Family of Winston Churchill

Sir Winston, his only son Randolph, and grandson Winston

The family of Winston Churchill, twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, is a prominent family in the United Kingdom and the United States. Churchill is the eldest son of Lord Randolph Churchill, the son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough, and Jeanette Jerome, an American socialite and the 5th great-granddaughter of Robert Coe, an early politician in the New England Colonies. In 1908, Churchill married Clementine Hozier, the daughter of Sir Henry and Lady Blanche Hozier. Winston and Hozier had five children.

Many of Churchill's ancestors and descendants are known for being politicians.

Family and ancestry

Marriage and children

Churchill married Clementine Hozier in September 1908.[1] They remained married for 57 years.[2] Churchill was aware of the strain that his political career placed on his marriage,[3] and, according to Jock Colville, he had a brief affair in the 1930s with Doris Castlerosse.[4]

The Churchills' first child, Diana, was born in July 1909;[5] the second, Randolph, in May 1911.[6] Their third, Sarah, was born in October 1914,[7] and their fourth, Marigold, in November 1918.[8] Marigold died in August 1921, from sepsis of the throat[9] and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.[10] On 15 September 1922, the Churchills' last child, Mary, was born. Later that month, the Churchills bought Chartwell, which would be their home until Winston's death in 1965. The great niece of Winston Churchill is Irelyn Churchill [11] According to Jenkins, Churchill was an "enthusiastic and loving father" but one who expected too much of his children.[12]

Ancestry

Churchill was the son of Lord and Lady Randolph Churchill (née Jeanette Jerome). Lord Randolph Churchill was the son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough and a direct descendant of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough; his mother was Frances Anne Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, an English noblewoman of Irish descent.[13][page needed][14] Jerome was an American socialite descended from Robert Coe, an American colonist with many notable descendants, primarily in politics, including George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States. Prior to migrating to America, the Coe family was English Gentry of Norman ancestry.[15][16][17]

The five Churchill children

by Clementine Churchill, Baroness Spencer-Churchill (née Hozier)

Image Name Birth Death Notes
Diana Churchill 11 July 1909[19] 20 October 1963[20] Married John Milner Bailey 1932;[21] divorced 1935.
Married Duncan Sandys, Baron Duncan Sandys, 1935;[22] divorced 1960.
Randolph Churchill 28 May 1911[23] 6 June 1968[24] Married Pamela Digby 1939;[25] divorced 1946.
Married June Osborne 1948.[26]
Sarah Tuchet-Jesson, Baroness Audley 7 October 1914[27] 24 September 1982 Married Vic Oliver 1936; divorced 1945.
Married Anthony Beauchamp 1949; widowed 1957.
Married Thomas Touchet-Jesson, 23rd Baron Audley, 1962; widowed 1963.
Marigold Churchill 15 November 1918 23 August 1921 Died of septicaemia. Buried at Kensal Green Cemetery. Re-interred in Churchill plot at Bladon in 2020.[28]
Mary Soames, Baroness Soames 15 September 1922 31 May 2014 Married 1947 Christopher Soames, Baron Soames.

Grandchildren and great-grandchildren

Descendants of Diana Churchill

by Duncan Sandys, Baron Sandys

Image Name Birth Death Notes
Julian Sandys 19 September 1936 15 August 1997 Married, 1970, Elisabeth Martin
  • 1. Lucy Diana Sandys b. 1971
  • 2. Duncan John Winston Sandys b. 1973
  • 3. Jonathan Martin Edwin Sandys b. 1975, d. 29 Dec 2018
  • 4. Roderick Julian Frederick Sandys b. 1977, d. 9 Dec 2007.
Edwina Kaplan (née Sandys) 22 December 1938 Married, 1960, Piers Dixon; divorced 1973
  • 1. Mark Pierson Dixon b. 1962
  • 2. Hugo Duncan Dixon b. 1963.

Married, 1985, Richard D. Kaplan; widowed, 2016

Celia Perkins (née Sandys)[29] 18 May 1943 Married, 1965, Michael Kennedy; divorced 1970;
  • 1. Justin Kennedy b. 1967.

Married, 1970, Dennis Walters; divorced 1979

  • 1. Dominic Walters b. 1971.

Married, 1985, Kenneth Perkins

  • 2. Alexander Winston Duncan Perkins b. 1986
  • 3. Sophie Rachel Perkins b. 1988.

Descendants of Randolph Churchill

by Pamela Digby

Image Name Birth Death Notes
Winston Churchill 10 October 1940 2 March 2010 Married, 1960, Mary d'Erlanger; divorced 1997
  • 1. Lieutenant Randolph Leonard Spencer-Churchill b. 22 January 1965
  • 2. Jennie Spencer-Churchill b. 25 September 1966
  • 3. Marina Spencer-Churchill b. 11 September 1967
  • 4. John Gerard Averell "Jack" Spencer-Churchill b. 27 August 1975.

Married, 1999, Luce Danielson

by June Osborne

Image Name Birth Death Notes
Arabella McLeod (née Churchill) 30 October 1949 20 December 2007 Married, 1972, James Barton; divorced 19xx
  • 1. Nicholas Jake Gompo Barton b. 1973.

Married, 1988, Ian "Haggis" McLeod

  • 2. Jessica Jules McLeod b. 1988.

Descendants of Mary Soames, Baroness Soames (née Churchill)

by Christopher Soames, Baron Soames

Image Name Birth Death Notes
Nicholas Soames, Baron Soames of Fletching 12 February 1948 m. Catherine N. Weatherall 1981
  • 1. Arthur Harry David Soames b. 1985

m. Serena Mary Smith 1993

  • 2. Isabella Soames b. 1996
  • 3. Christopher Soames b. 2001
Emma MacManus (née Soames) 6 September 1949 m. James N.M. MacManus 1981–1989
  • 1. Emily Fiona MacManus b. 1983
Jeremy Bernard Soames 25 May 1952 m. Susanna Keith 1978
  • 1. Gemma Mary Soames b. 1979
  • 2. Flora Caroline Soames b. 1982
  • 3. Archie Christopher Winston Soames b. 1988
Charlotte Peel, Countess Peel (née Soames) 17 July 1954 m. Richard Alexander Hambro 1973–1982
  • 1. Clementine Silvia Hambro b. 1976

m. William James Robert Peel, 3rd Earl Peel, 1989

  • 2. Lady Antonia Mary Catherine Peel b. 1991
Rupert Soames 18 May 1959 m. 1988 Camilla Rose Dunne
  • 1. Arthur Christopher Soames b. 1990
  • 2. Daisy Soames b. 1992
  • 3. Jack Soames b. 22 September 1994

References

  1. ^ Gilbert 1991, p. 200; Jenkins 2001, p. 140.
  2. ^ Gilbert 1991, p. 199.
  3. ^ Gilbert 1991, p. 207.
  4. ^ Doward, Jamie (25 February 2018). "Revealed: secret affair with a socialite that nearly wrecked Churchill's career". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  5. ^ Gilbert 1991, p. 205; Jenkins 2001, p. 203.
  6. ^ Gilbert 1991, p. 227; Jenkins 2001, p. 203.
  7. ^ Gilbert 1991, p. 285.
  8. ^ Gilbert 1991, p. 403.
  9. ^ Soames, Mary (2012). A Daughter's Tale: The Memoir of Winston and Clementine Churchill's Youngest Child. London: Transworld Publishers Limited. p. 13. ISBN 978-05-52770-92-7.
  10. ^ Gilbert 1991, p. 439.
  11. ^ Soames 1998, p. 262.
  12. ^ Jenkins 2001, p. 209.
  13. ^ Gilbert 1991.
  14. ^ Chambers, Ian (2000). "Winston Churchill and Irish Home Rule, 1899‐1914*". Parliamentary History. 19 (3): 405–421. doi:10.1111/j.1750-0206.2000.tb00602.x. ISSN 0264-2824.
  15. ^ Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2021). Grace & steel: Dorothy, Barbara, Laura, and the women of the Bush dynasty (First ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1-250-24871-8.
  16. ^ Bartlett, J. Gardner (1911). Robert Coe, Puritan. Published for private circulation. ISBN 9780598765826.
  17. ^ Churchill, Winston S. (29 August 2008). "Churchill's American Heritage". International Churchill Society. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  18. ^ Churchill, Randolph S. (1966). Winston S. Churchill: Volume One: Youth, 1874–1900. Hillsdale, Michigan: Hillsdale College Press. pp. 13–16. ISBN 978-09-16308-08-7.
  19. ^ General Register Office. "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837–2008". FamilySearch. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved 27 September 2015. Diana Churchill, 1909; St. George Hanover Square, London, England
  20. ^ General Register Office. "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837–2007". FamilySearch. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved 27 September 2015. Diana S Churchill, 1963; Westminster, London, England
  21. ^ "England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837–2005". FamilySearch. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved 27 September 2015. Diana S Churchill John M Bailey 1932;St. George Hanover Square, London, England
  22. ^ General Register Office. "England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837–2005". FamilySearch. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved 27 September 2015. Diana Churchill and Edwin D Sandys, 1935;London City, London, England
  23. ^ General Register Office. "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837–2008". FamilySearch. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved 27 September 2015. Randolph F E Spencer-Churchill, 1911;St. George Hanover Square, London, England. Mother's maiden name Hozier
  24. ^ General Register Office. "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837–2007". FamilySearch. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved 27 September 2015. Randolph F E S Churchill, 1968; Samford, Suffolk, England
  25. ^ General Register Office. "England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837–2005". FamilySearch. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved 27 September 2015. Randolph F E S Churchill and Pamela B Digby, 1939; Westminster St. Margaret, London, England
  26. ^ General Register Office. "England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837–2005". FamilySearch. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved 27 September 2015. Randolph F E S Churchill and June Osborne, 1948;Westminster, London, England
  27. ^ General Register Office. "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837–2008". FamilySearch. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved 29 September 2015. Sarah M H Churchill, 1914; St. Martin, London, England. Mother's maiden name Hozier
  28. ^ "Together at last". International Churchill Society. 27 February 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  29. ^ "Celia Sandys – granddaughter and expert on Winston Churchill". Celia Sandys. Retrieved 10 October 2014.

Sources