16. John Montagu served three terms as First Lord of the Admiralty
In 1729, when he was but ten years old, John Montagu inherited the title of Earl of Sandwich upon the death of his grandfather. Throughout a long and distinguished military and political career, Montagu served in several governments, always with distinction. He was First Lord of the Admiralty, placing him in charge of the Royal Navy, in three different eras, under three different governments, and was responsible for its reconstruction and improvements in the mid-eighteenth century. When James Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands he named them the Sandwich Islands in Montagu’s honor. It was Montagu who pressed for the coppering of hulls of British ships, which allowed the vessels to remain at sea longer and attain higher speeds, less impeded by the marine life which grew on the wooden hulls.
He would be widely remembered for his naval innovations and other services (including running the British Navy during the American Revolutionary War) except that legend has it that he was the inventor of the sandwich, with meat served between two slices of bread. It is highly unlikely that he was the first to so consume a meal in this fashion, but he did so frequently at his club while gambling, prompting other members to tell a waiter, “I’ll have what Sandwich is having”, or some similar remark. Other versions have him consuming the eponymous meal while working at his desk in the Admiralty. John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, is thus remembered for inventing the sandwich, of which thousands of variations have evolved since his days in his club. The fact that meat and bread were consumed in similar fashion for centuries before Sandwich is usually ignored. He certainly gave the comestible its English name.