He was born in or before 1488 at the royal
manor house at
Brigstock, Northamptonshire, the 2nd son of Thomas Montagu (d. 1517) of
Hemington, and Agnes Dudley, daughter of William Dudley of
Clopton, and Christiana Darrell.[1][2][3] His grandfather, Richard Ladde, assumed the name of
Montagu in about 1447.[4][5]
Montagu was a student at
Cambridge and was admitted to
Middle Temple on 22 May 1506.[6][7] He served as Autumn Reader for the Inn in 1524 and 1531.[1] He was made
Serjeant-at-law in 1531, King’s Serjeant in 1537 and was knighted on 18 October 1537.[1][6] He was appointed
Chief Justice of the King's Bench in 1539, which office he resigned in 1545 and was transferred to the "less onerous, but more profitable" post of
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.[1][6] He was a member of the
Privy Council of
Henry VIII, who appointed him one of sixteen executors of his last will, and governor to his son
Edward.[1] During the crisis of 1553 when Edward VI wished to alter the succession in favour of
Lady Jane Grey, Montagu protested at the illegality of the proceedings.[1] However, when the
Duke of Northumberland called him a traitor and threatened him with physical violence, he withdrew his protest.[8] He was imprisoned in the
Tower of London on
Mary's accession but bought his way out.[1]
In 1528 he purchased the manor of Boughton, near
Kettering, Northamptonshire and built the family seat of
Boughton House on the site.[9]
First, Cicely Lane, of
Orlingbury by whom he had three sons who all died young, and three daughters:[1][10]
Ralph Montagu,
Thomas Montagu
Robert Montagu
Dorothy Montagu, the eldest daughter, married, in 1535, Edward Watson (d. 1584) of
Rockingham Castle, the son of Edward Watson (d. 1530) of
Lyddington,
Rutland and Emma Smith.[11] After the death of his father in 1530 Watson became a ward of
Thomas Cromwell, was educated and later employed by the minister.[12] Edward and Dorothy had a son and six daughters, including:[13]
Second, Agnes Kirkham, daughter George Kirkham (d. 1527) of
Warmington, by whom he had no children.
Third, Eleanor Roper (d. 1563), daughter of John Roper (d. 1524), of
Well Hall, chief clerk of the king's bench and
attorney-general to Henry VIII, widow of John Moreton, by whom he had eleven children (five sons and six daughters):[1][10]
Edward Montagu (1532–1602), his eldest surviving son, was father of eight sons and four daughters, including:
Elizabeth Montagu, married 1. Richard Cave, son and heir of Sir Thomas Cave of
Stanford, Northamptonshire; 2. William Markham of Oakley, Northamptonshire.
He died at Boughton on 10 February 1557 and was buried on 5 March with much pomp (including a "hearse of wax") in the church of St Mary,
Weekley, where there is an altar tomb with his full-length effigy in robes and collar of SS and the motto "Pour unge pleasoir mille dolours" ("For every pleasure, a thousand sorrows").[1] His widow married as her third husband, Sir John Digby. She died in May 1563.[1]
Stokes, Ethel (1936). "The Ancestry of Sir Edward Montagu of Boughton, Chief Justice of the King's Bench 1539". In Doubleday, H. A.;
Lord Howard de Walden (eds.). The Complete Peerage: or A History of the House of Lords and All its Members From the Earliest Times, by G.E.C. Vol. 9 (revised ed.). London: St Catherine Press. pp. 25–29 (Appendix D).