English aristocrat Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, the 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu, also known as Lord Montagu, was BOTD in 1926. Born in London, he inherited the family barony aged two following his father’s death. He studied at Eton College and Oxford University, before serving as a lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards, posted to Palestine in the dying days of British colonial rule. At 18, he took his seat in the House of Lords, and became a well-known public figure, hosting an annual jazz festival at his estate and opening the National Motor Museum to display his collection of historic cars. Discreetly bisexual since his Oxford days, he was the subject of two high-profile trials for homosexuality, at the time a criminal offence. His second trial, in 1954, became a national scandal as he and his friends Michael Pitt-Rivers and Peter Wildeblood were charged with gross indecency and conspiracy to incite others to commit buggery. All three were found guilty, and Montagu was imprisoned for 12 months. Public outcry about the trial and his conviction led to the establishment of the Wolfenden Committee, whose 1957 report recommended that adult male homosexuality be decriminalised. Released from prison after eight months, Montagu refused to speak about his conviction, disappearing from public life, marrying twice and having three children. He finally broke his silence in 2000 with the publication of his memoirs Wheels Within. In a 2007 interview, he expressed pride at his “small” contribution to the decriminalisation of homosexuality. He died in 2015 aged 88.