Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich

Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich, KG, FRS (27 July 1625 – 28 May 1672) was an English landowner and Infantry officer who later became a naval officer and a politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1645 and 1660. He served Oliver Cromwell loyally in the 1650s, but went on to play a considerable part in the Restoration of Charles II, and was rewarded with several Court offices. He served as the English Ambassador to Portugal 1661-1662, and Ambassador to Spain 1666-1668. He became an Admiral, serving in the two Anglo-Dutch Wars in the reign of Charles II, and was killed at the Battle of Solebay. Our best picture of him is contained in the diary of Samuel Pepys, who was his cousin and protégé.

Montagu was the only surviving son of Sir Sidney Montagu, by his wife Paulina Pepys of Cottenham (great-aunt of Samuel Pepys) and was brought up at Hinchingbrooke House.

He served the Cause of Parliament by raising a regiment of infantry in June 1643. In 1645, he was elected Member of Parliament for Huntingdonshire as a recruiter to the Long Parliament. He was nominated MP for Huntingdonshire in 1653 for the Barebones Parliament and was elected MP for Huntingdonshire in 1654 for the First Protectorate Parliament. He continued to serve in the army for the Commonwealth of England and, in 1656 he became a General at Sea, serving jointly with General at sea Robert Blake (admiral) in the Mediterranean, Portugal and Spain. Later, as the principal General at Sea, he blockaded Dunkirk before the Battle of the Dunes. Montagu enjoyed the trust and confidence of Cromwell, who appointed him to his Council of State. Montagu, on his side, never lost his admiration and respect for Cromwell, and was prepared to defend his record even after the Restoration. In 1656 he was re-elected MP for Huntingdonshire in the Second Protectorate Parliament; in 1658 he served in Cromwell's short lived Upper House.

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