John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, PC, FRS 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. He held various military and political offices, including Postmaster General, First Lord of the Admiralty, and Secretary of State for the Northern Department. He is also known for the claim that he was the inventor of the sandwich.
The 4th Earl of Sandwich by Thomas Gainsborough
The Duke of Bedford was a long-standing patron of Sandwich, and his support helped him further his career. Portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds.
In The State Tinkers (1780), James Gillray caricatured Sandwich (on left) and his political allies in the North government as incompetent tinkers.
Black-and-white reproduction of a pastel portrait of a lady of the Montagu family, possibly Dorothy, wife of the 4th Earl of Sandwich, or his sister Elizabeth Courtenay, by Francis Cotes RA, 1758.
Earl of Sandwich is a noble title in the Peerage of England, held since its creation by the House of Montagu. It is 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, 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.
Edward Montagu, 1st Earl
