Montagu was born in 1690. He received private tuition as a child and also went on a
grand tour of Italy and France with
Pierre Sylvestre in his formative years. In 1735, he was appointed a
Major general in the British Army. Montagu is said to have once dunked the political philosopher
Montesquieu in a tub of cold water as a joke. Montagu also commissioned
William Hogarth to portray Chief Justice
John Willes unflatteringly in a number of cartoons series
Before and After (Hogarth) in which lusty
amoral rakes seduce women.
The Bottle Conjuror was a famous hoax which was attributed to Montagu. Montagu's country place,
Boughton House,
Northamptonshire, was laid out by him as a miniature Versailles, and now belonging to the Buccleuch family. He owned a library in the house, which included a copy of the 16th century Wriothesley Garter book. After his death, his town residence,
Montagu House, Bloomsbury, on the present site of the
British Museum, received and for many years held the national collections, which under the name of the British Museum were first opened to the public in 1759. Montagu was an owner of a coal mine. ==Children==