11169 i.
Eleanor Montagu.22338. Sir Edward Montagu
Lord Chief Justice of England(3)
(538)(336)
was born about 1500. He died on Feb 10 1556/57. Sir Edward Montagu was
a second son, born in the royal manor-house of Brigstock in Northamptonshire.
He studied at Cambridge and was called to the bar at the Middle Temple, where
he was an autumn reader from 1524 to 1531. When his elder brother died without
issue, he succeeded to the family estates.
In the next few years he served on numerous county commissions. On Nov 12 1531
he was raised to the degree of serjeant-at-law, an event that was celebrated
at Ely House in London in an extraordinary feast that lasted five days and numbered
the King and Queen among its guests.
At the outbreak of the rebellion known as "the Pilgramage of Grace"
in 1536, he acted as commissariat commisioner to the royal forces in Northamptonshire
and the following year was made King's serjeant.
He profited hugely from the dissolution of the monastaries, receiving the numerous
estates of the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds in Northamptonshire and adjoining counties
as well as other church lands in the area.
He was knighted Oct 18 1537 and on Jan 21 1539 he was named Chief Justice of
the King's Bench. In Dec 1541 he assisted the Privy Council in the examination
of the Duchess of Norfolk and other preliminaries leading to the execution of
Queen Catherine Howard. In 1545 he was transferred from the King's Bench to the
lesser (but much less onerous) post of Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
He was a member of the commission that extracted a confession on Jan 12 1547
from the Duke of Norfolk that would have resulted in his execution, had not Henry
VIII died the night before it was scheduled. After the King's death, he was named
in his will to serve on the Council of Regency during the minority of his successor,
Edward VI. On the council he generally opposed the policies of the Duke of Somerset,
the Lord Protector, and voted for his deposition in Oct 1549.
On Jun 11 1553, he was summoned to the council and was told of the Duke of Northumberland's
plan for altering the succession in favor of Lady Jane Grey, to prevent the Catholic
Mary Tudor from coming to the throne. Told to draft the necessary language in
the dying king's will, Montagu objected, saying that it would be void under the
provisions of the Act of Settlement. He met the next day with colleagues in the
law and they decided that such an action would be treasonable, even if Parliament
altered the law. But his fears were laid to rest with a commission under the
Great Seal and the promise of a general pardon.
He then drafted the necessary clauses and signed the will as one of the guarantors.
On the collapse of the opposition to the accession of Queen Mary, Montagu was
sent to the Tower on Jul 26 1553 but he was released on Sep 6, having been fined
1000 pounds and the forfeiture of some of his estates. He was also removed from
the Court of Common Pleas.
Montagu retired to his manor at Boughton that he had bought in 1528 and which
has been the seat of his descendants, the Earls and Dukes of Manchester, ever
since. He died at Boughton and was buried, with great pomp, in the neighboring
church of St. Mary, Weekley. His effigy is still to be seen there as is the artfully
ambiguous legend "pour unge pleasoir mille dolours" (for one pleasure
a thousand sorrows).
His grandson, Sir Henry Montagu, also served as Chief Justice of the King's Bench
(he condemned Sir Walter Ralegh), and was created Earl of Manchester in 1626.
His son, the 2nd earl, would play a major part in the English Civil War on the
Parliamentary side. But he opposed trying King Charles I for treason and retired
to his estates. He actively assisted the restoration in 1660. His grandson, the
4th earl, was created Duke of Manchester in 1719.
Sir Edward Montagu was also the progenitor of the Earls of Sandwich. His grandson,
James Montagu, served as Bishop of Winchester. He was married to Helen Roper.
22339. Helen Roper
(3)(336)
. Children were:
11169 i.
Eleanor Montagu.
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