Edward Montagu
Royal Navy admiral
Died when: 46 years 306 days (562 months)Star Sign: Leo
Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich, KG PC FRS JP (27 July 1625 – 28 May 1672) was an English military officer, politician and diplomat, who fought for the Parliamentarian army during the First English Civil War and was an MP at various times between 1645 and 1660.
A loyal supporter of Oliver Cromwell, he was a member of the English Council of State from 1653 to 1659 and General at sea from 1656 to 1660.
Following Cromwell's death in 1658, he switched allegiance and played an important role in the Restoration of Charles II in May 1660.
Created Earl of Sandwich in July 1660, he served as Ambassador to Portugal from 1661 to 1662, then Spain from 1666 to 1668, when he negotiated the 1667 Treaty of Madrid.
He commanded a naval squadron in the first part of the 1665 to 1667 Second Anglo-Dutch War, being relieved of his command in 1666 after a dispute over prize money.
He returned to sea during the 1672 to 1674 Third Anglo-Dutch War and was killed at the Battle of Solebay in June 1672.
Montagu is one of the best-known characters of the 1660s since he is a central figure in the diaries of Samuel Pepys, a distant cousin and naval official.
