SANDWICH,

See also:

• EDWARD

EDWARD

See also:

• MONTAGU (Family)
• MONTAGU (or MOUNTAGUE), RICHARD (1577-1641)
• MONTAGU, ELIZABETH ROBINSON (1720-1800)
• MONTAGU, LADY MARY WORTLEY (1689–1762)
• MONTAGU, RALPH, 1ST DUKE OF (c. 1638-1709)

MONTAGU, or MOUNTAGU, 1ST

See also:

• EARL

EARL OF (1625–1672)  , English admiral, was a son of Sir Sidney Montagu (d . 1644) of Hinchinbrook, who was a brother of Henry Montagu, 1st earl of Manchester, and of Edward Montagu, 1st Lord Montagu of Boughton . He was born on the 27th of July 1625, and although his father was a royalist, he himself joined the parliamentary party at the outbreak of the Civil 'Var . In 1643 he raised a regiment, with which he distinguished himself at the battles of Marston Moor and Naseby and at the siege of Bristol . Though one of Cromwell's intimate friends, he took little part in public affairs until 1653, when he was appointed a member of the council of state . His career as a seaman began in 1656, when he was made a general-at-sea, his colleague being Robert Blake . Having taken some part in the operations against Dunkirk in 1657, he was chosen a member of Cromwell's House of Lords, and in 1659 he was sent by Richard Cromwell with a fleet to arrange a peace between Sweden and Denmark . After the fall of Richard he resigned his command and joined with those who were frightened by the prospect of anarchy in bringing about the restoration of Charles II . Again general-at-sea early in 166o, Montagu carried the fleet over to the side of the exiled king, and was entrusted with the duty of fetching Charles from Holland . He was then made a knight of the Garter, and in July 166o was created earl of Sandwich . His subsequent naval duties included the conveyance of several royal exiles to England and arranging for the cession of Tangier and for the payment of £300,000, the dowry of Catherine of Braganza . During the war with the Dutch in 1664–1665 Sandwich commanded a squadron under the duke of York and distinguished himself in the battle off Lowestoft on the 3rd of June 1665 .

When the duke retired later in the same

year he became commander-inchief, and he directed an unsuccessful attack on some Dutch merchant ships which were sheltering in the Norwegian port of Bergen; however, on his homeward voyage he captured some valuable prizes, about which a great deal of trouble arose on his return . Personal jealousies were intermingled with charges of irregularities in dealing with the captured property, and the upshot was that Sandwich was dismissed from his command, but as a solatium was sent to Madrid as ambassador extraordinary . He arranged a treaty with Spain, and in 1670 was appointed president of the council of trade and plantations . When the war with the Dutch was renewed in 1672 Sandwich again commanded a squadron under the duke of York, and during the fight in Southwold Bay on the 28th of May 1672, his ship, the " Royal George," after having taken a conspicuous part in the action, was set on fire and was blown up . The earl's body was found some days later and was buried in Westminster Abbey . Edward (d . 1688) the eldest of his six sons, succeeded to the titles; another son, John Montagu (c . 1655–1728) was dean of Durham . Lord Sandwich claimed to have a certain knowledge of science, and his translation of a Spanish work on the Art of Metals appeared in 1674 . Many of his letters and papers are in the British Museum, the Bodleian Library at Oxford, and in the possession of the present earl of Sandwich . He is mentioned very frequently in the Diary of his kinsman, Samuel Pepys . See also J .

Charnock, Biographia Navalis, vol. i . (1794) ; John Campbell, Lives of the British Admirals, vol. ii . (1779) ; and R . Southey, Lives of the British Admirals, vol. v . (184o) .