"The Inventor"
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, PC, FRS (13 November 1718 – 30 April 1792)[1] was a British statesman who succeeded his grandfather, Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwich, as the Earl of Sandwich in 1729, at the age of ten. During his life he held various military and political offices, including Postmaster General, First Lord of the Admiralty and Secretary of State for the Northern Department, but is perhaps best known for the claim that he was the eponymous inventor of the sandwich.
The sandwich
The modern sandwich is named after Lord Sandwich, yet the exact circumstances of its invention and original use are still the subject of debate. A rumour in a contemporary travel book called Tour to London by Pierre Jean Grosley formed the popular myth that bread and meat sustained Lord Sandwich at the gambling table.[20] A very conversant gambler, Montagu did not take the time to have a meal during his long hours playing at the card table. Consequently, he would ask his servants to bring him slices of meat between two slices of bread; a habit well known among his gambling friends. Because Lord Montagu was the Earl of Sandwich others began to order "the same as Sandwich!" - the ‘sandwich’ was born. [21] The sober alternative is provided by Sandwich's biographer, N. A. M. Rodger, who suggests Sandwich's commitments to the navy, to politics and the arts mean the first sandwich was more likely to have been consumed at his work desk.
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