Edward Montagu (judge) explained
Sir Edward Montagu (– 10 February 1557) of Boughton, Hanging Houghton and Hemington in Northamptonshire was an English lawyer and judge in the time of Henry VIII and Edward VI. He was Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1539 to 1545 and Chief Justice of the Common Pleas from 1545 to 1553.
Life
He was born in or before 1488 at the royal manor house at Brigstock, Northamptonshire, the 2nd son of Thomas Montagu (d. 1517) of Hemington, and Agnes Dudley, daughter of William Dudley of Clopton, and Christiana Darrell. His grandfather, Richard Ladde, assumed the name of Montagu in about 1447.
Montagu was a student at Cambridge and was admitted to Middle Temple on 22 May 1506. He served as Autumn Reader for the Inn in 1524 and 1531. He was made Serjeant-at-law in 1531, King's Serjeant in 1537 and was knighted on 18 October 1537. He was appointed Chief Justice of the King's Bench in 1539, which office he resigned in 1545 and was transferred to the "less onerous, but more profitable" post of Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. He was a member of the Privy Council of Henry VIII, who appointed him one of sixteen executors of his last will, and governor to his son Edward. During the crisis of 1553 when Edward VI wished to alter the succession in favour of Lady Jane Grey, Montagu protested at the illegality of the proceedings. However, when the Duke of Northumberland called him a traitor and threatened him with physical violence, he withdrew his protest. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London on Mary's accession but bought his way out.
In 1528 he purchased the manor of Boughton, near Kettering, Northamptonshire and built the family seat of Boughton House on the site.
Marriages and children
Montagu married three times:
- First, Cicely Lane, of Orlingbury by whom he had three sons who all died young, and three daughters:
- Dorothy Montagu, the eldest daughter, married, in 1535, Edward Watson (d. 1584) of Rockingham Castle, the son of Edward Watson (d. 1530) of Lyddington, Rutland and Emma Smith. After the death of his father in 1530 Watson became a ward of Thomas Cromwell, was educated and later employed by the minister. Edward and Dorothy had a son and six daughters, including:
- Elizabeth Watson married Thomas Furtho of Furtho, Northamptonshire.
- Ellen Watson married George Flower.
- Amey Montagu, married George Linne of Southwick, Northamptonshire.
- Second, Agnes Kirkham, daughter George Kirkham (d. 1527) of Warmington, by whom he had no children.
- Third, Eleanor Roper (d. 1563), daughter of John Roper (d. 1524), of Well Hall, chief clerk of the king's bench and attorney-general to Henry VIII, widow of John Moreton, by whom he had eleven children (five sons and six daughters):
- Edward Montagu (1532–1602), his eldest surviving son, was father of eight sons and four daughters, including:
- Elizabeth Montagu, married 1. Richard Cave, son and heir of Sir Thomas Cave of Stanford, Northamptonshire; 2. William Markham of Oakley, Northamptonshire.
- Mary Montagu, married William Wattes of Blakesley, Northamptonshire.
- Margaret Montagu, married Robert Woode of Colwick, Nottinghamshire
Death
He died at Boughton on 10 February 1557 and was buried on 5 March with much pomp (including a "hearse of wax") in the church of St Mary, Weekley, where there is an altar tomb with his full-length effigy in robes and collar of SS and the motto "Pour unge pleasoir mille dolours" ("For every pleasure, a thousand sorrows"). His widow married as her third husband, Sir John Digby. She died in May 1563.
See also
Sources
- Baker. J. H. . Montagu, Sir Edward (1480s–1557), Judge . 23 September 2004 . 10.1093/ref:odnb/19006.
- Book: Collins . Arthur . Arthur Collins (antiquarian) . Brydges . Egerton . Egerton Brydges . Collins's Peerage of England: Genealogical Biographical and Historical . Greatly Augmented and Continued to the Present Time, by Sir Egerton Brydges, K. J. . 1812 . 2 . Printed for F. C. and J. Rivington Otridge and Son . London . 3986749.
- Book: Foss . Edward . Edward Foss . Biographia Juridica: A Biographical Dictionary of the Judges of the England from the Conquest to the Present Time, 1066-1870 . London . . 1870 . 154151693.
- Book: Ives . Eric . Eric Ives . Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery . 2009 . . Chichester . 9781405194136.
- Book: Metcalfe . Walter C. . The Visitations of Northamptonshire Made in 1564 and 1618-19, with Northamptonshire Pedigrees from Various Harleian MSS. . 1887 . Mitchell and Hughes . London . 807194019 . 17, 37, 114–115 .
- Book: Owen . David . David Owen . Hasler . P. W. . The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603 . 1981 . http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/watson-edward-1549-1617 . Watson, Edward (c.1549-1617), of Rockingham, Northants . History of Parliament Online.
- Book: Pratt . Tony . Repko . Karen . The Manor of Lackham . 3. The Montagu Family: The Montagus of Lackham and their Historical Connections . . 23 March 2019 . 2010.
- Rigg . James McMullen . Montagu, Edward (d.1557). 38. y.
- Book: Stokes . Ethel . Ethel Stokes . Doubleday . H. A. . Lord Howard de Walden . Thomas Scott-Ellis, 8th Baron Howard de Walden . The Complete Peerage: or A History of the House of Lords and All its Members From the Earliest Times, by G.E.C. . 9 . 1936 . St Catherine Press . London . 25–29 (Appendix D) . revised . The Ancestry of Sir Edward Montagu of Boughton, Chief Justice of the King's Bench 1539.
- Book: Venn . John . John Venn . Venn . J. A. . John Archibald Venn . Alumni Cantabrigienses, A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, From the Earliest Times to 1900. Part 1: From the Earliest Times to 1751 . 3 . 1924 . . Cambridge . 201.
- Book: Wise . Charles . The Montagus of Boughton and their Northamptonshire Homes . 1888 . W. E & J. Goss . Kettering . 319927684 .
- Book: Wise . Charles . Rockingham Castle and the Watsons . 1891 . Elliot Stock . London . 902976023 .
External links
