MONTAGU, Francis Wortley (c.1676-1702), of Wortley, Yorks.

Wortley Montagu was returned for Huntingdon at a by-election in 1697 upon the interest of his father, who administered the Earl of Sandwich’s estates, and was again successful in 1698, being classed as a Court supporter in a comparison of the old and new Commons. An inactive Member, in early 1700 he was classed as a follower of his kinsman Charles Montagu*, and in the first election of 1701 retained his seat despite the candidacy of Hon. Charles Boyle II* on the interest of the Tory Lady Sandwich. The animosity generated by this contest extended beyond the poll, for in March he fought and badly wounded Boyle in a duel in Hyde Park, though in his memoirs Boyle claimed that he had emerged victorious. Returned unopposed in December 1701, Wortly Montagu was classed as a Whig in an analysis of the new House by Robert Harley*. However, in 1702 he was defeated at Huntingdon by Boyle and Anthony Hammond, both of whom had stood on the interest of Lady Sandwich. In September 1702 he died of smallpox.2 HMC Cowper ii. 415; Luttrell, Brief Relation, v. 33, 214; VCH Hunts. 34–36; E. Budgell, Mems. Earl of Orrery and Boyle Fam. (1732), 198–202.