William Montagu, 7th Duke of Manchester

William Drogo Montagu, 7th Duke of Manchester KP (15 October 1823 – 22 March 1890), known as Lord Kimbolton from 1823 to 1843 and as Viscount Mandeville from 1843 to 1855, was a British peer and Conservative Member of Parliament.

Biography

William Montagu was born at Kimbolton Castle in 1823. He was the eldest son of George Montagu, 6th Duke of Manchester. His mother was Millicent Sparrow, daughter of Brig. Gen. Robert Bernard Sparrow of Brampton Park, Huntingdonshire.

He was MP for Bewdley 1848–1852 and Huntingdonshire 1852–1855.

He joined the Canterbury Association on 27 May 1848. It was Edward Gibbon Wakefield's hope that Lord Mandeville would emigrate and be the aristocratic leader in the colony, but he did not go to New Zealand. Lord Mandeville and his grandmother, Lady Olivia Sparrow, both bought land in Riccarton, though. Between them, they held 500 acres (200 ha). Mandeville North near Kaiapoi is named after Lord Mandeville.

He first had a son to Sarah Maria Morris. When Sarah was 8 months pregnant, the Montagu Family had her married off to Samuel Palmer on 4 March 1850. When the child was born on the 10 May 1850, he was named William Edward Palmer. William Edward Palmer married Emma Prentice on 24 December 1873 at Harrold, Bedfordshire.

He married Countess Luise Friederike Auguste von Alten, daughter of Karl Franz Viktor, Graf von Alten of Hanover and wife Hermine de Schminke, in Hanover on 22 July 1852. They had five children:

1. George Victor Drogo Montagu, 8th Duke of Manchester (1853–1892)
2. Lady Mary Louisa Elizabeth Montagu (Kimbolton Castle, 27 December 1854 – 10 February 1934), married firstly at Kimbolton Castle, 10 December 1873 William Douglas-Hamilton, 12th Duke of Hamilton and had issue, and secondly 20 July 1897 to Robert Carnaby Forster of Easton Park, Wickham Market, Suffolk (d. 23 June 1925), without issue.
3. Lady Louisa Augusta Beatrice Montagu (Kimbolton Castle, 17 January 1856 – London, 3 March 1944), married London, 10 August 1876 Archibald Acheson, 4th Earl of Gosford and had issue.
4. Lord Charles William Augustus Montagu (Kimbolton Castle, 23 November 1860 – 10 November 1939), married at Kimbolton Castle, 4 December 1930 Hon. Mildred Cecilia Harriet Sturt (27 February 1869 – London, 17 September 1942), daughter of Henry Sturt, 1st Baron Alington, without issue.
5. Lady Alice Maude Olivia Montagu (London, 15 August 1862 – Coworth Park, 23 July 1957), married at London, 5 January 1889 Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby and had issue.

In 1877, he was created a Knight of the Order of St Patrick. He died on 22 March 1890 at the Hotel Royal Naples in Campania, Italy.

Styles of address

• 1823–1843: The Honourable William Montagu
• 1843–1848: Viscount Mandeville
• 1848–1855: Viscount Mandeville MP
• 1855–1877: His Grace The Duke of Manchester
• 1877–1890: His Grace The Duke of Manchester KP