John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu, (1690 – 5 July 1749), styled Viscount Monthermer until 1705 and Marquess of Monthermer between 1705 and 1709, was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

peer.

Life

Montagu was an owner of a coal mine. Montagu went on the

grand tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

with Pierre Sylvestre. On 17 March 1705, John was married to Lady Mary Churchill, daughter of

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, (26 May 1650 – 16 June 1722 O.S.) was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reign ...

, and

Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, Princess of Mindelheim, Countess of Nellenburg (née Jenyns, spelt Jennings in most modern references; 5 June 1660 (Old Style) – 18 October 1744), was an English courtier who rose to be one of th ...

. On 23 October 1717, Montagu was admitted a Fellow of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

. He was made a

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George ...

in 1719, and was made

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

, a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1725, and a Grand Master of the

Premier Grand Lodge of England The organisation now known as the Premier Grand Lodge of England was founded on 24 June 1717 as the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster. Originally concerned with the practice of Freemasonry in London and Westminster, it soon became known as ...

which was the first Masonic Grand Lodge to be created. On 22 June 1722,

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgor ...

appointed Montagu governor of the islands of

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...

and Saint Vincent in the West Indies. He in turn appointed

Nathaniel Uring Nathaniel Uring was an English merchant who traveled to Africa and the Americas in the early eighteenth century. His 1725 and 1726 accounts are important sources for the history of early colonial Saint Vincent, Saint Lucia, and Belize, as well a ...

, a merchant sea captain and adventurer, as deputy-governor. Uring went to the islands with a group of seven ships, and established settlement at Petit Carenage. Unable to get enough support from British warships, he and the new colonists were quickly run off by the French. In 1739, the country's first home for abandoned children, the

Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital in London, England, was founded in 1739 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word "hospital" w ...

was created in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Montagu was a supporter of this effort and was one of the

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...

's founding

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

s. He also financed the education of two notable

Black British Black British people are a multi-ethnic group of British citizens of either African or Afro-Caribbean descent.Gadsby, Meredith (2006), ''Sucking Salt: Caribbean Women Writers, Migration, and Survival'', University of Missouri Press, pp. 76–7 ...

figures of the age,

Ignatius Sancho Charles Ignatius Sancho ( – 14 December 1780) was a British abolitionist, writer and composer. Born on a slave ship in the Atlantic, Sancho was sold into slavery in the Spanish colony of New Granada. After his parents died, Sancho's owner t ...

(a butler at his Blackheath home, Montagu House) and Francis Williams, allegedly sending the latter to

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

(the university has no record of his having studied there). In 1745, Montagu raised a cavalry regiment known as Montagu's Carabineers, which, however, was disbanded after the

Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden (; gd, Blàr Chùil Lodair) was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force under Prince Wi ...

. Montagu was a notorious practical joker, his mother-in-law writing of him that "All his talents lie in things only natural in boys of fifteen years old, and he is about two and fifty; to get people into his garden and wet them with squirts, and to invite people to his country houses and put things in beds to make them itch, and twenty such pretty fancies as these."quoted in Martin C. Battestin's "General Introduction" to Henry Fielding's ''Joseph Andrews.'' Middleton, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 1967: xxvi''n''. Montagu is believed by some literary critics to be the model for Fielding's "roasting squire," the vicious squire who plays practical jokes. Montagu is said to have once dunked the political philosopher

Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; ; 18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the principa ...

in a tub of cold water as a joke.Battestin, xxiv''n''. Montagu's country place,

Boughton House Boughton House is a country house in the parish of Weekley in Northamptonshire, England, situated about north-east of Kettering. It is situated within an estate of . The present house was built by Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu (d.1709), ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, was laid out by him as a miniature Versailles, and now belonging to the Buccleuch family. After his death, his town residence,

Montagu House, Bloomsbury Montagu House (sometimes spelled "Montague") was a late 17th-century mansion in Great Russell Street in the Bloomsbury district of London, which became the first home of the British Museum. The first house on the site was destroyed by fire in 1 ...

, on the present site of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, received and for many years held the national collections, which under the name of the British Museum were first opened to the public in 1759.

Children

Montagu and his wife, Lady Mary Churchill, were parents to five children: * Lady Isabella Montagu (d. 20 December 1786). Married first

William Montagu, 2nd Duke of Manchester William Montagu, 2nd Duke of Manchester, KB (April 1700 – 21 October 1739) was the son of Charles Montagu, 1st Duke of Manchester, and his wife, Dodington Greville, daughter of Robert Greville, 4th Baron Brooke of Beauchamps Court. He married ...

(no issue), and second

Edward Hussey-Montagu, 1st Earl of Beaulieu Edward Hussey-Montagu, 1st Earl Beaulieu, KB (1721–1802), was a British politician. He was married to Isabella Montagu, Dowager Duchess of Manchester, a rich heiress. Birth and origins Edward was born in 172 ...

(had issue). * John (1706–1711) * George (died in infancy) * Lady Mary Montagu (c. 1711 – 1 May 1775). Married

George Brudenell, 4th Earl of Cardigan George Montagu, Duke of Montagu KG, PC, FRS (26 July 1712 – 23 May 1790)G. E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors. The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ir ...

(had issue). * Edward (27 December 1725 – May 1727)

Succession

As none of Montagu's sons survived him, his titles became extinct upon his death in 1749. His estates were inherited by his daughter Mary, whose husband,

assumed the name and arms of Montagu, and in 1766 was created 1st

Duke of Montagu The title of Duke of Montagu has been created twice, firstly for the Montagu family of Boughton, Northamptonshire, and secondly for the Brudenell family, Earls of Cardigan. It was first created in the Peerage of England in 1705 for Ralph Mo ...

(second creation). In 1790 this second creation dukedom of Montagu also became extinct; his only son (who had been created

Baron Montagu of Boughton Baron Montagu of Boughton is a British title which has been created twice for members of the Noble House of Montagu. First created in 1621, in the Peerage of England, for Sir Edward Montagu, eldest son of Sir Edward Montagu of Boughton

) having predeceased him. His daughter Elizabeth married

Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch and 5th Duke of Queensberry KG FRSE (2 September 174611 January 1812) was a Scottish nobleman and long-time friend of Sir Walter Scott. He is the paternal 3rd great-grandfather of Princess Alice, Duchess of G ...

, 5th Duke of Queensberry who thus acquired all the unentailed property of the Dukes of Montagu.

Notes

Attribution

References

External links

John Montague, 2nd Duke of Montagu presenting the Roll of Constitutions and the compasses to Philip, Duke of Wharton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montagu, John Montagu, 2nd Duke of 1690 births 1749 deaths 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) officers John Montagu, 02nd Duke of Montagu British Life Guards officers

102 102 may refer to: * 102 (number), the number * AD 102, a year in the 2nd century AD * 102 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 102 (ambulance service), an emergency medical transport service in Uttar Pradesh, India * 102 (Clyde) Field Squadron, Royal ...

*04 Fellows of the Royal Society Knights of the Garter Great Masters of the Order of the Bath Lord-Lieutenants of Northamptonshire Lord-Lieutenants of Warwickshire Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England Grand Masters of the Premier Grand Lodge of England