Montague surnames and all variations, mt and Y DNA tests Mons Acutus, Montacue, Montag, Montagu, Montagud, Montague, Montaguit, Montagut, Montaigu, Montaigus, Montaque, Mountagu/e The Montague surname has been known in England since 1086 and with Domesday for which Drogo Montague held a substantial amount of land from Robert, Count of Mortain, for which he in turn held his land of William I. It appears that Drogo was the very first Montague to have lived in England so it is reasonable to assume that any surviving Montague’s that has a direct DNA link back to that time could be from Drogo himself. Drogo Montague and his subsequent family were Barons and this did not change until the 14th century when the family took the title of the Earls of Salisbury for which there were four, the male line died out with the death of Sir John Montague, Bastard of Salisbury and only son of Thomas Montague 4th Earl of Salisbury. However, this was not the only family line as Drogo was known to have had three sons and the youngest was to inherit the Manor of Sudtone in Somerset, they held this manor for about 380 years and the name eventually became Sutton Montis or Sutton Montague. This family line was recognised by Thomas 4th Earl of Salisbury as John Montague, Lord of Sutton Montis is known to have fought at the Battle of Agincourt as a Lance and under the command of Michael de la Pole (1395 - 1415) Earl of Suffolk. John died in 1417 and his son William was named in the Will of Thomas 4th Earl of Salisbury, over and above that of his own son Sir John Montague, Bastard of Salisbury, William inherited land and property that was a legacy of the Earls of Salisbury. William Montague, Lord of Sutton Montis and of Stoke St Gregory was allied with many in the Lancastrian dynasty which included Richard Neville 5th Earl of Salisbury, his son Richard Neville 16th Earl of Warwick, James, Earl of Wiltshire and Ormonde and the Barons of Hungerford. His cousin was William Montague of Henley who was MP for the Dorset borough of Weymouth in 1449. The family line continued into the 16th century and was based at Stoke St Gregory which was the principal seat and eventually ended with George Montague in 1592, his wife was Anne Courtenay, daughter James Courtenay and nephew to Sir William Courtenay I of Powderham. By 1603 the heraldry used by the Montague family of Sutton Montis came into use by the Montague family of Boveney and Winkfield, the most prominent of them was Richard Montague Bishop of Chichester and Norwich. The transfer cannot be explained nor can the sudden rise in wealth, especially for the Winkfield branch who achieved the status of Gentleman prior to 1633. William Mountague of Boveney had his arms and pedigree entered into the 1634 Heralds Visitation of Buckinghamshire and showed the connection to Richard Montague Bishop of Chichester and Norwich and also that of Peter and Richard Mountague who both emigrated to America early in the 17th century. One of the aims of the Montague project is to try and trace the DNA of the descendants of both Peter and Richard Mountague, if it proves possible then the DNA trail could be traced back to England. There are other branches still evident in England but they came from Pangbourne in Berkshire during the late 15th century, this line strongly appears to have branched into Goring in Oxfordshire and possibly to Reading in Berkshire but the links are difficult to trace. This line could account for Griffin Montague who also emigrated to America but predated both Peter and Richard Mountague.