Edward Montagu (1692–1776) was a wealthy English landowner, who owned numerous coal mines and had several rents and estates in

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

. The son of Hon. Charles Montagu, MP, by Sarah Rogers, and the grandson of

Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich, Order of the Garter, KG Privy Council of England, PC Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS Justice of the Peace, JP (27 July 162528 May 1672) was an English military officer, politician and diplomat, who fought f ...

, he was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

and

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

. In 1730 he became the leaseholder of the small estate of

Sandleford Sandleford is a hamlet and former parish in the English county of Berkshire. Since at least 1924, the settlement has been within the civil parish of Greenham, and is located approximately south of the town of Newbury. Landscape Sandleford c ...

, south of Newbury on the Berkshire-Hampshire border, and in 1742 he married

Elizabeth Robinson Elizabeth Robinson (born 1961, Denver, Colorado) is an American poet and professor, author of twelve collections of poetry, most recently ''Counterpart'' (Ahsahta Press, 2012), "Three Novels" (Omnidawn, 2011) "Also Known A," (Apogee, 2009), and ...

(despite her seeing marriage as a rational and expedient convention rather than something done out of love). At that date, she was twenty-two and he was fifty years old. The marriage was advantageous, but it was apparently not very passionate. All the same, she bore a son, John, the next year, and she loved her child immensely. When John died unexpectedly in 1744, Elizabeth was devastated and, though the couple remained friendly throughout their remaining time together, there were no more children or pregnancies. In December 1745 he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

, on the grounds of being ''a gentleman of great merit, well versed in mathematical and Philosophical Learning, curious in most of the branches of natural learning'', his proposers were Montagu; Martin Folkes; William Jones;

John Machin John Machin (bapt. c. 1686 – June 9, 1751) was a professor of astronomy at Gresham College, London. He is best known for developing a quickly converging series for pi in 1706 and using it to compute pi to 100 decimal places. History ...

; Shallet Turner;

Abraham de Moivre Abraham de Moivre FRS (; 26 May 166727 November 1754) was a French mathematician known for de Moivre's formula, a formula that links complex numbers and trigonometry, and for his work on the normal distribution and probability theory. He moved ...

; Peter Davall (d.1763, the society's secretary); and his brother-in-law George L. Scott. Beginning in 1750, he and Elizabeth established a routine where they would winter in London in

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

and then, in the spring, go to Sandleford Priory. He would then go on to Northumberland and

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

to manage his holdings, while she would occasionally accompany him. In the late 1760s, he fell ill, and his wife took care of him, although she resented giving up her freedom. He died on 20 May 1776, in his eighty-fourth year, bequeathing her all his wealth and property.

MP for Huntingdon

For over 30 years, from 1734–1768, Montagu was MP for the borough of

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

, a seat controlled by his cousin

John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, PC, FRS (13 November 1718 – 30 April 1792) was a British statesman who succeeded his grandfather Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwich as the Earl of Sandwich in 1729, at the age of ten. During his life ...

.''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754–1790'', edited by Lewis Bernstein Namier and John Brooke, 1964.

Some of Montagu's and his wife's ancestors

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montagu, Edward 1692 births 1776 deaths People from Newbury, Berkshire People associated with Sandleford, Berkshire Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Members of Lincoln's Inn 18th-century English landowners British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Edward Montagu (1692-1775) Fellows of the Royal Society