Earl of Sandwich is a 17th-century title in the Peerage of England, nominally associated
with Sandwich, Kent.
It was created in 1660 for the prominent naval commander Admiral Sir Edward Montagu.
He was made Baron Montagu, of St Neots in the County of Huntingdon, and Viscount Hinchingbrooke,
at the same time, also in the Peerage of England.
The viscountcy is used as the courtesy title by the heir apparent to the earldom.
A member of the prominent Montagu family, Lord Sandwich was the son of Sir Sidney Montagu,
youngest brother of Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester and Edward Montagu, 1st Baron
Montagu of Boughton.
He was succeeded by his son, the second Earl.
He briefly represented Dover in the House of Commons and served as Ambassador to Portugal
and as Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire.
His great-grandson, the fourth Earl, was a prominent statesman and served as First Lord
of the Admiralty and as Secretary of State for the Northern Department.
Lord Sandwich is also remembered for sponsoring the voyages of discovery made by Captain James
Cook, who named the Sandwich Islands in his honour, and as the namesake of the sandwich.
He was succeeded by his son, the fifth Earl.
He sat as Member of Parliament for Brackley and Huntingdonshire and served as Vice-Chamberlain
of the Household and as Master of the Buckhounds.
His son, the sixth Earl, also represented Huntingdonshire in Parliament.
He was succeeded by his son, the seventh Earl.
He held office in the first two Conservative administrations of the Earl of Derby as Captain
of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Master of the Buckhounds and was also
Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire.
His eldest son, the eighth Earl, represented Huntingdon in the House of Commons as a Conservative
and served as Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire.
He was succeeded by his nephew, the ninth Earl.
He was the son of Rear-Admiral the Hon.
Victor Alexander Montagu, second son of the seventh Earl.
Lord Sandwich was Member of Parliament for Huntingdon and Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire.
His son, the tenth Earl, represented South Dorset in Parliament as a Conservative from
1941 to 1962, when he succeeded his father in the earldom and had to resign his seat
in the House of Commons and enter the House of Lords.
He disclaimed his peerages in 1964 but never returned to the House of Commons.
As of 2010 the titles are held by his eldest son, the eleventh Earl, who succeeded in 1995.
Lord Sandwich is one of the ninety elected hereditary peers that remain in the House
of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999, and sits as a cross-bencher.
The family seat is today at Mapperton in Dorset.
From the 17th century until the 1960s the family also owned Hinchingbrooke House in
Huntingdonshire, from which the title Viscount Hinchingbrooke was derived.
Some historical papers of the family and its Hinchingbrooke estate are held by Cambridgeshire
Archives and Local Studies at the County Record Office Huntingdon.
Earls of Sandwich
Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Sandwich
Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwich Edward Richard Montagu, Viscount Hinchingbrooke
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich John Montagu, 5th Earl of Sandwich
George John Montagu, 6th Earl of Sandwich John William Montagu, 7th Earl of Sandwich
Edward George Henry Montagu, 8th Earl of Sandwich George Charles Montagu, 9th Earl of Sandwich
(Alexander) Victor Edward Paulet Montagu, 10th Earl of Sandwich
John Edward Hollister Montagu, 11th Earl of Sandwich
The heir apparent is the present holder's son Luke Timothy Charles Montagu, Viscount
Hinchingbrooke.
He is the elder son of John Montagu, 11th Earl of Sandwich by his wife Caroline Hayman.
Lord Hinchingbrooke married Julie Fisher on 11 June 2004.
She was seen on the tv show Ladies of London.
Their first son the Hon.
William James Hayman Montagu was born on 2 November 2004.
Notes
References Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David.
Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage.
New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
Lundy, Darryl.
"Thepeerage.com".
The Peerage.