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John Montagu
Involved in a bawdy scandal over juvenile writing: Essay on Woman
Initiated an attempt to reach the North Pole.
Captain Cook named the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) in the Pacific after him.
The modern sandwich, consisting of meat between 2 slices of bread is named after him.
John Montagu - the Earl of Sandwich
One of the world's first famous gamblers was John Montagu, the Earl of Sandwich. He led a scandalous life and was addicted to gambling. In 1762, he sat for over 24 hours at a gaming table in his home, refusing to attend meals. In desperation, a servant offered the Earl a piece of salted beef as food; the Earl suggested that the beef be encased between two slices of bread so that he could eat it in his hand at the table. This is where the sandwich got its name.
John Montagu - The Gambler
Montagu, who was a minister of state, spent 24 hours at a public gaming-table and was so absorbed in his play that he had nothing to eat but a bit of beef, between two slices of toasted bread, which he ate while playing. This new dish quickly grew in popularity and it was named after the minister who invented it.
The True Montagu
He was, by contemporary aristocratic standards, neither wealthy nor a heavy gambler or libertine and was certainly a conscientious and hard worker. He was also a man of unusual interests, being remarkably approachable, a pioneering and enthusiastic cricketer, tennis player, fisherman and yachtsman and of great importance in his passion for and support of 'ancient music', especially that of Handel. The modern popularity of Handel's 'Messiah' springs from his championship of it notably by a sensational Handel Commemoration that he organized in Westminster Abbey before George III in 1784.
Montagu - The Navy Man
John Montagu played an important role in the history of the Royal Navy from 1744 to 1782, which included the American War of Independence and the discovery of Australia and islands of the Pacific Ocean. He supported Captain Cook's exploratory voyages and, in return, Cook named the Sandwich Islands for him. Montagu worked extremely long hours in his various government posts and often ate salted beef between bread at his desk.
Montagu - The Immoral Man
The Fourth Earl of Sandwich was considered one of the most immoral men of his time. Montagu is said to have been immoral in both his private and public life, and real money gambling was just one of his lesser vices. As First Lord of the Admiralty, he was considered incompetent and very corrupt. In fact, it is very likely that he indirectly contributed to the success of the American Revolution because of his malfeasance as the chief admiral of the English navy. According to Jane Polley, "Sandwich managed to reduce the British Navy to a state of total confusion around the time that the American Revolution started - a contribution at least as significant as the sandwich."
Montagu - The Lecher
The Earl was a member of a group of Satan Worshippers called "The Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe", also known as "The Hell Fire Club". He boasted that he specialized in seducing virgins because he enjoyed "the corruption of innocence, for its own sake." Sandwich was the executive officer of the Club and was described as being "as mischievous as a monkey and as lecherous as a goat." He was also called "the most universally disliked man in England." He despised the general public and opposed any public figure who tried to get a better break for the common man. Because of his friendship with the King and his control of the English Navy, Sandwich was one of the most important men of the time and exerted a profound influence on the destiny of the British Empire."
Montagu Trivia
One famous confrontation between John Montagu and John Wilkes went like this:
Sandwich: "Sir, I do not know whether you will die on the gallows or of the pox." Wilkes responded, "That will depend, my lord, on whether I embrace your principles or your mistress."
Sandwich died in 1792 and it was suggested that his epitaph should have been, "Seldom has any man held so many offices and accomplished so little."
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