He became a Patriot Whig and one of the sharpest critics of the Walpole government, attacking the government's strategy in the War of the Austrian Succession. On his return to England in 1739, Montagu took his seat in the House of Lords as a follower of the Duke of Bedford, one of the wealthiest and most powerful politicians of the era. This led him later to found a number of Orientalist societies. He was educated at Eton and at Trinity College, Cambridge, and spent some time travelling, initially going on the Grand Tour around Continental Europe before visiting the more unusual destinations of Greece, Turkey, and Egypt which were then part of the Ottoman Empire. He succeeded his grandfather as Earl of Sandwich in 1729, at the age of ten. His mother soon remarried and he had little further contact with her. His father died when John was four, leaving him as his heir.
John Montagu was born in 1718, the son of Edward Montagu, Viscount Hinchingbrooke.
He is also known for the claim that he was the inventor of the sandwich. He held various military and political offices, including Postmaster General, First Lord of the Admiralty, and Secretary of State for the Northern Department. John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, PC, FRS (13 November 1718 – 30 April 1792) was a British statesman who succeeded his grandfather Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwich as the Earl of Sandwich in 1729, at the age of ten.
