Earl of Sandwich

Earl of Sandwich is a 17th-century title in the Peerage of England, 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 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 (from whom the Dukes of Manchester descend) and Edward Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu of Boughton (from whom the Dukes of Montagu descended). He was succeeded by his son, the second Earl. He briefly represented Dover in the House of Commons and served as Ambassador to Portugal and as Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire.

His great-grandson, the fourth Earl, was a prominent statesman and served as First Lord of the Admiralty and as Secretary of State for the Northern Department. Lord Sandwich is also remembered for sponsoring the voyages of discovery made by Captain James Cook, who named the Sandwich Islands in his honour, and as the namesake of the sandwich. He was succeeded by his son, the fifth Earl. He sat as Member of Parliament for Brackley and Huntingdonshire and served as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household and as Master of the Buckhounds. His son, the sixth Earl, also represented Huntingdonshire in Parliament. He was succeeded by his son, the seventh Earl. He held office in the first two Conservative administrations of the Earl of Derby as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Master of the Buckhounds and was also Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire. His eldest son, the eighth Earl, represented Huntingdon in the House of Commons as a Conservative and served as Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire. He was succeeded by his nephew, the ninth Earl. He was the son of Rear-Admiral the Hon. Victor Alexander Montagu, second son of the seventh Earl. Lord Sandwich was Member of Parliament for Huntingdon and Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire.

His son, the tenth Earl, represented South Dorset in Parliament as a Conservative from 1941 to 1962, when he succeeded his father in the earldom and had to resign his seat in the House of Commons and enter the House of Lords. He disclaimed his peerages in 1964 but never returned to the House of Commons. As of 2010 the titles are held by his eldest son, the eleventh Earl, who succeeded in 1995. Lord Sandwich is one of the ninety elected hereditary peers that remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999, and sits as a cross-bencher.

The family seat is today at Mapperton in Dorset. From the 17th century until the 1960s the family also owned Hinchingbrooke House in Huntingdonshire, from which the title Viscount Hinchingbrooke was derived.

Some historical papers of the family and its Hinchingbrooke estate are held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at the County Record Office Huntingdon.