George Spencer-Churchill, 8th Duke of Marlborough

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George Spencer-Churchill, 8th Duke of Marlborough

George Charles Spencer-Churchill, 8th Duke of Marlborough (born May 13, 1844 , † November 9, 1892 in Blenheim Palace ) was a British nobleman .

family

George Charles Spencer-Churchill was born in 1844 as the eldest son of John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough . He was the older brother of the British statesman Lord Randolph Churchill , the father of Sir Winston Churchill . On November 8, 1869, he married Lady Albertha Frances Anne Hamilton, daughter of James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn, at Westminster Palace . The marriage was not happy and was annulled on November 20, 1883. Four children emerged from her:

  • Lady Frances Louisa Spencer-Churchill (1870–1954), ⚭ Sir Robert Gresley, 11th Baronet;
  • Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough (1871-1934);
  • Lady Lillian Maud Spencer-Churchill (1873–1951) ⚭ Cecil Alfred Grenfell;
  • Lady Norah Beatrice Henriette Spencer-Churchill (1875–1946) ⚭ Francis Bradley Bradley-Birt.

With Edith Finch, Countess of Aylesford , who lived separated from her husband Heneage Finch, 7th Earl of Aylesford , he had a son, Guy Bertrand (* 1881), who was initially baptized as the Earl's son in 1883, but was inherited in 1885 was excluded from the earl title.

On June 29, 1888, he was second married to Lillian Warren Price at New York City Hall . The wedding ceremony was performed by New York Mayor Abram S. Hewitt . The couple had no children.

Life

Spencer-Churchill attended Eton College from 1857 to 1860 . He joined the British Army in 1863 and earned an officer's license as a lieutenant in the Royal Horse Guards .

As the "black sheep of the family", he caused several scandals through repeated women’s stories, the Aylesford affair in particular becoming known .

When his father died in 1883, he inherited his title of nobility as Duke of Marlborough and thereby became a member of the House of Lords . He modernized the family home at Blenheim Palace and installed gas, electricity and central heating. In order to finance this and his lavish lifestyle, he sold - against the will of the rest of the family - the extensive art collection; He sold several Rubens paintings to the Rothschild family , the portrait of Charles I, King of England, on horseback by Anthony van Dyck went to the National Gallery in London and several works by Brueghel, Rembrandt and Gainsborough were in the international art trade sold. He died at the age of 48.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ George Edward Cokayne, Vicary Gibbs (Ed.): The Complete Peerage. Volume 1, Alan Sutton Publishing, Gloucester 2000, p. 367.
  2. ^ Mary S. Lovell: The Churchills. In love and war. WW Norton & Company, London 2011. pp. 74 f.
  3. ↑ Link to the Blenheim palace page ( Memento from October 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ^ Mary S. Lovell: The Churchills. In love and war. WW Norton & Company, London 2011. p. 78.
predecessor Office successor
John Spencer-Churchill Duke of Marlborough
1883-1892 		Charles Spencer-Churchill
personal data
SURNAME Spencer-Churchill, George, 8th Duke of Marlborough
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Marlborough, George Churchill, 8th Duke of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British peer
DATE OF BIRTH May 13, 1844
DATE OF DEATH November 9, 1892
Place of death Blenheim Palace