# Victor Montagu

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British politician (1906–1995)

For the admiral, see [Victor Montagu (Royal Navy officer)](/source/Victor_Montagu_(Royal_Navy_officer)).

Victor Montagu Victor, Viscount Hinchingbrooke, in 1943 Member of Parliament for South Dorset In office 22 February 1941 – 15 June 1962 Preceded by Viscount Cranborne Succeeded by Guy Barnett Personal details Born Alexander Victor Edward Paulet Montagu (1906-05-22)22 May 1906 Died 25 February 1995(1995-02-25) (aged 88) Party Conservative Spouses Rosemary Peto ​ ​ (m. 1934; div. 1958)​ Lady Anne Holland-Martin ​ ​ (m. 1962; div. 1965)​ Children 7 Parent(s) George Montagu, 9th Earl of Sandwich (father) Alberta Sturges (mother) Education Eton College Alma mater Trinity College, Cambridge

Coat of arms of the Earls of Sandwich

**Alexander Victor Edward Paulet Montagu** (22 May 1906 – 25 February 1995), known as **Viscount Hinchingbrooke** from 1916 to 1962, as the **Earl of Sandwich** from 1962 to 1964 (when he disclaimed his peerages), and as **Victor Montagu** from 1964 to 1995, was a British [Conservative](/source/Conservative_Party_(UK)) [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom)) (MP). He was usually known to family and friends as 'Hinch Hinchingbrooke' or 'Hinch Sandwich' or, later, as 'Hinch Montagu'. In 2015, it was revealed that he was cautioned for indecently assaulting a child for a period between 31 December 1970 and January 1972.[1]

## Early life

Montagu was the eldest son of [The 9th Earl of Sandwich](/source/George_Montagu%2C_9th_Earl_of_Sandwich) and his wife, [Alberta Sturges](/source/Alberta_Montagu%2C_Countess_of_Sandwich). He was an older brother of [Lady Mary Faith Montagu](/source/Lady_Mary_Faith_Montagu) and the novelist [Lady Elizabeth Montagu](/source/Lady_Elizabeth_Montagu). He was educated at [Eton](/source/Eton_College) and [Trinity College, Cambridge](/source/Trinity_College%2C_Cambridge). In 1926, he joined the [5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment](/source/5th_(Huntingdonshire)_Battalion%2C_Northamptonshire_Regiment), as a [Lieutenant](/source/Lieutenant).

## Political career

A member of the Conservative Party, Lord Hinchingbrooke, as he then was, was Private Secretary to the [Lord President of the Council](/source/Lord_President_of_the_Council), [Stanley Baldwin](/source/Stanley_Baldwin), from 1932 to 1934 and Treasurer of the [Junior Imperial League](/source/Junior_Imperial_League) from 1934 to 1935.

He briefly served in France in 1940, during the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War). A year later, he was elected MP for [South Dorset](/source/South_Dorset_(UK_Parliament_constituency)), replacing [Viscount Cranborne](/source/Robert_Gascoyne-Cecil%2C_5th_Marquess_of_Salisbury), who was called up to the [House of Lords](/source/House_of_Lords). A radical [backbencher](/source/Backbencher), Lord Hinchingbrooke set up the [Tory Reform Committee](/source/Tory_Reform_Committee) in 1943, and was its founding chairman until a year later. It was at this time he wrote *Essays in Tory Reform*, a response to the party's moves toward liberalism.

Hinchingbrooke was elected in the following five [general elections](/source/United_Kingdom_general_elections), and continued as MP for South Dorset until 1962 when his father died. Viscount Hinchingbrooke succeeded to his father's titles and automatically joined the House of Lords, meaning he could no longer sit in the [House of Commons](/source/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom), and as such resigned his seat.

Lord Sandwich, as he had become, disclaimed his peerages in 1964, however, under the [Peerage Act 1963](/source/Peerage_Act_1963). As Victor Montagu, he unsuccessfully stood as the Conservative candidate at [Accrington](/source/Accrington_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) at the [1964 general election](/source/1964_United_Kingdom_general_election).[2] Although he did not sit in the House of Commons again, Montagu was President of the [Anti-Common Market League](/source/Anti_Common_Market_and_Free_Trade_Party) from 1962 to 1984; he also joined the [Conservative Monday Club](/source/Conservative_Monday_Club) in 1964 and wrote *The Conservative Dilemma* in 1970.

## Personal life

Victor, Viscount Hinchingbrooke, married the artist [Rosemary Peto](/source/Rosemary_Peto) (1916–1998), only daughter of [Major](/source/Major_(United_Kingdom)) Ralph Peto and a goddaughter of [Queen Maud of Norway](/source/Maud_of_Wales), on 27 July 1934; they were divorced in 1958, after they had seven children.

His youngest son, therapist Robert Montagu, has since alleged that his father sexually abused him on an almost daily basis from the ages of seven to eleven. In addition to his son's allegations of child sexual abuse, in 2015, Freedom of Information requests revealed that Victor Montagu "was let off with a caution by police and the director of public prosecutions in 1972 for indecently assaulting a boy for a duration of nearly two years".[1]

Lord Hinchingbrooke was married a second time to [Lady](/source/Lady) Anne Holland-Martin (née Cavendish), the youngest daughter of [The 9th Duke of Devonshire](/source/Victor_Cavendish%2C_9th_Duke_of_Devonshire), on 7 June 1962, but they were to divorce in 1965 (she became in the same year the mother-in-law of his daughter Lady Katherine, wife of her son Nicholas Hunloke). He succeeded as the 10th [Earl of Sandwich](/source/Earl_of_Sandwich) upon his father's death on 15 June 1962, about a week after his second marriage. Lady Anne was the widow of [Christopher Holland-Martin](/source/Christopher_Holland-Martin), MP, and the wife of [Henry Hunloke](/source/Henry_Hunloke), MP.

Montagu died in 1995, aged 88.

## Sources

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Guardian20150515_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Guardian20150515_1-1) Laville, Sandra; Travis, Alan (15 May 2015).["Tory MP Victor Montagu escaped child sex abuse trial in 1970s"](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/15/tory-mp-victor-montagu-escaped-child-sex-abuse-trial-in-1970s). *The Guardian*. London.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** "Socialist Cotton Vote that Melted". *[The Times](/source/The_Times)*. London. 14 October 1964. p. 15.

- [Burke's Peerage & Gentry](http://www.burkes-peerage.net) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20070314223944/http://www.burkes-peerage.net/) 14 March 2007 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

## External links

- *[Hansard](/source/Hansard)* 1803–2005: [contributions in Parliament by Victor Montagu](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/people/viscount-hinchingbrooke-1)

- ["Obituary: Victor Montagu"](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-victor-montagu-1609643.html). *[The Independent](/source/The_Independent)*. 2 March 1995.

Parliament of the United Kingdom Preceded by Viscount Cranborne Member of Parliament for South Dorset 1941–1962 Succeeded by Guy Barnett Peerage of England Preceded by George Montagu Earl of Sandwich 1962–1964 Disclaimed Title next held by John Montagu

v t e Earls of Sandwich Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich (1660–1672) Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Sandwich (1672–1688) Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwich (1688–1729) John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (1729–1792) John Montagu, 5th Earl of Sandwich (1792–1814) George Montagu, 6th Earl of Sandwich (1814–1818) John Montagu, 7th Earl of Sandwich (1818–1884) Edward Montagu, 8th Earl of Sandwich (1884–1916) George Montagu, 9th Earl of Sandwich (1916–1962) Victor Montagu, 10th Earl of Sandwich (1962–1964) Disclaimed (1964–1995) John Montagu, 11th Earl of Sandwich (1995-2025) Luke Montagu, 12th Earl of Sandwich (from 2025)

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