Frances Anne Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, VA (15 April 1822 – 16 April 1899) was an English noblewoman, the wife of British peer and statesman John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough. One of her sons,

Lord Randolph Churchill Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill (13 February 1849 – 24 January 1895) was a British statesman. Churchill was a Tory radical and coined the term ' Tory democracy'. He inspired a generation of party managers, created the National Union ...

, was the father of Prime Minister Sir

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

. She had a total of 11 children, and her principal home was the monumental

Blenheim Palace Blenheim Palace (pronounced ) is a country house in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough and the only non- royal, non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, ...

, which she rejuvenated with her "lavish and exciting entertainments", and transformed into a "social and political focus for the life of the nation".Margaret Elizabeth Forster, ''Churchill's Grandmama: Frances, 7th Duchess of Marlborough'', The History Press Ltd., 2010, publisher's note. Retrieved 16 April 2010. She was invested as a Lady of the

Royal Order of Victoria and Albert The Royal Order of Victoria and Albert is a British Royal Family Order instituted on 10 February 1862 by Queen Victoria, and enlarged on 10 October 1864, 15 November 1865, and 15 March 1880. No award has been made since the death of Queen V ...

for her efforts at famine relief in Ireland.

Family

Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane was born on 15 April 1822 at the

Duke of St Albans Duke of St Albans is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1684 for Charles Beauclerk, 1st Earl of Burford, then 14 years old. King Charles II had accepted that Burford was his illegitimate son by Nell Gwyn, an actress, and awa ...

's house in

St James's Square St James's Square is the only square in the St James's district of the City of Westminster and is a garden square. It has predominantly Georgian and Neo-Georgian architecture. For its first two hundred or so years it was one of the three or f ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, the eldest daughter of Irish-born

Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, (born Charles William Stewart; 1778–1854), was an Anglo-Irish nobleman, a British soldier and a politician. He served in the French Revolutionary Wars, in the suppression of the Irish Rebell ...

, and heiress Lady Frances Anne Vane-Tempest. At her

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

stood as her godfather. She had three brothers, including George Vane-Tempest, 5th Marquess of Londonderry, and two younger sisters. She had an older half-brother, Frederick Stewart, 4th Marquess of Londonderry, by her father's first marriage to Lady Catherine Bligh.

Marriage and issue

On 12 July 1843 at St. George Street,

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world ...

, Lady Frances married John Spencer-Churchill, Marquess of Blandford. Upon her marriage she was styled Marchioness of Blandford. The couple made their principal home at the Spencer-Churchill family seat of

Woodstock, Oxfordshire Woodstock is a market town and civil parish, north-west of Oxford in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 3,100. Blenheim Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is next to W ...

. The marriage produced eleven children: *

George Charles Spencer-Churchill, 8th Duke of Marlborough George Charles Spencer-Churchill, 8th Duke of Marlborough, DL (13 May 1844 – 9 November 1892), styled Earl of Sunderland until 1857 and Marquess of Blandford between 1857 and 1883, was a British peer. Early life Marlborough was born in Engl ...

(13 May 1844 – 9 November 1892) * Lord Frederick John Winston Spencer-Churchill (2 February 1846 – 5 August 1850) * Lady Cornelia Henrietta Maria Spencer-Churchill (17 September 1847 – Upper Brook Street, Mayfair, London, 22 January 1927), married 25 May 1868

Ivor Bertie Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne Ivor Bertie Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne, 2nd Baronet, DL (29 August 1835 – 22 February 1914) was a British industrialist and a member of the prominent Guest family. Early life Ivor Bertie Guest was born at Dowlais, near Merthyr Tydfil, the so ...

, by whom she had issue. * Lady Rosamund Jane Frances Spencer-Churchill (9 November 1851 - 3 December 1920), married 12 July 1877

William Fellowes, 2nd Baron de Ramsey William Henry Fellowes, 2nd Baron de Ramsey (16 May 1848 – 8 May 1925), was a British Conservative politician. De Ramsey was the eldest son of Edward Fellowes, 1st Baron de Ramsey, and Hon. Mary Julia Milles. Ailwyn Fellowes, 1st Baron Ailw ...

, by whom she had issue * Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill (13 February 1849 – 24 January 1895), married 15 April 1874

Jennie Jerome Jennie Spencer-Churchill (; 9 January 1854 – 29 June 1921), known as Lady Randolph Churchill, was an American-born British socialite, the wife of Lord Randolph Churchill, and the mother of British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill. Earl ...

, father of

Sir Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

and

John Strange Spencer-Churchill John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

. * Lady Fanny Octavia Louise Spencer-Churchill (29 January 1853 – 5 August 1904), married 9 June 1873

Edward Marjoribanks, 2nd Baron Tweedmouth Edward Marjoribanks, 2nd Baron Tweedmouth, (8 July 1849 – 15 September 1909), was a moderate British Liberal Party statesman who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 until 1894 when he inherited his peerage and then sat in the House of Lor ...

, by whom she had issue. * Lady Anne Emily Spencer-Churchill ( Lower Brook Street, Mayfair, London, 14 November 1854 – South Audley Street, Mayfair, London, 20 June 1923), married 11 June 1874

James Innes-Ker, 7th Duke of Roxburghe James Henry Robert Innes-Ker, 7th Duke of Roxburghe (5 September 1839 – 23 October 1892), became Duke of Roxburghe on the death of his father, James Henry Robert Innes-Ker, 6th Duke of Roxburghe. Early life He was born on 5 September 1839 to ...

, by whom she had issue. * Lord Charles Ashley Spencer-Churchill (25 November 1856 – 11 March 1858) * Lord Augustus Robert Spencer-Churchill (4 July 1858 – 12 May 1859) * Lady Georgiana Elizabeth Spencer-Churchill ( 10 St James's Square, St James's, London, 14 May 1860 – 9 February 1906), married 4 June 1883 Richard George Penn Curzon, 4th Earl Howe, by whom she had issue. * Lady Sarah Isabella Augusta Spencer-Churchill (4 July 1865 – 22 October 1929), a war correspondent during the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

; married 21 November 1891 Lt. Col. Gordon Chesney Wilson (son of Sir

Samuel Wilson Samuel Wilson (September 13, 1766 – July 31, 1854) was an American meat packer who lived in Troy, New York, whose name is purportedly the source of the personification of the United States known as "Uncle Sam". Biography Wilson was born in the ...

, MP)

Duchess of Marlborough

On 1 July 1857, her husband succeeded to the title of 7th Duke of Marlborough, and from that date henceforth, Frances was styled Duchess of Marlborough. She was a commanding and hot-tempered woman described in ''

The Complete Peerage ''The Complete Peerage'' (full title: ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom Extant, Extinct, or Dormant''; first edition by George Edward Cokayne, Clarenceux King of Arms; 2nd edition rev ...

'' as a "woman of remarkable character and capacity, judicious and tactful". Her face had more strength than beauty and her eyes were either warm or hard, never lacklustre.Martin, p. 61. She ruled

and its household with an iron hand; yet it was she who rejuvenated the palace with her lavish and gay entertainments which she herself organised; transforming the palace "into a social and political focus for the life of the nation". She was a domineering yet devoted mother; both of her surviving sons' marriages were a disappointment to her. Her eldest son George married a woman described as stupid, pious and dull, while her youngest and favourite son, Lord Randolph earned her displeasure by marrying, against the wishes of both herself and the Duke, American socialite Jennie Jerome, whom Frances openly disliked. Frances and her husband refused to attend Lord Randolph and Jennie's wedding at the British Embassy in Paris, which took place on Frances's 52nd birthday. Like the rest of the 19th-century British aristocracy, the Marlboroughs regarded American women as "strange and abnormal creatures with habits and manners something between a Red Indian and a

Gaiety Girl Gaiety Girls were the chorus girls in Edwardian musical comedies, beginning in the 1890s at the Gaiety Theatre, London, in the shows produced by George Edwardes. The popularity of this genre of musical theatre depended, in part, on the beautifu ...

". When the newly-wed couple moved to their home in

Curzon Street Curzon Street is located within the Mayfair district of London. The street is located entirely within the W1J postcode district; the eastern end is north-east of Green Park underground station. It is within the City of Westminster, running a ...

in London, however, Frances arrived to help Jennie pay her first visits to the leaders of London society. She lent her some of her own jewels for the occasion, and the two women travelled in the Marlborough family coach.Martin, p. 101. Frances featured largely in the lives of the younger members of the family, including her grandson Winston, to whom she often acted as a substitute mother. From 1876 to 1880 her husband served as

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the King ...

. As the result of her diligent efforts at famine relief in which she displayed humanity, proficiency and leadership that attempted to avert the effects of the 1879 Great Famine, she was invested as a Lady of the

Order of Victoria and Albert The Royal Order of Victoria and Albert is a British Royal Family Order instituted on 10 February 1862 by Queen Victoria, and enlarged on 10 October 1864, 15 November 1865, and 15 March 1880. No award has been made since the death of Queen V ...

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

Last years

She became a widow in 1883, lost her eldest son, George, in 1892, and on 24 January 1895, her only surviving son, Lord Randolph Churchill, died at her London home in

Grosvenor Square Grosvenor Square is a large garden square in the Mayfair district of London. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from the duke's surname "Grosvenor". It was developed for fashionable ...

. She never stopped mourning Randolph, and harboured much resentment against his wife, whom she had never liked and now criticised for behaviour unbecoming a grieving widow.

Death

Frances died at Blenheim on 16 April 1899, the day after her 77th birthday, having outlived five of her eleven children. She was buried on 21 April 1899 in the family

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

beneath Blenheim Chapel. Her grandson Sir

wrote of her: "She was a woman of exceptional capacity, energy and decision".

Portrayals in film and television

The Duchess was portrayed by

Rachel Kempson Rachel, Lady Redgrave (28 May 1910 – 24 May 2003), known primarily by her birth name Rachel Kempson, was an English actress. She married Sir Michael Redgrave, and was the matriarch of the famous acting dynasty. Career Kempson trained at RADA ...

in the 1974 Thames TV mini-series ''Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill''.

Ancestry

References

Sources

* Martin, Ralph G. ''Jennie: The Life of Lady Randolph Churchill, Volume One, The Romantic Years (1854–1895)'', New American Library, New York, 1969; () {{DEFAULTSORT:Marlborough, Frances Anne Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of 1822 births 1899 deaths English duchesses by marriage Daughters of British marquesses

Frances Frances is a French and English given name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'free one.' The male version of the name in English is Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "Frenchman", comes from the F ...

Ladies of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert

People from Westminster Wives of knights