Lord Ivor Charles Spencer-Churchill (14 October 1898 – 17 September 1956) was a British aristocrat, soldier, and art collector. He was the younger son of the 9th Duke of Marlborough and his first wife, the former

Consuelo Vanderbilt Consuelo Vanderbilt-Balsan (formerly Consuelo Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough; born Consuelo Vanderbilt; 2 March 1877 – 6 December 1964) was an American socialite and member of the Vanderbilt family. Her first marriage to the 9th D ...

, an American railroad heiress. His elder brother, John, was the 10th Duke of Marlborough.

Early life

Lord Ivor Charles Spencer-Churchill was born on 14 October 1898. He was the second son of the 9th Duke of Marlborough and

. In 1921, his parents divorced when he was 22 years old. His father later wed the former Gladys Deacon; while his mother went on to marry Col. Jacques Balsan. His mother was the only daughter and eldest child of

William Kissam Vanderbilt William Kissam Vanderbilt I (December 12, 1849 – July 22, 1920) was an American heir, businessman, philanthropist, and horse breeder. Born into the Vanderbilt family, he managed his family's railroad investments. Early life William Kissam Vand ...

, a New York railroad millionaire, and his first wife, the

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

born Alva Erskine Smith (1853–1933), who later married Oliver Belmont. His mother's name was in honour of her godmother, Consuelo Yznaga (1853–1909), a half-Cuban, half-American socialite who created a social stir a year earlier when she married the fortune-hunting George, Viscount Mandeville. Spencer-Churchill was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

Career

He joined the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and do ...

in 1917, gaining the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

. He fought in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and was decorated with the French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. A conveyance dated 26 September 1930 documents the purchase of three parcels of land and premises known as Springhead situated along Mill Street at

Fontmell Magna Fontmell Magna is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Dorset, England. It is situated in the Blackmore Vale, close to the chalk hills of Cranborne Chase, on the A350 road south of Shaftesbury and north of Blandford Forum ...

in the county of Dorset. Another conveyance dated 8 November 1934 documents Lord Ivor Churchill selling one of these parcels (31 Mill Street, a semi-detached cottage) to Henry Rolf Gardener (see Rolf Gardiner.)

Personal life

In 1923, Lord Ivor was rumoured to have become engaged to Grace Vanderbilt, a distant cousin and the daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt III. On 15 November 1947, he married Elizabeth "Betty" Cunningham (1914–2010), the daughter of James Cyril Cunningham. Together, they had a son: *Robert William Charles Spencer-Churchill (born 1954), who in 1979 married Jeanne M. Maze, daughter of Etienne Maze and granddaughter of Paul Maze, a painter and friend of

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, ...

. Ivor developed an inoperable brain tumour and died in September 1956. He is buried beside his cousin

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, ...

and close to his mother at St Martin's Church, Bladon, near

Woodstock, Oxfordshire Woodstock is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish, north-west of Oxford in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. The United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 census recorded a parish population of 3,521, up from t ...

Art collector

He was a famous art collector, especially interested by modern French painting, collecting paintings and organizing exhibitions like the Anglo-French Art & Travel Society's ''Exhibition of 19th Century French Painting'' (1–31 October 1936). He was in close relations with the English art dealer Percy Moore Turner.D. Salmon, ''Le Saint Joseph charpentier de Georges de la Tour : un don au Louvre de Percy Moore Turner'', Gand : Snoeck, 2017.

Notes

Ancestry

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer-Churchill, Lord Ivor Charles 1898 births 1956 deaths Royal Army Service Corps officers British Army personnel of World War I Ivor Spencer-Churchill Younger sons of dukes Vanderbilt family Recipients of the Legion of Honour People educated at Eton College Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Deaths from brain cancer in England Burials at St Martin's Church, Bladon Military personnel from London