Mary Montagu, Duchess of Montagu


Mary Montagu, Duchess of Montagu, formerly Lady Mary Churchill, was a British court official and noble, the wife of John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu. She was the youngest surviving daughter of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, and his wife, Sarah.

Life

She married Montagu on 17 March 1705, when he was Earl of Montagu. They had five children:
From 1714 to 1717, the Duchess was a Lady of the Bedchamber to the Caroline of Ansbach, then Princess of Wales. She was painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller in 1740. A portrait of her with her husband and daughter was painted in about 1729 by Gawen Hamilton. The duchess is obliquely referred to in Delarivier Manley's 1709 satire, The New Atalantis.
One of those who benefited from the duchess's will was Ignatius Sancho, an African slave whom she took on as a butler following her husband's death. She left him a pension, but, having failed to find an alternative career, he later returned to the service of the Montagu family.