THE descendent of the man credited with inventing the sandwich has published the story of his illustrious relative.

John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich is credited with inventing the sandwich.

The popular story says that he enjoyed long gambling sessions and being too preoccupied to leave the card table to eat, he called for meat between two slices of bread.

His descendant, John Montagu, 11th Earl of Sandwich, explains there is a lot more to the 4th Earl than that in a new, short profile of his famous ancestor.

The current Earl, who lives at Mapperton House near Beaminster, said: "Of course Lord Sandwich was not the first person to eat bread and meat together – that had been happening since the world began. What he did was start a trend that was then called after him.

“He was a gambler, as were most of his generation, but the family story is that although he enjoyed cards, he was hard-working and a busy letter writer, so it’s far more likely he was at his desk and eating ‘on the go'."

The 4th Earl (1718-92) had a colourful life. He held high office and served as 1st Lord of the Admiralty three times, but he also had a racy side.

He was a member of the Hell-Fire Club, where sexual antics were part of the entertainment. Sandwich once insulted a political opponent by claiming he would die 'on the scaffold or of the pox'. The opponent replied: “That depends on whether I embrace your Lordship’s principles or your Lordship’s mistress.”

Copies of Sandwich Man are available to buy at Mapperton House near Beaminster, home of the 11th Earl and Countess, or via office@mapperton.com, £5 including post and packing.

In the UK alone nearly two billion sandwiches are sold every year and its estimated that another four billion are made at home – that’s 100 sandwiches a year for every man, woman and child in the country.

In 2004 the Sandwich family established The Earl of Sandwich Company – a chain of sandwich shops, led by Orlando Montagu and his business partner Robert Earl. The company employs more than 1,000 people and serves nearly ten million sandwiches a year to diners across the US and Disneyland in Europe.