Born, ——. Died, 1644.—The eldest son of Sir Edward Montagu, of Boughton, North Hants, by Elizabeth, daughter of Sir James Harrington, of Exton, Rutland, Knight, by whom he had eight sons and three daughters: the third son, Henry, being ancestor to the Dukes of Manchester and the Earls of Halifax: and the sixth, Sidney, to the Earls of Sandwich. Edward, the eldest, was also Knighted of the Shire, and then created Knight of the Bath at the coronation of James I, he did good service in Parliament; was much opposed to Popish doctrines, was one of the first named on the committee to consider the confirmation of the Book of Common Prayer, and many weighty matters, was the principal promoter of keeping a day of public thanksgiving on the 5th of November, in remembrance of the failure of the Gunpowder Plot, on which day he also instituted a charitable gift of “forty shillings yearly to the world’s end,” to be given to the poor of certain towns in Northamptonshire, if present at Divine Service the same day. He was advanced to the dignity of Baron Montagu, of Boughton, for his services and great abilities, in the nineteenth year of the reign of James I. He was remarkable for his piety, not only attending constantly and punctually at church, but having regular prayers on week days, “as also singing of two psalms after supper in the hall in his own house.” He was a patron to men of letters and learning, showing great discrimination in his choice of bestowal of livings in his gift, and “an enemy to pluralities and non-residency.” Not only did he do good “to the good to make them better, but also to the bad to keep them from worse.” It is scarcely credible how many poor as well as rich he fed. It is reported that a hired coachman of London, who had been at my Lord’s house, told on his return that he had seen 1200 people served in a day at my Lord Montagu’s door, which was not credited, and a wager of £10 laid. It was brought to trial and proved. He built a fair Hospital at Weekly for eight persons, with a liberal allowance, and a blue gown to each every second year.
But this good and noble Peer fell into misfortune through his loyalty to King Charles I., and Lord Clarendon relates that the Parliament took him prisoner at his House of Boughton, “a person of great reverence above fourscore years of age, and of unblemished reputation, because he declared himself unsatisfied with their disobedient proceedings towards the King.”
Sir Philip Warwick also says: “The family of Montagu is noble and worthy. It had six brothers, four remarkable for several qualifications; the eldest, Lord Montagu, a man of plain, downright English spirit, of steady courage and a devout heart, a son of the Church of England, yet so devout that he was by some reckoned among the Puritans.” He was a great benefactor to the town of Northampton, (being Lord Lieutenant of the County), and he bore such sway there, that “the multitude of vulgars flocked about him when he came to town, as if he had been their topical deity.” When he was taken prisoner on his road to London, he met my Lord Essex at Barnet, who was proceeding with the army against the King. That nobleman stopped his coach, intending to go and salute Lord Montagu, who presently ordered his coachman to drive on, as this was no time for compliments. When brought before the Committee of State, where he pleaded nobly, the verdict was that he should be detained a prisoner, but that it might be in his own daughter’s house. This he utterly refused, saying, that if he deserved to be a prisoner, he deserved to be sent to a prison, and that he would not be sent to the house of the Countess of Rutland, which would be irksome to him, that lady being busy in the Parliament’s cause—unless the warrant named her house as his prison; “whereat the Countess was much disgruntled.”
Lord Montagu was accordingly conveyed to the Savoy, near the Strand, in the suburbs of London, where he departed this life on the 15th of June, 1644. He was thrice married; first to Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir John Jeffrey, of Chitingley, Sussex, Knight, Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, by whom he had an only daughter; secondly, to Frances, daughter of Thomas Cotton, of Connington, Hunts, by whom he had a son who died unmarried, Edward his successor, William, and the aforesaid Countess of Rutland; thirdly, to Anne Crouch, of Cornbury, Herts, by whom he had no issue.
Lord Montagu was grandfather to Ralph, first Duke of Montagu. He was interred in Weekly Church, Northamptonshire, where a splendid monument commemorates his many virtues.
Mrs. Elizabeth Cromwell:
By WALKER.
Half-Length.
(Green Cardinal edged with Gold, fastened in Front with a Jewel. White Satin Hood, White Tippet, Pearl Necklace.)