MONTAGU, Edward Richard, Visct. Hinchingbrooke (1692-1722), of Hinchingbrooke, Hunts.

Lord Sandwich, being of weak intellect, was kept under restraint in his own house till his death in 1729, the administration of the estates devolving on Lord Hinchingbrooke, whose Jacobite mother lived in France. Re-elected as a Whig for the family borough in 1715, he usually supported the Government, seconding the Address, moved by Walpole, 23 Mar. 1715, voting for the septennial bill in 1716, and moving the Address 11 Nov. 1718. In January 1719 he unexpectedly joined Walpole in opposing the repeal of the Occasional Conformity and Schism Acts.HMC Portland, v. 576. He did not vote on the peerage bill in December that year. After the South Sea crash he spoke with Walpole against the motion, which was carried 12 Dec. 1720, that the directors of the South Sea Company should lay an account of their proceedings before the House.Coxe, Walpole, i. 142. On 4 Jan. 1721 he moved unsuccessfully that all the directors should be taken into custody. Later, however, he pleaded for leniency on behalf of two of them. Transferring to the county in 1722, he died 3 Oct. that year, leaving two young sons.