Sir Sidney Montagu (died 25 February 1644) was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

at various times between 1593 and 1642. He supported the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gov ...

cause in the

First English Civil War The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. They include the Bishops' Wars, the Irish Confederate Wars, the Second English Civil War, the Angl ...

. Montagu was one of the younger of the eight sons of the judge Sir Edward Montagu of Boughton and

Elizabeth Harington Elizabeth Harington (died in 1618) was an English aristocrat. Life Elizabeth Harington was the daughter of James Harington of Exton and Lucy Sidney, the daughter of Sir William Sidney of Penshurst, Kent. Three of Elizabeth's letters to her sis ...

. He was the grandson of another judge Sir Edward Montagu and his third wife Helen or Eleanor Roper. He matriculated at

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

in December 1588 and was admitted at

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 I ...

on 11 May 1593. In 1593, Montagu was elected

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 o ...

for

Brackley Brackley is a market town and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, bordering Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, from Oxford and from Northampton. Historically a market town based on the wool and lace trade, it was built on the inter ...

. He was elected MP for

Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upp ...

in 1601 and for Wells in 1614. He became

Master of Requests Master of Requests, from the Latin Requestarum Magister, is an office that developed in several European systems of law and government in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period. Holders of the title had the responsibility of presenting pe ...

to King Charles I and was knighted on 28 July 1616.Knights of England
/ref> In November 1640, Montagu was elected MP for

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popu ...

in the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septe ...

. Since he was reputed to be a man of great wealth, the Commons at the outset of the Civil War were infuriated by his refusal of their request to contribute £2000 to their cause. He was expelled from the Commons and committed to the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

in 1642 as a known Royalist. He was released two weeks later after promising to contribute £1000 to the Parliamentary cause, although it seems that he only paid £200. He spent his remaining years in retirement.

Family

Montagu lived at

Hinchingbrooke House Hinchingbrooke House is an English stately home in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, now part of Hinchingbrooke School. The house was built around an 11th-century Benedictine nunnery. After the Reformation it passed into the hands of the Cromwell fa ...

, Huntingdonshire, England. He married firstly in 1619 Paulina Pepys, daughter of John Pepys, of Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, England and sister of

Richard Pepys Sir Richard Pepys (2 July 1589 – 2 January 1659) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1640 and was Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. He was a great-uncle of Samuel Pepys, the diarist. Pepys was born at Bunstead ...

and Thomas Pepys, grandfather of

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

. It is often suggested that it was a love match, as Paulina had no fortune and was not her husband's social equal. Their only surviving son

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sax ...

was created

Earl of Sandwich 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. ...

in 1660. They also had a daughter Elizabeth who married

Sir Gilbert Pickering, 1st Baronet Sir Gilbert Pickering, 1st Baronet, 10 March 1611 to 17 October 1668, was a member of the landed gentry from Northamptonshire, and a religious Independent who supported Parliament in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. An MP for Northamptonshire for ...

and had twelve children, including

Elizabeth Creed Elizabeth Creed (''née'' Pickering; 1642–1728) was an English artist and philanthropist. She was a daughter of Sir Gilbert Pickering, Bart., and Elizabeth Montagu, daughter of Sir Sidney Montagu. She was a cousin of the poet John Dryden, a ...

. Paulina died in 1638. In 1642 Sidney remarried Anne Isham, daughter of Gregory Isham of

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 ...

, and widow of John Pay of

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

. The marriage was very happy: in his

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and wi ...

he praised her as a "religious, virtuous woman, as loving and contenting to me as my heart can desire", and left her generously provided for. She died in 1676. His brothers included

Edward Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu of Boughton Edward Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu of Boughton KB (AKA Sir Edward Montague of Boughton Castle) (c. 1562 – 15 June 1644) was an English politician. Life Montagu was the son of Sir Edward Montagu and his wife Elizabeth Harington, a daugh ...

, Sir Walter Montagu,

Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester (7 November 1642) was an English judge, politician and peer. Life He was the 3rd son of Edward Montagu of Boughton and grandson of Sir Edward Montagu, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1539 to ...

, Sir Charles Montagu and James Montagu,

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' (except ...

. Samuel Pepys, as he admitted, owed his start in life to the "chance without merit" which made his great-aunt Paulina the mother of the first Earl of Sandwich.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montagu, Sidney 1644 deaths Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Members of the Middle Temple Knights Bachelor Cavaliers English MPs 1593 English MPs 1601 English MPs 1614 English MPs 1640–1648 Sidney Prisoners in the Tower of London 1572 births