John George Montagu was born on 3 April 1767 and baptised at St Marylebone, Westminster, on 4 May. {1} His father was John Montagu, son of the 4th Earl of Sandwich. As heir apparent to the earldom his father was known as Viscount Hinchinbrooke till he succeeded as 5th Earl on 30 April 1792, and some writers have mistakenly also applied this title to John George Montagu, {2} but in fact the latter never became heir apparent, since his grandfather and his father both outlived him. His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Halifax, who died on 1 July 1768, while he was still a baby.
Montagu was educated by a private tutor named Bayley, and then at Eton between 1778 and 1784. {3} On 14 January 1785, at the age of 17, he was admitted as a fellow-commoner at Trinity College, Cambridge, the college of both his grandfathers, and he matriculated during Lent term that year. {4} His tutor at Trinity was John Cranke. {5} On 3 July (Commencement Day) 1787 he was created Master of Arts in right of nobility. {6}
By Christmas 1789 arrangements were underway for his marriage to Dorothy Charlotte Beckingham, the only daughter of Stephen Beckingham, of Bourne Place in Kent, {7} and on 3 March the following year the couple were married by special licence at Stephen Beckingham’s London house, 31 Portman Square, {8} a marriage settlement having been made the day before. {9}
Montagu was returned ‘on the family interest’ as MP for Huntingdon on 21 June 1790, {10} but he had probably succumbed to his final illness by 31 August 1790, when he made his will. {11} A codicil was added the same day. His death, which is said to have followed a long illness, {12} took place on 29 November, but the place where he died is uncertain. Contemporary press notices record that he died at Conington in Huntingdonshire, {13} but one writer says that he died at Mrs Beckenham’s house in Grosvenor Square. {14} He was buried at All Saints, Barnwell, in Northamptonshire. {15}
Montagu’s wife died on 10 August 1821, after a few hours’ illness, at her house at Hampton Court. {16}
A half-length portrait of Montagu by John Hoppner was at Hinchingbrooke House in the 19th century, {17} but its present location is unknown. A similar portrait of his wife, painted by Thomas Lawrence, {18} was sold at Bonhams on 9 December 2015. {19}
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{1} ‘John George Montagu of John Montagu Ld: Viscount Hinchingbrook & Elizabeth his Lady born 3d. Ult:’ (parish register).
{2} e.g. McKay and Roberts, John Hoppner, R.A., p. 174.
{3} Stamford Mercury, 6 July 1787, p. 3
{4} Al. Cantab. Among the sources cited in this work are the manuscripts of W. R. Williams, which have not been identified.
{5} Adm. to Trinity, vol. iii, p. 292.
{6} Eton Coll. Reg., 1753–1790, p. 374.
{7} Hist. Parl., quoting a letter from the Earl of Sandwich to Viscount Hinchingbrooke, 24 Dec. 1789 (Hunts RO, Sandwich MSS 11G).
{8} ‘The Honble: John George Montagu of the Parish of St. George Hanover Square in the County of Middles[e]x Bachelor and Dorothy Charlotte Beckingham of this Parish spinster Married by a Special Licence of the House of Mr. Beckinghams No 31 Portman Square this Third Day of March in the Year One Thousand seven Hundred and Ninety By me Benjn. Lawrence Curate’, etc. (St Marylebone parish register and The Register of Marriages of St Mary le Bone, Middlesex, 1783–1792, ed. W. Bruce Bannerman and R. R. Bruce Bannerman (Harleian Society, vol. lii, 1922), p. 121. The witnesses were the bridegroom’s father and his grandfather, the Earl of Sandwich, and the bride’s father. Al. Cantab. mistakenly gives the date of the marriage as 2 March.
{9} See his will.
{10} Hist. Parl.
{11} The National Archives, PROB 11/1199/91.
{12} Hist. Parl., citing Spencer MSS.
{13} Scots Magazine, 1 Dec.; Bury and Norwich Post, 8 Dec.; Derby Mercury, 9 Dec.; etc.
{14} Boyle, Biographical Notices, p. 34.
{15} Al. Cantab.
{16} The Sun, 14 Aug. 1821.
{17} Boyle, Biographical Notices, p. 34; McKay and Roberts, John Hoppner, p. 174 (‘Half figure, in an oval, looking to right; brown coat, revers of yellow brocade waistcoat falling over coat, white ruffle, powdered hair. Canvas, 30 x 25 in.’).
{18} Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence, p. 238
{19} According to the auctioneers’ website this is a half-length portrait in oil on canvas, measuring 76.3 x 63.4 cm, depicting the subject in a white dress.
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