John Strange Spencer-Churchill

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Major John Strange Spencer-Churchill , DSO , called Jack Churchill (born February 4, 1880 in Phoenix Park near Dublin , † February 23, 1947 ) was a British officer . As the son of statesman Lord Randolph Churchill and younger brother of politician Winston Churchill , Jack Churchill was a lifelong figure in public life in Great Britain.

Life

Jack and Winston with their mother Jennie

John Strange Spencer-Churchill was born in Phoenix Park in 1880, the second son of Lord Randolph Churchill and his wife, Jennie Jerome , an American . Phoenix Park was at that time the official residence of his grandfather John Spencer-Churchill the 7th Duke of Marlborough, who had resided there since 1876 in his function as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland . The paternity of Sir Randolph in the case of John Strange was later often questioned with reference to the numerous extramarital affairs of Jennie Churchill: Another possible paternity candidate for Churchill is the Irish nobleman Colonel John Strange Jocelyn, 5th Earl of Roden (1823-1897) ), with whom Jennie Churchill had a liaison during the period in question - whereby the suspicion is based primarily on the identity of the names. At least his middle name was derived directly from this, while John was derived from his grandfather.

Churchill attended school in Harrow. On August 8, 1908, Churchill married Lady Gwendoline Theresa Mary Bertie (1885-1941), a daughter of Montagu Bertie, 7th Earl of Abingdon , and Gwendoline Mary Dormer. The couple had three children: John George Spencer-Churchill (1909-1992), Henry Winston Peregrine Spencer-Churchill (1913-2002) and Anne Clarissa Churchill, Countess of Avon (* 1920). The latter was married to Prime Minister Anthony Eden .

In the military, Churchill rose to the rank of major in the Oxfordshire Yeomanry. He took part in the Boer War and the First World War. In the latter, he stood by Field Marshal John French , General Sir Ian Hamilton and Field Marshal William Birdwood as staff officers. During the war he was awarded the French Order of the Croix de Guerre and the Légion d'Honneur and in 1918 with the British Distinguished Service Order .

Churchill was buried near his parents and brother in the cemetery of St. Martin's Church in Bladon near Woodstock.

literature

  • Celia Lee, John Lee: The Churchills. A family portrait. Palgrave Macmillan, New York 2010, ISBN 978-0-230-61810-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Winston Churchill's younger brother. at churchillbooks.com, accessed February 28, 2014.
  2. ↑ Celia Lee, John Lee: The Churchills. A family portrait. P. 17.
  3. ↑ a b Maj John Strange Spencer Churchill on findagrave.com, accessed February 28, 2014.
personal data
SURNAME Spencer-Churchill, John Strange
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jack Churchill
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British officer
DATE OF BIRTH February 4, 1880
PLACE OF BIRTH Phoenix Park near Dublin
DATE OF DEATH February 23, 1947