The Countess of Sandwich | |
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![]() Lady Sandwich (left) with her husband and Mrs John Davis in 1921 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Alberta Sturges September 17, 1877 Chicago, Illinois, United States |
Died | October 23, 1951 74) Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire, England | (aged
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Alberta Montagu, Countess of Sandwich (née Sturges; September 17, 1877 – October 23, 1951) was an American heiress, diarist, and letter writer who was the wife of George Montagu, 9th Earl of Sandwich. Like many Gilded Age debutantes from the United States, she married into the British aristocracy and took on the running of her husband's family's ancestral seat, Hinchingbrooke House. Lady Sandwich was a close friend of Mildred Barnes Bliss and was an accomplished musician, writer, and linguist. She was a friend and devotee of the Hindu monk and philosopher Swami Vivekananda, whom she had met in her childhood when he stayed at her family's New York estate. Lady Sandwich hosted Vivekananda in Chicago, New York, and Paris, accompanied him on a trip to Rome, and corresponded with him throughout her life.
Lady Sandwich was born Alberta Sturges in Chicago on September 7, 1877, to Betty MacLeod, of New York City, and William Sturges, of Chicago. [1] Her maternal grandfather was a Scottish immigrant who lived in the American southeast, where he owned slaves; slavery being a common practice amongst the elite of this Antebellum South. [2] Her paternal grandfather, of English descent, made a fortune through trade in Ohio. [2] [3] Through her father, she was a descendant of the Connecticut judge Jonathan Sturges and related to businessman Jonathan Sturges, art collector Kate Sturges Buckingham, and U.S. Congressman Lewis B. Sturges. [3]
She was christened in New York, where the family lived at 21 West 34th Street. [4] [2] In 1880 she went with her family to Paris. [4] In 1886, her father survived the sinking of the SS Oregon as it was sailing from Liverpool to New York, but died a few years later. [4] [2] After her father died, her mother remarried to New York wholesale grocer Francis H. Leggett in a small ceremony in Paris. [5]
In 1890, her stepfather built a large mansion and estate, called Ridgely Manor, in Stone Ridge, New York. [6] Her aunt, Josephine MacLeod, and stepfather were friends of the Hindu monk and philosopher Swami Vivekananda, and her stepfather later served as the first president of the Vedanta Society of New York. [6] [2] Lady Sandwich and her mother soon became friends and disciples of Vivekananda, and built a five-bedroom cottage for Hindu monks, called Swamiji's Cottage, on the grounds of their estate. [1] [7] [8] She and her mother often visited the monks at Swamiji's Cottage and hosted Vivekananda three times, the last time for ten weeks. [8]
In 1895 she and her brother, Hollister, attended boarding school in Germany. [9] While studying in Germany, Lady Sandwich and Vivekananda wrote letters to each other. [9] [10] She later accompanied him on a trip to Rome and to the Vatican City, and visited him in India. [11] [2] On her twenty-third birthday, Vivekananda penned a poem to her. [12] She and members of her family also hosted Vivekananda in Chicago and in Paris. [13]
Lady Sandwich was close friends with Mildred Barnes Bliss of Dumbarton Oaks, and the two were accomplished musicians and fluent in several languages. [1] [14] She was also fond of bookbinding and was an accomplished writer, penning letters to relatives and keeping diaries throughout her life. [1] [4]
Leggett later relocated the family to London, where he was pursuing social and business endeavors. [5] As a member of a wealthy family during the Gilded Age, Lady Sandwich was presented as a debutante during the London Season of 1901. [5] Despite a "splashy" debut, she was uninterested in society. [5]
On July 25, 1905, she married George Montagu, a Conservative Member of Parliament and son of Rear Admiral The Honourable Victor Montagu and Lady Agneta Harriet Yorke, in an Anglican ceremony at St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge. [15] [16] [3] At the wedding, she wore the Montagu family tiara. [17] She wore the tiara again for the Coronation of George V and Mary in 1911. [18]
Lady Sandwich and her husband honeymooned in Venice for a month before sailing to the United States to stay at Ridgely Manor in September 1905. [4]
The Montagus had four children:
Her husband succeeded his uncle, Edward Montagu, 8th Earl of Sandwich, as the 9th Earl of Sandwich in 1916, at which time they moved into Hinchingbrooke House. [4] Upon her husband's elevation to the peerage, she assumed the style and title The Right Honourable The Countess of Sandwich. [20] Her official portrait as countess was painted by Ambrose McEvoy. [2] Not used to the scandals of British society, Lady Sandwich, who was described as being "a little on the pure-minded side", took to bed as an invalid for fourteen years, leaving the raising of children to her husband and a nurse. [5] After she recovered, she sailed back and forth between the United States and England aboard RMS Queen Mary with her children. [4]
In 1920, she and her mother visited Flanders. [4] She wrote extensively about the damage the region suffered from during World War I. [4] [2]
Lady Sandwich died on October 23, 1951, in Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire.
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An extensive collection of Lady Sandwich's letters and diaries are housed at Mapperton House. [4]
Earl of Sandwich is a noble title in the Peerage of England, held since its creation by the House of Montagu. It is nominally associated with Sandwich, Kent. It was created in 1660 for the prominent naval commander Admiral Sir Edward Montagu. He was made Baron Montagu of St Neots, of St Neots in the County of Huntingdon, and Viscount Hinchingbrooke, at the same time, also in the Peerage of England. The viscountcy is used as the courtesy title by the heir apparent to the earldom. A member of the prominent Montagu family, Lord Sandwich was the son of Sir Sidney Montagu, youngest brother of Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester, and Edward Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu of Boughton.
John Edward Hollister Montagu, 11th Earl of Sandwich, is a British businessman and politician. He was a crossbench member of the House of Lords from 1995 to 2024.
Alexander Victor Edward Paulet Montagu, known as Viscount Hinchingbrooke from 1916 to 1962, as the Earl of Sandwich from 1962 to 1964 and as Victor Montagu from 1964 to 1995, was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (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 of two years between 31 December 1970 and January 1972.
John Montagu, 5th Earl of Sandwich, PC, styled Viscount Hinchingbrooke until 1792, was a British peer and Tory politician.
Elizabeth Wilmot, Countess of Rochester was an English heiress and the wife of John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, the "libertine". She was the daughter of John Malet, of Enmore Manor, and Unton Hawley, daughter of Francis Hawley, 1st Baron Hawley.
John William Montagu, 7th Earl of Sandwich PC, styled Viscount Hinchingbrooke from 1814 to 1818, was a British peer and Conservative politician. He served under Lord Derby as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms in 1852 and as Master of the Buckhounds between 1858 and 1859.
Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwich was born in Burlington House, London, England to Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Sandwich and Lady Ann Boyle. He was styled Viscount Hinchingbrooke from 1672 until his accession to the earldom in 1688. On the accession of Queen Anne, Sandwich was appointed Master of the Horse to her husband, Prince George of Denmark, despite strong objections from the royal favorite Sarah Churchill, who wanted the office for one of her own family.
Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Sandwich was an English aristocrat and politician.
Luke Timothy Charles Montagu, Viscount Hinchingbrooke is a British aristocrat and philanthropist. He has been Viscount Hinchingbrooke since the death of his grandfather in 1995.
George Charles Montagu, 9th Earl of Sandwich, known as George Montagu until 1916, was a British Conservative politician.
Raja Ajit Singh Bahadur was the ruler of the Shekhawat estate (thikana) of Khetri at Panchpana in Rajasthan between 1870 and 1901. He was born on 16 October 1861 at Alsisar. His father was Thakur Chattu Singh, a resident of Alsisar. Ajit Singh was later adopted to Khetri and after the death of Fateh Singh, he became the eighth king of Khetri in 1870. In 1876, he married Rani Champawatiji Sahiba and the couple had one son and two daughters. He died on 18 January 1901 due to an accident at the tomb of Akbar in Sikandra near Agra and was cremated at Mathura.
Louisa Mary Anne Julia Harriet Montagu, Countess of Sandwich was an Irish noblewoman and society figure, who in 1804 became the wife of George Montagu, 6th Earl of Sandwich.
Mapperton is a hamlet and civil parish in Dorset, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) south-east of Beaminster. Dorset County Council estimated that the population of the parish was 60 in 2013.
Josephine MacLeod was an American friend and devotee of Swami Vivekananda. She had a strong attachment to India and was an active participant in the Ramakrishna Vivekananda movement. She was given the nicknames "Tantine" and "Jo Jo" by Vivekananda. She considered Swami Vivekananda to be her friend and helped him with his finances. MacLeod was not a sanyasin, unlike many others such as Sister Nivedita or Sister Christine. She was instrumental in spreading Vivekananda's message on Vedanta in the West. She made many contributions to the initial and the later phases of the development of the order of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda. She was a contributor to many causes espoused by Sister Nivedita, the most famous disciple of Vivekananda, including that of contributing financially towards the development of the Indian National Movement especially in Bengal and elsewhere in India.
Montagu is an English surname of Old French origin, a form of Montague. One notable family with this surname is the House of Montagu, who include the Earls of Sandwich. Notable people with the surname include:
Julie Montagu, Viscountess Hinchingbrooke is an American entrepreneur, yoga instructor, blogger, writer and television personality. She is married to Luke Montagu, Viscount Hinchingbrooke, who is the son and heir to John Montagu, 11th Earl of Sandwich. Montagu began her television career as a cast member on the British reality series Ladies of London before hosting her own series on the Smithsonian Channel called An American Aristocrat's Guide to Great Estates. Since 2021 she has run her own series, American Viscountess, on YouTube.
Lady Elizabeth Montagu, known as Betty Montagu, was a British novelist, nurse, and art collector. The daughter of the 9th Earl of Sandwich and American heiress Alberta Sturges, she grew up at Hinchingbrooke House in Huntingdon and was educated at North Foreland Lodge. A prominent debutante in the 1930s, she was active in the London Season before World War II. When war broke out in Europe, she volunteered as a nurse, heading the casualties department at St Thomas' Hospital in London. After the war ended, she served on the teaching staff at the Royal College of Nursing until 1950.
Lady Mary Faith Culme-Seymour was a British aristocrat and letter writer. The daughter of the 9th Earl of Sandwich and American heiress Alberta Sturges, she grew up at the family's ancestral seat, Hinchingbrooke House in Huntingdon. When her brother, Victor Montagu, 10th Earl of Sandwich, sold the family home in 1955, Lady Faith took her close friend, the novelist E. M. Forster, to see it one last time. Her last tour of the home with Forster was an emotional one, and she documented the experience in her diary and in letters. She and Forster, who initially offered her advice on short story writing, remained friends until his death.
Elizabeth MacLeod Sturges Leggett, also known as Bessie Leggett or Betty Leggett, was an American socialite, letter writer, and disciple of the Hindu monk and philosopher Swami Vivekananda.
Janet Gladys Aitken was a Canadian-British aristocrat and socialite. The daughter of Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, she grew up at Cherkley Court in Surrey. She was the first wife of Ian Campbell, later the Duke of Argyll, and the mother of Lady Jeanne Campbell. Her second husband, who was a son of the 9th Earl of Sandwich, died in World War II. She married a third time to the Canadian army officer Major Thomas Edward Dealtry Kidd.