Joshua Vita Montefiore

Find-a-Grave has a short obit: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=58205158&ref=wvr

"Joshua Montefiore was an indigent uncle of the illustrious Sir Moses Montefiore who lived in England from 1784 to 1885." Samuelson,The Story of the Jewish Community of Burlingtoh, Vermont (1976), page 31

The Jewish Encyclopedia entry (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10960-montefiore#anchor11) Joshua Montefiore: English lawyer, soldier, and journalist; born in London Aug. 10, 1762; died at St. Albans, Vt., June 26, 1843. After graduating at Oxford he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1784. While practising in London he attained considerable success as an author, his "Commercial Dictionary" being regarded as the standard work of its kind. In 1791 he joined a band of adventurers under Moses Ximenes, who purposed establishing a colony on the coast of Africa; Montefiore took charge of the military side of the expedition. The party occupied the Island of Bulama and raised the British flag; but after several conflicts with the natives, they were compelled to withdraw. Of this early attempt at African colonization he has left a lively account. Before the settlement was broken up Montefiore attempted to establish schools for the children of his companions. On his return to England he declined the honor of knighthood and entered the army as a captain, being the first Jew to hold a military commission in England. He was present as an officer of the York Light Infantry at the taking of Martinique and Guadalupe in 1809. After serving in various parts of the world, he resigned his commission and emigrated to the United States; for some time he published and edited in New York "Men and Measures," a weekly political journal; he afterward took up his residence at St. Albans, Vt.

Montefiore published: "Commercial Dictionary" (1803); Commercial and Notarial Precedents" (1804); "Trader's Compendium"; "United States Trader's Compendium": "Law of Copyright"; "Synopsis of Mercantile Laws" (1830); "Law and Treatise on Bookkeeping" (1831); "Laws of Land and Sea" (1831).

Bibliography: Jew. World, Oct. 31, 1884; L. Wolf, Centennial Biog. of Sir Moses Montefiore, London, 1884; Cyclopedia of American Biog.