Lord Alan Spencer-Churchill DL (25 July 1825 – 19 April 1873) was a British aristocrat, officer in the British Army, deputy lieutenant of

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, a lieutenant in the Oxfordshire Yeomanry and a businessman. He was a great uncle of Sir

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

Family

Alan Spencer-Churchill was born in

Garboldisham Garboldisham () is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Garboldisham is located north-west of Diss and south-west of Norwich, along the A1066. History Garboldisham's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, the third son of the three-times-married

George Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke of Marlborough George Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke of Marlborough (né Spencer; 27 December 1793 – 1 July 1857), styled Earl of Sunderland until 1817 and Marquess of Blandford between 1817 and 1840, was a British nobleman, politician, and peer. The great-gra ...

and his first wife, Lady Jane Stewart, daughter of

George Stewart, 8th Earl of Galloway George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

. After

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

he served as an officer in the cavalry regiment of the

8th King's Royal Irish Hussars The 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars was a Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1693. It saw service for three centuries including the World War I, First and World War II, Second World Wars. ...

, becoming a lieutenant by purchase in 1844. In 1843 Lord Alan was

best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be selected. From his groomsmen, the groom usuall ...

at the wedding of his eldest brother, John, then 7th

Marquess of Blandford A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or widow) ...

, to Lady Frances Vane, the future grandparents of Prime Minister, Winston Spencer Churchill. While stationed at

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

with his regiment in 1846, he met and married Rosalind Dowker (sometimes referred to as 'Rosamond'), daughter of Thomas Dowker of

Huntington, York Huntington is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of City of York in North Yorkshire, England. It is part of the ''Huntington & New Earswick'' ward and lies on the River Foss, to the north of York and the south of Strensal ...

. They had no surviving children. Victoria Docks 1872

Business interests

Unlike his two elder brothers, upon leaving the Army, Lord Alan eschewed a political career and chose instead, unusually for people of his class, to go into business. His association with

Peter Rolt Peter Rolt (1798 – 3 September 1882) was a British businessman and Conservative Party politician. The son of John David Rolt of and his wife Sophia ''née'' Butt, he was born in Deptford. Both of his grandfathers held senior positions in the ...

(1798-1882), merchant and Conservative MP for

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

, led to his involvement in international trade and to a number of company directorships, in the then burgeoning sectors of

shipping Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

. Among his interests were the importation of beef from Argentina as well as shipbuilding at the

Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf (often referred to as Blackwall) on the west side and at Cann ...

, and the establishment of freight transport networks, for example, through the British and South American Steam Navigation Company. He entered tourism through the hotel venture that was the new Imperial Hotel at

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignt ...

Country pursuits

As was the convention for people of his class at that time, he divided his life between business and clubs in London and the pursuits of a country squire. In August 1852 he was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Oxfordshire, the location of the

family seat A family seat, sometimes just called seat, is the principal residence of the landed gentry and aristocracy. The residence usually denotes the social, economic, political, or historic connection of the family within a given area. Some families t ...

Blenheim Palace Blenheim Palace ( ) is a country house in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough. Originally called Blenheim Castle, it has been known as Blenheim Palace since the 19th century. One of England's larg ...

, which passed to his eldest brother,

John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough John Winston Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough, (2 June 18224 July 1883), styled Earl of Sunderland from 1822 to 1840 and Marquess of Blandford from 1840 to 1857, was a British Conservative cabinet minister, politician, peer, and noble ...

. Alan Spencer-Churchill was for many years patron of the Chelsea Relief Society, founded in 1861. He died suddenly at his home in

Lowndes Square Lowndes Square is a residential garden square at the north-west end of Belgravia, London, SW1. It is formed of archetypal grand terraces of light stucco houses, cream or white. The length of the central rectangular garden is parallel with Sloane ...

, London, aged 47 years, and was buried at

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is since 1852 the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown Estate, Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...

.Obituary of Lord Alan Spencer-Churchill:

Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'', founded by Herbert Ingram and first published on Saturday 14 May 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. The magazine was published weekly for most of its existence, switched to a less freq ...

, Saturday 26 April 1873, London, England, p. 24. (subscription needed).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer-Churchill, Alan 1825 births 1873 deaths

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Kurdish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name ** List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' * ...

People from Garboldisham People educated at Eton College 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars officers Deputy lieutenants of Oxfordshire Younger sons of dukes 19th-century English businesspeople Burials at Brompton Cemetery 19th-century British Army personnel Military personnel from Norfolk