Biography
Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, was born 13 November 1871 in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India to George Charles Spencer-Churchill, 8th Duke of Marlborough (1844-1892) and Albertha Frances Anne Hamilton (1847-1932) and died 30 June 1934 London, England, United Kingdom of unspecified causes. He married Consuelo Vanderbilt (1877-1964) 6 November 1896 in St. Thomas's Church, Fifth Avenue, New York City, New York, United States. He married Gladys Marie Deacon (1881-1977) 25 June 1921 in Paris, France.
Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, KG, TD, PC (13 November 1871 – 30 June 1934), styled Earl of Sunderland until 1883 and Marquess of Blandford between 1883 and 1892, was a British soldier and Conservative politician, and a close friend of his first cousin Winston Churchill. He was often known as "Sunny" Marlborough after his courtesy title of Earl of Sunderland.
Early life and education
Born at Simla, British India, Marlborough was the only son of the then Marquess of Blandford (who succeeded as The 8th Duke of Marlborough in July 1883) and Lady Albertha Frances Anne, daughter of The 1st Duke of Abercorn. He was a nephew of Lord Randolph Churchill and a first cousin of Sir Winston Churchill, with whom he had a close and lifelong friendship. He was educated at Winchester College and Trinity College, Cambridge.[1]
Political career
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Drawing of the 9th Duke in Mayoral robes by Tennyson Cole, 1907
Marlborough entered the House of Lords on the early death of his father in 1892, and made his maiden speech in August 1895.[2] In 1899, he was appointed Paymaster-General by Lord Salisbury, a post he held until 1902. He was then Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies under Arthur Balfour between 1903 and 1905. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1899.[3]
He again held political office during the First World War, when he was Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries between 1917 and 1918 in David Lloyd George's coalition government. He made his last speech in the House of Lords in December 1931.[2]
Shortly before the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, Marlborough was invested as a knight of the Order of the Garter (KG) at Buckingham Palace on 30 May 1902.[4][5] He subsequently served as Lord High Steward at the coronation the following August (the coronation had originally been scheduled for June).[6]
The Duke of Marlborough was Mayor of Woodstock between 1907 and 1909, and Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire from 1915 until his death.
He was President of the National Fire Brigades Union[7] and founded the British Cotton Growers Association.[1] He was also, after his father, a prominent member of the Ancient Order of Druids, and patron of the prestigious AOD Albion Lodge based at Oxford.[8] On 10 August 1908, in the park of Blenheim palace, he welcomed the ceremony of initiation of his cousin, Winston Churchill as a Druid.[9]
Military career
Garter encircled shield of arms of Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, KG, as displayed on his Order of the Garter stall plate in St. George's Chapel, Windsor.
Marlborough was appointed a Lieutenant in the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars in 1897. After the outbreak of the Second Boer War, he was in January 1900 seconded for service as a Staff Captain in the Imperial Yeomanry serving in South Africa,[10] and received the temporary rank of Captain.[11] He arrived in Cape Town in March 1900, and left for Naauwpoort in Northern Cape Colony with the Oxford company of the Imperial Yeomanry.[12]
He was subsequently appointed Assistant Military Secretary to Lord Roberts, Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in South Africa, and was aide-de-camp to Lieutenant-General Ian Hamilton.[13]
He was mentioned in despatches and promoted to Major on 7 December 1901.[14] After the formation of the Territorial Army he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in 1908.[13]
He was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel of his yeomanry regiment in 1910, serving until 1914. He was awarded the Territorial Decoration (TD) in 1913.[15] He rejoined during the First World War, when he served as a Lieutenant-Colonel on the General Staff in France. During a visit at the Western Front to his cousin Winston who was then serving in the trenches, both narrowly missed being killed when a piece of shrapnel (now displayed at Blenheim Palace) fell between them.[16] He was later Honorary Colonel and commandant of the Oxfordshire Volunteer Regiment of the Volunteer Training Corps from 1918 to 1920.[15]
Blenheim Palace
Blenheim Palace
Blenheim Palace, built between 1705 and 1722 for John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722), is the principal residence for the family of the Duke of Marlborough. It is one of England's largest homes, and the only non-royal, non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 and is the final resting place of several members of the family.
Dukedom of Marlborough
Arms of Churchill
Duke of Marlborough is a title of English Peerage created by Queen Anne in 1702 for John Churchill the noted military leader. The name of the dukedom refers to Marlborough in Wiltshire. A good number of their descendants have married into many of the other noble hours of England.
The title Marquess of Blandford is used as the courtesy title for the Duke's eldest son and heir. The Duke's eldest son's eldest son can use the courtesy title Earl of Sunderland, and the duke's eldest son's eldest son's eldest son (not necessarily the eldest great-grandson) the title Lord Spencer of Wormleighton (not to be confused with Earl Spencer).
Marriages and issue
Portrait of the Spencer-Churchill family by John Singer Sargent, 1905.
The Duke at the Devonshire House Ball of 1897, dressed as the French Ambassador to the Court of Catherine the Great.
Marlborough was married twice. His first wife was the American railroad heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt, whom he married at Saint Thomas Church in New York City on 6 November 1895. The marriage was a mercenary one. Inheriting his near-bankrupt dukedom in 1892, he was forced to find a quick and drastic solution to the financial problems of his family. Prevented by the strict social dictates of late 19th-century society from earning money, he was left with one solution; to marry money. The marriage was celebrated following lengthy negotiations with his bride's divorced parents: her mother, Alva Vanderbilt, was desperate to see her daughter a duchess, and the bride's father, William Vanderbilt, paid for the privilege. The final price was $2,500,000 (worth about $77m in 2021) in 50,000 shares of the capital stock of the Beech Creek Railway Company with a minimum 4% dividend guaranteed by the New York Central Railroad Company. The couple were each given a further annual income of $100,000 for life. The bride later claimed she had been locked in her room until she agreed to the marriage. The contract was actually signed in the vestry of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, immediately after the wedding vows had been made. Whilst they honeymooned in Europe, Marlborough told Consuelo that he actually loved another woman but had married her to "save Blenheim".[17]
They had two sons, John Spencer-Churchill, Marquess of Blandford, eventually the 10th Duke of Marlborough, and Ivor Charles Spencer-Churchill (1898-1956). Their mother famously referred to them as "the heir and the spare".[18]
The Vanderbilt dowry was used to restore Blenheim Palace and replenish its furnishings and library, for many of the original contents had been sold over the course of the 19th century. Many of the jewels worn by subsequent Duchesses of Marlborough also date from this period. The 9th Duke employed noted landscape gardener Achille Duchêne to create the water garden on the terrace at Blenheim.[19] In 1934 he owned 19,685 acres of land.[13]
However, Consuelo was far from happy; she records many of her problems in her cynical but less than candid autobiography The Glitter and the Gold. Consuelo was also notoriously unfaithful; her liaisons included her first love, Winthrop Rutherfurd (who was alleged to be the father of her second son, Ivor Charles Spencer-Churchill (1898-1956), since he allegedly bore no resemblance to either the Duke or his brother), and three of her husband's cousins; Hon. Freddie Guest (son of Ivor Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne and Lady Cornelia Spencer-Churchill), Hon. Reginald Fellowes (son of William Fellowes, 2nd Baron de Ramsey and Lady Rosamund Spencer-Churchill) and Charles, Viscount Castlereagh. Later in their unhappy marriage, she kept a revolver in her bedroom to prevent her husband's entry.[20] She shocked society by leaving her husband in 1906. In order to facilitate the divorce, Alva Vanderbilt testified that the marriage was coerced[21] The couple were divorced in 1921; the marriage was annulled by the Vatican five years later, no doubt facilitated by the duke's wish to become a Roman Catholic. Consuelo subsequently married a Frenchman, Jacques Balsan. She died in 1964, having lived to see her son become Duke of Marlborough; she frequently returned to Blenheim, the house she had found uncomfortable and inconvenient when living there.[22]
In the late 1890s, the Duke invited to Blenheim Palace Gladys Marie Deacon (1881-1977), another American, who became friends with Consuelo.[23] Deacon became the Duke's mistress soon after moving into the palace. She and Marlborough were married on 25 June 1921 in Paris, shortly after his divorce from Consuelo.[23]
Later in life the Duke converted to Catholicism in 1927, around which time the couple began drifting apart.[24] He moved out of the palace, and two years later evicted her. The couple separated but never divorced.[1][20]
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| John Albert Edward William Spencer-Churchill, 10th Duke of Marlborough (1897-1972) | 18 September 1897 London, England, United Kingdom | 11 March 1972 Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom | Alexandra Mary Hilda Cadogan (1900-1961) Frances Laura Charteris (1915-1990) |
| Ivor Charles Spencer-Churchill (1898-1956) | 14 October 1898 London, England, United Kingdom | 17 September 1956 | Elizabeth Cunningham (1914-2010) |
Siblings
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Frances Louisa Spencer-Churchill (1870-1954) | 15 September 1870 Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India | 13 November 1954 England, United Kingdom | Robert Gresley (1866-1936) |
| Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough (1871-1934) | 13 November 1871 Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India | 30 June 1934 London, England, United Kingdom | Consuelo Vanderbilt (1877-1964) Gladys Marie Deacon (1881-1977) |
| Lillian Maude Spencer-Churchill (1873-1951) | 9 July 1873 Woodstock Paleis, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom | 4 January 1951 Surrey, England, United Kingdom | Cecil Alfred Grenfell (1864-1924) |
| Norah Beatrice Henriette Spencer-Churchill (1875-1946) | 1 September 1875 Castle Knock, County Dublin, Ireland, United Kingdom | 28 April 1946 England, United Kingdom | Francis Bradley Birt (1874-1963) |
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Guy Bertrand (1881-) | |||
See also
- Charles Spencer-Churchill
- Spencer-Churchill in Oxfordshire
- wikipedia:en:Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough
- Charles Richard Spencer-Churchill at thePeerage
- Charles Richard Spencer-Churchill at Genealogics
- Charles Richard Spencer-Churchill at Find A Grave
- British nobility
Notes
- ^ a b c "Churchill (Spencer-Churchill), Charles Richard John, Marquess of Blandford (CHRL890CR)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. http://venn.lib.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search.pl?sur=&suro=c&fir=&firo=c&cit=&cito=c&c=all&tex=%22CHRL890CR%22&sye=&eye=&col=all&maxcount=50.
- ^ a b "Mr Charles Spencer-Churchill". History of Parliament. Parliament of the UK. http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/people/mr-charles-spencer-churchill. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
- ^ London Gazette Issue #27048
- ^ Template:Cite newspaper The Times
- ^ London Gazette Issue #27442
- ^ London Gazette Issue #27489
- ^ Template:Cite news The Times
- ^ Ronald Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2009, p.321.
- ^ Idem, p.318.
- ^ London Gazette Issue #27159
- ^ London Gazette Issue #27155
- ^ Template:Cite news The Times
- ^ a b c Who's Who, 1934. A and C Black. p. 2199.
- ^ London Gazette Issue #27383
- ^ a b Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes, 1934. Kelly's. p. 1209.
- ^ Green, David (1980). Blenheim Palace. The Blenheim Estate Office. p. 17.Guide to Blenheim Palace.
- ^ Vanderbilt, Amanda Mackenzie. Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt. p. 178. ISBN 978-0-06-621418-4. https://archive.org/details/consueloalvavand00stua/page/178.
- ^ Vanderbilt, Amanda Mackenzie. Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt. p. 224. ISBN 978-0-06-621418-4. https://archive.org/details/consueloalvavand00stua/page/224.
- ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus; Sherwood, Jennifer (1974). The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 459–475. ISBN 0-14-071045-0.
- ^ a b Mackenzie Stuart, Amanda (2005). Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Daughter and a Mother in the Gilded Age. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780066214184. OCLC 62128037. https://archive.org/details/consueloalvavand00stua.
- ^ https://thecrownchronicles.co.uk/history/history-posts/conseulo-vanderbilt-duchess-of-marlborough-dollar-princess-american-heiress/
- ^ Vanderbilt, Amanda Mackenzie. Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-06-621418-4. https://archive.org/details/consueloalvavand00stua/page/205.
- ^ a b "What happened to Gladys Deacon, Duchess of Marlborough?". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/oxford/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_9398000/9398406.stm. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
- ^ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-features/8303256/Gladys-Duchess-of-Marlborough-the-aristocrat-with-attitude.html
Footnotes (including sources)
| ‡ General |
| ₪ Wedding |
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External links
- Lua error in Module:Internet_Archive at line 532: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Earl of Hopetoun |
Paymaster-General 1899–1902 |
Succeeded by Sir Savile Crossley, Bt |
| Preceded by The Earl of Onslow |
Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies 1903–1905 |
Succeeded by Winston Churchill |
| Preceded by Sir Richard Winfrey |
Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries 1917–1918 with Sir Richard Winfrey |
Succeeded by Sir Richard Winfrey The Viscount Goschen |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Vacant Title last held by The Earl of Halsbury
|
Lord High Steward 1902 |
Vacant Title next held by The Duke of Northumberland
|
| Preceded by The Earl of Jersey |
Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire 1915–1934 |
Succeeded by Vivian Smith |
| Peerage of England | ||
| Preceded by George Spencer-Churchill |
Duke of Marlborough 1892–1934 |
Succeeded by John Spencer-Churchill |
| |||||
Template:Paymaster General
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