Sir James Montagu SL KC (2 February 1666 – 1723), of the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

, London, was an English lawyer and Whig politician, who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1695 and 1713. He became a judge and also served as Solicitor General and

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Early life

Tufton_Wray_(d_1712)_-_Circle_of_Herman_van_der_Mijn

Montagu was the seventh, but fifth surviving son of George Montagu of

Horton, Northamptonshire Horton is a village in Northamptonshire, England. The village manor, Horton Hall, now demolished, was home to the first governor of the Bank of England and William Parr, 1st Baron Parr of Horton. An outline of its former nucleus can be seen in ...

, and his wife Elizabeth Irby, daughter of Sir Anthony Irby and was baptized at Horton on 5 March 1666. His grandfather was Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and was admitted at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

and

in 1683. In 1689 he was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

from

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 ...

. He was appointed secretary to the chancellor of Exchequer in April 1694. He married Tufton Wray, daughter of

Sir William Wray, 1st Baronet, of Ashby Sir William Wray, 1st Baronet, of Ashby (1625 – 17 October 1669) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1645 and 1660. Wray was the son of Sir Christopher Wray of Ashby, Lincolnshire, and his wi ...

on 6 October 1694.

Career

At the

1695 English general election The 1695 English general election was the first to be held under the terms of the Triennial Act of 1694, which required parliament to be dissolved and fresh elections called at least every three years. This measure helped to fuel partisan rivalry ...

Montagu was returned in a contest as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Tregony. By 1698 he was counsel for Cambridge University when he was awarded MA and was also appointed chief justice of

Ely Ely or ELY may refer to: Places Ireland * Éile, a medieval kingdom commonly anglicised Ely * Ely Place, Dublin, a street United Kingdom * Ely, Cambridgeshire, a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England ** Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formal ...

. He was returned as MP for Beeralston in a by-election on 30 December 1698, but did not stand in the 1701 general elections or at the

1702 English general election The 1702 English general election was the first to be held during the reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain, Queen Anne, and was necessitated by the demise of William III of England, William III. The new government dominated by the Tories (Britis ...

. In 1704 he successfully defended

John Tutchin John Tutchin (c.1660 or 1664 – 23 September 1707) was a radical Whig controversialist and gadfly English journalist (born in Lymington, Hampshire), whose ''The Observator'' and earlier political activism earned him multiple trips before the bar ...

, indicted for a libel published in his periodical, ''The Observator'', and two years later he was leading counsel in the prosecution of

Beau Fielding Robert Fielding (or ''Feilding''; also nicknamed Beau Fielding; 1650/51 – 12 May 1712) was an English bigamist and rake in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He was known as a handsome womanizer at the royal court of King Charles II, ...

for

bigamy In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. I ...

in marrying the Duchess of Cleveland. In 1705 he was committed by the House of Commons to the custody of the

serjeant-at-arms A serjeant-at-arms, or sergeant-at-arms, is an officer appointed by a deliberative body, usually a legislature, to keep order during its meetings. The word "serjeant" is derived from the Latin ''serviens'', which means "servant". Historically, s ...

for having in 1704 demanded a ''

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

'' on behalf of the group of

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...

men, whom the house had committed to

Newgate Prison Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, t ...

for bringing actions against the returning officer. Montagu pleaded strongly against the privilege claimed by the Commons. He remained in custody from 26 February to 14 March, when parliament was prorogued and afterwards dissolved. In April 1705 he was knighted at Cambridge, and was made a

Q.C. QC may refer to: * Queen's Counsel, the title of a King's Counsel, a type of lawyer in Commonwealth countries, during the reign of a queen * Quality control, the process of meeting products and services to consumer expectations Places * Quebec, ...

in November of the same year. Montagu was next returned to Parliament as MP for

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

after a contest at the

1705 English general election The 1705 English general election saw contests in 110 constituencies in England and Wales, roughly 41% of the total. The election was fiercely fought, with mob violence and cries of " Church in Danger" occurring in several boroughs. During the pr ...

. He became solicitor-general and also Bencher of his Inn in 1707. At the

1708 British general election The 1708 British general election was the first general election to be held after the Acts of Union had united the Parliaments of England and Scotland. The election saw the Whigs finally gain a majority in the House of Commons, and by November ...

he was returned unopposed as MP for Carlisle. He was appointed attorney-general in September 1708 and was Treasurer of his Inn in 1708 and Library Keeper in 1709. As attorney-general Montagu opened the case in the House of Lords against Henry Sacheverell. At the

1710 British general election The 1710 British general election produced a landslide victory for the Tories. The election came in the wake of the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell, which had led to the collapse of the previous government led by Godolphin and the Whig Junto. ...

he was returned in a contest as MP for Carlisle. With the change of Administration he lost his position as Attorney-general in September 1710. The queen then granted him a pension, which was made the subject of a motion brought before the house in 1711. In this motion, Colonel Gledhill represented it as intended to defray the expenses of Montagu's election at Carlisle, but the charge was disproved. Montagu was dean of the Chapel at Lincoln's Inn in 1711. He did not stand at the

1713 British general election The 1713 British general election produced further gains for the governing Tory party. Since 1710 Robert Harley had led a government appointed after the downfall of the Whig Junto, attempting to pursue a moderate and non-controversial policy, b ...

. Montagu's wife Tufton had died in 1712, and he married, as his second wife, his cousin Elizabeth Montagu, daughter of

Robert Montagu, 3rd Earl of Manchester Robert Montagu, 3rd Earl of Manchester JP (baptised 25 April 1634 – 14 March 1683) was an English courtier and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1671 when he inherited the peerage as Earl of Manchester. Early life Mont ...

, on 6 October 1713. He became serjeant-at-law on 26 October 1714, was made a

Baron of the Exchequer The Barons of the Exchequer, or ''barones scaccarii'', were the judges of the English court known as the Exchequer of Pleas. The Barons consisted of a Chief Baron of the Exchequer and several puisne (''inferior'') barons. When Robert Shute was a ...

on 22 November 1714. Also in 1714, he became joint collector of tunnage and poundage, for the

Port of London The Port of London is that part of the River Thames in England lying between Teddington Lock and the defined boundary (since 1968, a line drawn from Foulness Point in Essex via Gunfleet Old Lighthouse to Warden Point in Kent) with the North Sea ...

for life. He was lord commissioner of the great seal (on the resignation of

Lord Cowper William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper, ( ; 10 October 1723) was an English politician who became the first Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. Cowper was the son of Sir William Cowper, 2nd Baronet, of Ratling Court, Kent, a Whig member of parlia ...

) from 18 April to 12 May 1718, when Lord Parker became lord chancellor. He became Chief Baron of the Exchequer in May 1722.

Death and legacy

Montagu died on 1 October 1723 leaving a son and a daughter by his first wife. He was succeeded by his son

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

who sat as a Whig Member of Parliament for St. Albans. His daughter Elizabeth, married Sir Clement Wearg. Montagu's brother was Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Montagu, James 1666 births 1723 deaths People from Tregony People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of the Middle Temple Attorneys General for England and Wales 18th-century English judges James Montagu Serjeants-at-law (England) Solicitors General for England and Wales Barons of the Exchequer Chief Barons of the Exchequer Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1705–1707 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Carlisle British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 Members of the Parliament of England for Bere Alston