William Algernon Churchill (1865 – 23 December 1947) was an art historian and British

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

Family and early life

He was born in Algiers the son of Henry Adrian Churchill (1828–1886) who was an archaeologist and British diplomat, and Maria Braniefska (b. Warsaw 1839? – d.

Pará Pará is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian state) ...

, Brazil 1905).Levantine Heritage 58
/ref> His second name was derived from his place of birth. Three of his four brothers, Harry Lionel (1860–1924), Sidney John Alexander (1862–1924), and

George Percy The Honourable George Percy (4 September 1580 – 1632) was an English explorer, author, and early Colonial Governor of Virginia. Early life George Percy was born in England, the youngest son of Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland and Lady ...

(1876–1973) were also diplomats.Foreign Office Statement of Service 1926 He married Hannah Violet Myers whose sister married his brother Sydney. They had four children: Walter (1907–1943), Peter (1909–1972), Flora (1911–1929), and Oliver (1914–1997). His three sons served in the British Armed Forces during World War II –

Walter Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

becoming an

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

while

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

and Oliver each served in the

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

– and all three were highly decorated, each being awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

and also a second high-level medal of gallantry.

Career

Diplomatic

In 1891 he was appointed British Vice-Consul in Mozambique, then Consul in Mozambique (1892),

, Amazon Provinces, Brazil (1897), Amsterdam (1906), Stockholm (1913), and finally Consul-General in Milan (1919), retiring in 1922 to live in

Malvern Malvern or Malverne may refer to: Places Australia * Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide * Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne * City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne * Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...

, Worcestershire. During retirement he served as Acting Consul in Palermo for 3 months in 1928, then Acting Consul in Algiers from 1934–36. An account of his visit to the Sugar-Loaf Mountain in Mozambique was published in 1894.

Academic

He was also an art historian with particular interest in

watermarks A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations ...

in paper. He was author of what is still the standard reference work on early European paper and papermaking, ''Watermarks in Paper in Holland, England, France, etc., in the XVII and XVIII centuries, and their interconnection''. First published in 1935, this book is still in print. In 1936 he donated a large collection of dated watermarks, ranging from the 15th to the 19th centuries, to the Department of Manuscripts at the British Museum.The Times 16 March 1936

References

External links

Photograph of William Algernon Churchill
{{DEFAULTSORT:Churchill, William Algernon 1865 births 1947 deaths Watermarking British diplomats British art historians