English School 19th Century
Portrait of Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill (1849 – 1895)
oil on canvas
40 x 30 cm. (16 x 12 in.)
Lord Randolph Henry Spencer Churchill, (1849–1895), politician, was born at 3 Wilton Terrace, Belgravia, London, on 12 February 1849 (b. cert.; Winston Churchill''s biography gives 13 February 1849), the third son of John Winston Spencer Churchill, seventh duke of Marlborough (1822–1883), and his wife, Lady Frances Anne Emily (1822–1899), daughter of Charles William Vane, third marquess of Londonderry, and his wife Frances Anne Vane.
Education and marriage
Churchill was sent to Mr Tabor''s preparatory school at Cheam, where he displayed an interest in history and a character which, according to a contemporary, was ''sometimes impetuous, sometimes imperious, always irrepressible'' (Gordon and Gordon, 1.24). At Eton College (1863–5) his record was unremarkable, but he became friends with Arthur Balfour and Lord Rosebery, who were to have an
... important influence on his political career. At Oxford (1867–70) he read jurisprudence and modern history at Merton College, where he was well regarded by his history tutor, Mandell Creighton. In 1883 Churchill told Creighton that ''The historical studies which I too lightly carried on under your guidance have been of immense value to me in calculating and carrying out actions which to many appear erratic'' (DNB). His accurate knowledge of Gibbon''s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire was noted by the history examiners, who included E. A. Freeman. Churchill spent much of his time at Oxford hunting or steeplechasing, and he was one of the founders of the Merton dining club the Myrmidons. He obtained a second-class degree in 1870, and then spent much of the next three years at Blenheim, where he hunted with a pack of harriers.
In 1873 Churchill met, at a ball at Cowes, a young American, Jeanette (Jennie) Jerome (1854–1921), the daughter of Clara and Leonard Jerome, a wealthy New York financier. Mrs Jerome and her daughters had come to England from Paris, after the fall of the Second Empire, and they were quickly received into society. Randolph and Jennie fell in love and became secretly engaged, but it took them six months to persuade their parents to allow them to marry. At this time, it was virtually unprecedented for the son of a leading aristocrat to marry an American, but Churchill was only the younger son of a poor duke, and when Leonard Jerome agreed to settle £50,000 on the couple, the duke agreed to the marriage. Randolph and Jennie [see Churchill, Jeanette] were married at the British embassy in Paris on 15 April 1874, and their first child, Winston Churchill (the future prime minister), was born prematurely at Blenheim Palace on 30 November 1874. Their younger child, John (Jack), was born in February 1880.
Conservative back-bencher
Churchill shared the Conservative politics of his parents, and in 1868 he had published a letter defending his father''s conduct in connection with the parliamentary election at Woodstock. In 1874, in return for his father''s consent to marry, Churchill agreed to stand at the general election as the Conservative candidate for the borough of Woodstock, where his father was the principal landowner. In his election address he called for a more economical defence policy—a portent of his future policy. He defeated his Liberal opponent, George Brodrick (a fellow of Merton College) by a majority of 165 votes out of a total electorate of 1147. His maiden speech in the House of Commons, on 22 May 1874, prompted compliments from Harcourt and Disraeli, who wrote to the queen: ''the House was surprised, and then captivated, by his energy and natural flow and his impressive manner'' (Monypenny & Buckle, 2.652). The hallmark of Churchill''s early parliamentary career was his loyalty to his family—which did not always equate
Internal Reference: 4138
Antique ID Number (AIDN): SA620728
Dateline of this antique is 19th Century
Height is 40cm (15.7inches)Width is 30cm (11.8inches)Depth is 5cm (2.0inches)
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