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Jack Churchill (1880–1947)

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Jack Churchill
Jack in 1929
Personal details
Born
John Strange Spencer-Churchill

(1880-02-04)4 February 1880
Dublin, Ireland
Died23 February 1947(1947-02-23) (aged 67)
Resting placeSt. Martin's Churchyard Bladon, West Oxfordshire District, Oxfordshire, England
NationalityBritish
Spouse
Lady Gwendoline Bertie
​
​
(m. 1908; died 1941)​
Children
Parents
Occupation
  • Soldier
  • Businessman
Known forBrother of Winston Churchill
Military service
Branch/serviceBritish Army
Years of service1898–1918
RankMajor
UnitQueen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars
South African Light Horse
Mediterranean Expeditionary Force
Battles/warsSecond Boer War
First World War
AwardsDistinguished Service Order
Territorial Decoration
Croix de guerre
Legion of Honour

Major John Strange Spencer-Churchill DSO TD (4 February 1880 – 23 February 1947), known as Jack Churchill,[a] was the younger son of Lord Randolph Churchill and his wife Jennie, and the brother of former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Sir Winston Churchill.[1]

Early life

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Jennie Churchill with her sons, John and Winston in 1889

He was born at Phoenix Park, Dublin, Ireland, where his father, Lord Randolph, was secretary to Jack's grandfather, the 7th Duke of Marlborough, then Viceroy of Ireland.[1]

John was educated at Harrow School in England. Jennie's sisters believed that John's actual biological father was Evelyn Boscawen.[2]

Career

[edit]
Boer War, wounded army officers on the deck of a hospital ship, including Churchill. The Graphic 1900

Spencer-Churchill was commissioned into the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars in 1898. He served in the South African Light Horse alongside his war correspondent brother in the Second Boer War in 1899–1900. He was shot through the leg in February 1900, during the Battle of the Tugela Heights, part of the campaign for the relief of Ladysmith.[3][4] The following month he returned for duty.[5] For his service, he was mentioned in dispatches.

He fought in World War I, where he was again mentioned in dispatches. He served on the staff of Field Marshal Lord French, General Sir Ian Hamilton (serving as Naval Liaison Officer for the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force) and Field Marshal Lord Birdwood (serving as Camp Commandant, 1st Anzac Corps, and then as Assistant Military Secretary at the headquarters of the Fifth Army).[1]

He reached the rank of major and was awarded the French decorations of the Croix de guerre and the Légion d'honneur and the British Distinguished Service Order in 1918 alongside Colonel Frank Middleton (1872–1932).[6][7][8] After the war, he became a businessman in the City of London[1] firstly as a partner at stockbrokers Nelke, Phillips & Bendix from 1906 and then at Vickers, da Costa, making partner in 1921.[9]

During World War II, after the widowed John lost his house during the Blitz, he lived in 10 Downing Street (where he used the bedrooms on the top floor formerly used by Churchill and his wife) or in the No 10 Annex.[10][11]

Personal life

[edit]
Gwendoline Bertie by John Lavery

He married, in Oxford on 8 August 1908, Lady Gwendoline Theresa Mary Bertie, known as Goonie (20 November 1885 – 7 July 1941), the daughter of Montagu Bertie, 7th Earl of Abingdon, and Gwendoline Mary Dormer. Lady Gwendoline had been raised as a Roman Catholic.[12] John and his wife had three children:[1]

John Strange Spencer-Churchill's grave at St Martin's Church, Bladon

Jack died on 23 February 1947,[13] aged 67, of heart disease.[14] He is buried near his parents and brother (who outlived him for 18 years) at St Martin's Church, Bladon, near Woodstock, Oxfordshire.[10]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ This British person has the double-barrelled surname Spencer-Churchill, but is known by the surname Churchill.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f Roberts, Andrew (31 October 2007). "Winston Churchill: The 'secret' brother". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  2. ^ Sebba, Anne. American Jennie: The Remarkable Life of Lady Randolph Churchill, Norton, 2008
  3. ^ "The War - Natal". The Times. No. 36067. London. 16 February 1900. p. 5.
  4. ^ Churchill, W. S. London to Ladysmith via Pretoria London: Longmans, Green & Co. 1900, pp. 168–69
  5. ^ "The War – Casualties". The Times. No. 36102. London. 29 March 1900. p. 8.
  6. ^ "Former Leeds Colonel Dead". Leeds Mercury. 12 April 1932. Retrieved 27 August 2024. Colonel Middleton left Leeds some five years ago with his brother
  7. ^ "War Office, 24th August, 1918. The KING has been graciously pleased to confer the Territorial Decoration upon the undermentioned Officers, who have been duly recommended for the same under the terms of the Royal Warrant dated 17th Aug. 1908:— YEOMANRY - Major John S. S. Churchill, D.S.O.; ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY - Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Middleton, D.S.O." (PDF). The London Gazette. 28 August 1918. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  8. ^ "Lieutenant Colonel Frank MIDDLETON. Royal Field Artillery". The National Archives Kew, Richmond. 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  9. ^ Lee, Celia; Lee, John (2007). Winston and Jack: The Churchill Brothers.
  10. ^ a b Mary Soames in her edition of the Churchill letters.
  11. ^ Holmes, Richard. Churchill's Bunker 2009, Profile Books; ISBN 978-1-84668-225-4, pp. 82, 107
  12. ^ Lee, Celia; Lee, John (2010). The Churchills: A Family Portrait. New York: St. Martin’s Press. p. 149. ISBN 9780230112209. Goonie's father, Montagu Arthur Bertie…had converted to Roman Catholicism with his first wife, and though Goonie was by his second wife, the children were all brought up in the Catholic faith.
  13. ^ "Churchill's brother dies", The Leader-Post, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, p. 4, 24 February 1947, "Maj. John Spencer Churchill, younger brother of wartime Prime-Minister Winston Churchill, died Sunday.
  14. ^ Lee, Celia and John (10 September 2017). "Jack Churchill: The Faithful Brother – Finest Hour 176". The International Churchill Society. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
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