents, almonds, olives, silk, wine, and
cochineal, as well as
potash. In 1720, Montgomery published a second treatise,
A Description of the Golden Islands, With an Account of the Undertaking Now on Foot for Making a Settlement There, highlighting the
Golden Isles of the Azilian Coast. For the English, a fortified colony like Azilia had appeal not just for the goods it might produce, but also for its position as a buffer to French and Spanish ambitions in the area. Montgomery successfully raised funds for the project£30,000 by July of 1718and was appointed by the lord proprietors of
Province of South Carolina as "governor for life" of the new territory. However, when the grant was submitted to
King George I for royal approval, the
attorney general determined that the grant could not be separated from the laws of South Carolina. Progress on the Azilia project was further disrupted by the
Revolution of 1719, which ousted the lords proprietor and installed a new governor for South Carolina, as well as greater skepticism of colonial ventures following the collapse of the French
Mississippi Company and the bursting of the
South Sea Bubble, both of which occurred in the second half of 1720. By September 1720, the Privy Council was moving to dissuade possible settlers in the project, and by 1729 the land grant reverted to the crown. In 1732, the land of margravate was included in the grant to
James Oglethorpe of a royal charter for the
Province of Georgia. Although the Azilia plan was never enacted, the territory was shown in maps by English cartographer
Herman Moll. His 1720 map labeled the territory as the Margravate of Azilia; however, a 1729 map labeled it simply as "Azilia." As Georgia state historian
William Bacon Stevens noted in 1847, "The Margravate of Azilia was magnificent upon the map, but was impracticable in reality." ==Notes==