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Social Victorians/People/Churchill

< Social Victorians | People

Also Known As

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  • Family name: Spencer-Churchill
  • The family name of the Duke of Marlborough is Spencer-Churchill
  • This is the page for the family of Randolph Churchill and Jennie Jerome Churchill.
  • Sir Winston Churchill

Acquaintances, Friends and Enemies

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Timeline

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1874 April 15, Jennie Jerome and Randolph Spencer-Churchill married at the British Embassy in Paris.[1]

1895 January 29, Randolph Spencer-Churchill died.

1897 July 2, Friday, Lady Randolph Churchill attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House, as did her sons Winston and Jack.[2]

1900 June 3, Sunday, Whit Sunday, Jennie (Lady Randolph) Churchill was present at a Whitsun house party at Sandringham House. She was "just back from her hospital ship which had been a boon in South Africa, but fractiously insisting she is going to marry George Cornwallis-West."[3]:195, qting Lord Knutsford Leslie says, "Jennie, who had been argumentative all weekend, would almost immediately marry her young George."[3]:197

1900 July 28, Lady Randolph Churchill and George Cornwallis-West married.[1]

1902 August 9, just after King Edward VII's coronation Louise, Duchess of Devonshire tried "to reach the Ladies' before anyone else":

After the long ceremony she tried to hurry out in the wake of the royal procession, but found herself stopped by a line of Grenadier Guards. Leonie [Leonie Leslie] and Jennie [Lady Randolph Churchill], who were descending from the King's special box, heard her upbraiding the officers in front of all the other peeresses, many of whom were themselves most uncomfortable. Then, trying to push her way past them, she missed her footing and fell headlong down a flight of steps to roll over on her back at the feet of the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Michael Hicks Beach), who stared paralyzed at this heap of velvet and ermine. The Marquis de Soveral swiftly took charge of the situation and had her lifted to her feet while Margot Asquith nimbly retrieved the coronet, which was bouncing along the stalls, and placed it back on her head. It was a moment in which younger women naturally had to give precedence to an angry Duchess.[3]:190

1914 April 1, Lady Randolph Churchill and George Cornwallis-West divorced.[4] He married Mrs. Patrick Campbell on 6 April 1914.

Costume at the Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 Fancy-dress Ball

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Other members of the Spencer-Churchill family were present and are discussed on the page for the Duke of Marlborough.

 
Detail of 6th-century mosaic icon of Theodora and attendants in the Basilica San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy

Jennie (Lady Randolph) Churchill

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Jennie, Lady Randolph Churchill as Empress Theodora, wife of Justinian. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

At the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball, Lady Randolph Churchill (at 132) was dressed as Empress Theodora of Byzantium. She was seated at Table 1 and was in the "Oriental"[5]:p. 8, Col. 1c or the Duchess procession.[6][7]

  • According to the Carlisle Patriot, which has more detail than any other paper (perhaps because the Churchills were local, although it is generally one of the longest stories), "Among other Eastern Queens of ancient line was Lady Randolph Churchill as the Empress Theodora, in a dress of golden gauze thick with jewel-encrusted embroidery and wearing a high jewelled headdress, while in her right hand she carried a gold diamond-encircled ord [sic]."[8]
  • Anne Sebba says she went as Empress Theodora of Byzantium: "The Empress, a former courtesan as powerful as she was beautiful, was the wife of the Emperor Justinian I. She had dozens of admirers and was generally held in low regard by respectable society. Shane commented somewhat cruelly that Jennie would have resembled Theodora even without fancy dress."[2]:p. 206

Lafayette's portrait of "Jeanette ('Jennie') Churchill (née Jerome), Lady Randolph Churchill as the Empress Theodora, wife of Justinian" in costume is photogravure #193 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery.[9] The printing on the portrait says, "Lady Randolph Churchill as the Empress Theodora, wife of Justinian," with a Long S in Empress.[10]

Winston Churchill and Jack Churchill

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Winston Churchill (at 179) is pictured in the Gentlewoman story and was wearing "green broché."[11]:p. 34, Col. 3a; 40, Col. 2b Jack Churchill (at 223) was also present.[2] One of them was wearing a sword and fought a duel at some point that night in the garden?

Demographics

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  • Nationality: Jennie Jerome was American, born in Brooklyn, New York[12]; Randolph Spencer-Churchill was English.

Family

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  • Jennie Jerome Spencer-Churchill, Lady Randolph Churchill (9 January 1854 – 29 June 1921)[1]
  • Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill (13 February 1849 – 24 January 1895)
  1. Rt. Hon. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965)
  2. Major John Strange Spencer-Churchill (4 February 1880 – 23 February 1947)


  • Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965)[14]
  • Clementine Ogilvy Hozier, Baroness Spencer-Churchill (1 April 1885 – 12 December 1977)[15]
    1. Diana Spencer-Churchill (11 July 1909 – 19 October 1963)
    2. Major Hon. Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer-Churchill (28 May 1911 – 6 June 1968)
    3. Sarah Millicent Hermione Spencer-Churchill (7 October 1914 – 24 September 1982)
    4. Marigold Frances Spencer-Churchill (15 November 1918 – 23 August 1921)
    5. Mary Spencer-Churchill (15 September 1922 – 31 May 2014)

Relations

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  • Jennie Jerome Churchill was the sister of Leonie Blanche Jerome, who married Sir John Leslie.

Notes and Questions

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Footnotes

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Jennie Jerome." "Person Page". www.thepeerage.com. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Sebba, Anne. American Jennie: The Remarkable Life of Lady Randolph Churchill. W. W. Norton, 2007.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Leslie, Anita. The Marlborough House Set. New York: Doubleday, 1973.
  4. ↑ "George Cornwallis-West". Wikipedia. 2021-09-07. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Cornwallis-West&oldid=1042934380.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Cornwallis-West.
  5. ↑ “Ball at Devonshire House.” Evening Mail 05 July 1897 Monday: 8 [of 8], Col. 1a–4c [of 6]. British Newspaper Archive https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003187/18970705/070/0008.
  6. ↑ "Fancy Dress Ball at Devonshire House." Morning Post Saturday 3 July 1897: 7 [of 12], Col. 4a–8 Col. 2b. British Newspaper Archive https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000174/18970703/054/0007.
  7. ↑ "Ball at Devonshire House." The Times Saturday 3 July 1897: 12, Cols. 1a–4c The Times Digital Archive. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.
  8. ↑ "Fancy Dress Ball: Unparalleled Splendour." Carlisle Patriot Friday 9 July 1897: 7 [of 8], Col. 4a–b. British Newspaper Archive https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000365/18970709/084/0007.
  9. ↑ "Devonshire House Fancy Dress Ball (1897): photogravures by Walker & Boutall after various photographers." 1899. National Portrait Gallery https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait-list.php?set=515.
  10. ↑ "Lady Randolph Churchill as the Empress Theodora." Diamond Jubilee Fancy Dress Ball. National Portrait Gallery https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw158556/Jeanette-Jennie-Churchill-ne-Jerome-Lady-Randolph-Churchill-as-the-Empress-Theodora-wife-of-Justinian.
  11. ↑ “The Duchess of Devonshire’s Ball.” The Gentlewoman 10 July 1897 Saturday: 32–42 [of 76], Cols. 1a–3c [of 3]. British Newspaper Archive https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003340/18970710/155/0032.
  12. ↑ "Lady Randolph Churchill". Wikipedia. 2020-08-28. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lady_Randolph_Churchill&oldid=975347328. 
  13. ↑ "Major George Frederick Myddelton Cornwallis-West." "Person Page". www.thepeerage.com. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  14. ↑ "Rt. Hon. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill." "Person Page". www.thepeerage.com. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  15. ↑ "Clementine Ogilvy Hozier, Baroness Spencer-Churchill." "Person Page". www.thepeerage.com. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
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