Charting Churchill: The Lake at Chartwell

The Lake at Chartwell, Westerham, Kent 2014

By the beginning of the 1920s, Winston Churchill was firmly established in his career. He was a long-time member of the House of Commons and had held three cabinet posts: Secretary of State for War, January 9th 1919 to February 14th 1921; Secretary of State for Air, January 9th 1919 to April 1st 1921; and Secretary of State for the Colonies, February 14th 1921 to October 19th 1922.

However, 1921 was a very difficult year for the family. In January, Clementine’s grandmother, Blanche, the Countess of Airlie, died; in April, her brother, Bill Hozier, committed suicide; and in June, Winston’s mother, Jennie, Lady Randolph Churchill, died. Then, most tragically, Marigold, the Churchills’ two-year-old daughter, died in August of 1921.

A year later, in September 1922, Clementine gave birth to Mary, the Churchills’ last child, and Winston purchased Chartwell, a country home located 25 miles from London. This would remain his beloved retreat for over 40 years, until his death in 1965. At Chartwell, Winston indulged a variety of interests, including exotic butterflies, ornamental fish and black swans. He was actively involved in planning the many water features on the property, such as the lake, shown above. He loved roses and enjoyed the different varieties planted at Chartwell, and he personally built most of the brick walls surrounding the gardens. Bricklaying became another of Winston’s passions.

The image featured above is part of the limited edition collector’s portfolio created by Leslie Hossack to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Sir Winston Churchill. She presents locations that chart Churchill’s personal and political life, from his birth at Blenheim Palace in 1874 until his death in London in 1965. THE CHURCHILL PHOTOGRAPHS are part of Hossack’s larger body of work that explores Nazi architecture in Berlin, Stalinist structures in Moscow, contested sites in Jerusalem, a Cold War bunker in Ottawa, NATO’s Headquarter Camp in Kosovo, and buildings linked to the Japanese Canadian internment during World War II.

To view more photographs, please visit Leslie’s website. lesliehossack.com

Charting Churchill: The House at Chartwell

The House at Chartwell, Westerham, Kent 2014

The ten years from 1919 to 1929 were a roller coaster ride for Winston Churchill, both politically and personally. After being reelected in Dundee in December 1918, he lost three elections in a row in various ridings, on November 16th 1922, December 6th 1923, and March 19th 1924. From the time of his first election to the House of Commons in 1900, these were his only defeats. On October 29th 1924, he was elected in Epping and went on to win eight consecutive elections before retiring on October 14th 1964.

Winston’s personal life was equally chaotic. From 1915, when the Churchills moved out of Admiralty House, until 1924 when they moved into 11 Downing Street, the official residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the family lived in approximately ten different London homes, several of which were loaned to them by friends or shared with other family members. Also during that time, Winston bought and sold his first country home, Lullenden.

Personal tragedy struck in August 1921, when the Churchills’ two-year-old daughter, Marigold, died of an infection. A year later in September 1922, Mary was born, Winston and Clementine’s last child. Much later, Mary described herself as “the child of consolation.” That same month that she was born, Churchill purchased a country home, Chartwell, shown above. For the rest of his long life, both Mary and Chartwell would bring him great comfort and joy. Mary lived until 2014, when she died at age 91, a daughter of history.

To view more photographs, please visit Leslie’s website. lesliehossack.com

Charting Churchill: State Dining Room, Blenheim Palace

State Dining Room, Blenheim Palace, Woodstock 2014

Winston Churchill visited his grandparents at Blenheim Palace several times for Christmas. In December 1881, when he was seven years old, he wrote to his mother from Blenheim to thank her for his presents. On Christmas Day, perhaps the table in the state dining room looked as it does in the photograph above.

During Sir Winston Churchill’s lifetime (1874 – 1965) the stewardship of Blenheim Palace passed through four Dukes of Marlborough: Winston’s grandfather, John Winston Spencer-Churchill, the 7th Duke; Winston’s uncle, George Charles Spencer-Churchill, the 8th Duke; Winston’s cousin, Charles Richard John (Sunny) Spencer-Churchill, the 9th Duke; and Sunny’s son, John Albert William Spencer-Churchill, the 10th Duke.

In more recent times, John George Vanderbilt Henry Spencer-Churchill became the 11th Duke in 1972. He and his family lived at Blenheim Palace, but only used the state dining room once a year, on Christmas Day. He died in 2014, and was succeeded by his son, Charles James Spencer-Churchill, now the 12th Duke of Marlborough.

To view more photographs, please visit Leslie’s website. lesliehossack.com

Charting Churchill: The Cenotaph, Whitehall, London

The Cenotaph, Whitehall, London 2014

In 1915, Winston Churchill resigned as First Lord of the Admiralty, after the failure of the Dardanelles and Gallipoli campaigns that he had championed. He remained in the cabinet, in the lowly post of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He was somewhat despondent but soon, while at Hoe Farm, he took up painting, a pastime that would bring him pleasure for the rest of his life.

However, as always, Winston craved action. In November 1916, when he was a 42-year-old married man with three small children, he resigned from the cabinet and went to France to command the Royal Scots Fusiliers in the trenches. Here he seemed to be seeking solace and redemption. After six months, Churchill returned to London and the House of Commons, still representing Dundee. In July 1917 and in December 1918, he was again elected there.

The year 1918 marked the birth of the Churchills’ fourth child, Marigold Frances. It also signaled the end of Word War I on Armistice Day, November 11th 1918. During the conflict, the British Empire suffered over 1,00,000 military deaths. Fortunately, Winston was not one of them. The Cenotaph, shown above, was completed in 1919 and commemorated the losses during Word War I. Eventually, it was also consecrated to the memory of individuals who died during World War II. Over his long career of public service, in the military and in the House of Commons, Winston Churchill attended many memorial services at the Cenotaph on Whitehall.

To view more photographs, please visit Leslie’s website. lesliehossack.com

Charting Churchill: Admiralty Arch, London

Admiralty Arch, The Mall, London 2014

In October 1911, Winston Churchill was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. This was a cabinet post that he relished, and in many ways he had been preparing for it throughout his entire life. In this role, Churchill made many significant decisions in the years leading up to the outbreak of World War I, in August 1914. However, in 1915 he proposed the Dardanelles and Gallipoli campaigns that failed and ultimately lead to his resignation as First Lord of the Admiralty in May 1915.

In 1912, early in Churchill’s tenure at the Admiralty, construction of the Admiralty Arch was completed. King Edward VII commissioned the building in memory of his mother, Queen Victoria. The Latin inscription across the top reads: “In the tenth year of King Edward VII, to Queen Victoria, from most grateful citizens, 1910.” During Churchill’s time, Admiralty Arch contained offices and was connected to the Old Admiralty Building via a bridge that can be seen on the right side of the above photograph. To this day, Admiralty Arch provides a ceremonial entrance from Trafalgar Square onto The Mall and along to Buckingham Palace.

To view more photographs, please visit Leslie’s website. lesliehossack.com

Charting Churchill: The Old Admiralty Building, Whitehall, London

Old Admiralty Building, Whitehall, London 2014

Winston Churchill was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty on October 25th 1911. He was only 36 years old. This cabinet post brought added responsibilities, opportunities, challenges, influence and status. It also came with an official residence, Admiralty House, which was part of the massive Admiralty complex, seen above from Whitehall. In the spring of 1913, Winston and Clementine, along with their growing family, finally moved into Admiralty House where they lived until May 1915. Sarah Millicent Hermione, their third child, was born here on October 7th 1914, just two months after Great Britain declared war on Germany on August 14th 1914.

From 1911 to 1914, prior to the outbreak of World War I, Churchill worked hard to upgrade the Royal Navy and ready it for war. It was during this time that Winston developed his life-long love of aviation. He took flying lessons and earned the nicknamed The Flying First Lord. After some mishaps, he stopped flying himself, but he did establish the Royal Naval Air Service in preparation for war with Germany.

To view more photographs, please visit Leslie’s website. lesliehossack.com

Charting Churchill: 33 Eccleston Square, London

33 Eccleston Square, London 2014

After their marriage in September 1908, Winston and Clementine Churchill settled into Winston’s townhouse at 12 Bolton Street. However, a few months later, in the spring of 1909, they moved to a larger home at 33 Eccleston Square, shown above. Here their first child, Diana, was born in 1909. In the period of 11 short months, Winston had gone from being a bachelor, to a married man, to a father. In 1911, Churchill’s only son, Randolph, was born at 33 Eccleston Square, where the family lived until 1913.

In addition to these changes in Winston’s personal life, the five years from 1908 to 1913 saw changes in his professional and political life. In 1910, Churchill published The People’s Rights. He also won two elections that year, on January 18th and on December 8th. During the period 1908 to 1913, Winston held three important cabinet posts: President of the Board of Trade from April 12th 1908 until February 18th 1910; Secretary of State for the Home Department from February 14th 1910 until October 25th 1911; and First Lord of the Admiralty commencing October 25th 1911. Churchill, only 36 years old, was ecstatic. This post brought added responsibilities, opportunities, challenges, influence and status. It also came with an official residence. However, Winston and Clementine and the children would remain at 33 Eccleston Square until the spring of 1913 when they finally moved into Admiralty House.

To view more photographs, please visit Leslie’s website. lesliehossack.com

Charting Churchill: The Defining Years, 1892-1908

Part 2, The Defining Years, 1892 – 1908

On November 30th, 2014, Sir Winston Churchill’s 140th birthday, Haute Vitrine started publishing images from the series THE CHURCHILL PHOTOGRAPHS by Leslie Hossack.

Yesterday’s post marked the end of Part 2, The Defining Years, 1892–1908. During these years, Sir Winston Churchill defined himself as an adventurer, lecturer, journalist, author, Member of Parliament, cabinet minister, and married man. Photographs featured in Part 2, The Defining Years can be reviewed below.

To view the photographs from Part 1, The Early Years, 1874-1892, please visit the Haute Vitrine posts of November 30th through December 9th, 2014.

Leslie Hossack’s CHARTING CHURCHILL will continue into January 2015, the month that marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Sir Winston Churchill.

Portico, Old College, Royal Military College, Sandhurst 2014

Churchill Family Plot, Saint Martin’s Churchyard, Bladon 2014

Stable Court, Blenheim Palace, Woodstock 2014

Hatchard’s Bookseller, 187 Piccadilly, London 2014

James J. Fox Cigar Merchant, 19 St. James’s Street, London 2014

105 Mount Street, London 2014

Big Ben and House of Commons, Houses of Parliament, London 2014

Temple of Diana, Blenheim Palace, Woodstock 2014

Saint Margaret’s Church, Parliament Square, London 2014

12 Bolton Street, London 2014

The images featured above are part of the limited edition collector’s portfolio created by Leslie Hossack to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Sir Winston Churchill. She presents locations that chart Churchill’s personal and political life, from his birth at Blenheim Palace in 1874 until his death in London in 1965. To find out how these images are linked to Churchill, please see the previous posts here on Haute Vitrine.

THE CHURCHILL PHOTOGRAPHS are part of Hossack’s larger body of work that explores Nazi architecture in Berlin, Stalinist structures in Moscow, contested sites in Jerusalem, a Cold War bunker in Ottawa, NATO’s Headquarter Camp in Kosovo, and buildings linked to the Japanese Canadian internment during World War II.

To view more photographs, please visit Leslie’s website. lesliehossack.com

Charting Churchill: 12 Bolton Street, London

12 Bolton Street, London 2014

After living in a bachelor flat at 105 Mount Street from 1900 to 1905, Winston Churchill moved into the red brick townhouse at 12 Bolton Street, shown above. This was his residence when he married Clementine on September 12th, 1908. After their honeymoon in Italy, the newly wed couple returned to London and set up their first married home at 12 Bolton Street, not far from Green Park and the Ritz Hotel.

So began a marriage that lasted until Sir Winston Churchill’s death, more than 56 years later. Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill and Clementine Ogilvy Hozier had five children: Diana (1909 – 1963), Randolph Frederick Edward (1911 – 1968), Sarah Millicent Hermione (1914 – 1982), Marigold Frances (1918 – 1921), and Mary (1922 – 2014). They also had ten grandchildren: Winston (Randolph & Pamela Digby); Arabella (Randolph & June Osborne); Julian, Edwina and Celia (Diana & Duncan Sandys); Nicholas, Emma, Charlotte, Jeremy and Rupert (Mary and Christopher Soames).

Winston and Clementine had a long, loving and fruitful marriage. As Churchill once said: “My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.”

To view more photographs, please visit Leslie’s website. lesliehossack.com

Charting Churchill: Saint Margaret’s Church, Parliament Square, London

Saint Margaret’s Church, Parliament Square, London 2014

On September 12th, 1908, Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, age 33, married Clementine Ogilvy Hozier, age 23, in Saint Margaret’s Church, shown above. Saint Margaret’s, located right beside Westminster Abbey, is the Anglican parish church of the House of Commons. At the time of their marriage, Winston was a member of the Cabinet. The press had reported his engagement to Clementine a month earlier, and newspapers published a photograph of the newlyweds on their wedding day, en route to their reception at Lady St. Helier’s.

And so began a marriage that lasted 56 years, four months and 12 days. It is surely one of the most documented and examined relationships of all time, due to the volume of personal correspondence that survives. From the beginning, Winston and Clementine wrote letters to each constantly. Immediately after their engagement at Blenheim Palace, Clementine sent a note through the corridors to Winston. She signed off with the words: “Je t’aime passionément – I feel less shy in French. Clementine” It is difficult to know how many of the 20,589 days of their marriage the Churchills spent under the same roof; they were apart a great deal. However, they wrote to each other whether at home or away. Their notes often contained sketches of a pug dog and a pussy kat, referencing their pet names for each other.

Winston Churchill himself would later write, as the last line of his book My Early Life, “I married and lived happily ever afterwards.”

To view more photographs, please visit Leslie’s website. lesliehossack.com