Earl of Sandwich

A carte-de-visite portrait of the Earl of Sandwich (1811-1884).

John William Montagu was born on 8 November 1811, the son of George Montagu, 6th Earl of Sandwich, and his wife Lady Louisa Mary Ann Julia Harriett (née Lowry-Corry). He was known as Viscount Hinchingbrooke from 1814 to 1818 bu succeeded his father in the earldom in 1818 at the age of only six, later taking his seat on the Conservative benches in the House of Lords. He served in the Earl of Derby's first administration as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (government chief whip in the House of Lords) in 1852 and was sworn of the Privy Council the same year. When the Conservatives returned to power under Derby in 1858 Montagu was appointed Master of the Buckhounds, an office he retained until the government fell the following year. Apart from his political career he was also Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire between 1841 and 1884.

Lord Sandwich married firstly Lady Mary, daughter of Field Marshal Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, in 1838. After her death in 1859 he married secondly Lady Blanche, daughter of Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere, in 1865. He died on 3 March 1884, aged 72, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son from his first marriage, Edward.

Photographed by Camille Silvy of London in 1860.