SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL’S POLITICAL YEARS

CHARTING CHURCHILL, 1874 – 1965

Part 3, The Political Years, 1908 – 1929

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 3, The Political Years, 1908 – 1929. During this time, Sir Winston Churchill’s political career was firmly established; he contested eleven elections and won seven; he held nine cabinet offices, including Chancellor of the Exchequer, and delivered five budget speeches. Photographs featured in Part 3, The Political Years can be reviewed below.

To view the photographs from Part 1, The Early Years, 1874 – 1892 and Part 2, The Defining Years, 1892 – 1908, please visit the Haute Vitrine posts of November 30th through December 20th, 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.

33 Eccleston Square, London 2014

Old Admiralty Building, Whitehall, London 2014

Admiralty Arch, The Mall, London 2014

The Cenotaph, Whitehall, London 2014

State Dining Room, Blenheim Palace, Woodstock 2014

The House at Chartwell, Westerham, Kent 2014

The Lake at Chartwell, Westerham, Kent 2014

The Goldfish Pool at Chartwell, Westerham, Kent 2014

11 Downing Street, London 2014

Horse Guards Parade, 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: 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.

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: Temple of Diana, Blenheim Palace

Temple of Diana, Blenheim Palace, Woodstock 2014

The years 1901 to 1908 were the foundation years of Winston Churchill’s adult life. These were extremely busy years; he worked hard and made many significant decisions in his professional, political and personal life. As he later reflected: “At Blenheim, I took two important decisions: to be born and to marry. I am happily content with the decisions I took on both occasions.” On August 11th, 1908, Winston proposed to Clementine Hozier in the Temple of Diana at Blenheim Palace, shown above.

That same month in 1908, Churchill was sworn into the Cabinet, as President of the Board of Trade. He had first taken his seat in the House of Commons in February 1901, and had launched his career as a parliamentarian with a maiden speech delivered from the seat his father had occupied when he resigned. Churchill left the Conservative Party in 1904 to join the Liberals, and he was appointed Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1905. In 1906, he was elected Liberal M.P. for Manchester Northwest. He was subsequently defeated there in a 1908 by-election, but was elected M.P. for Dundee that same year.

Throughout all of these political changes and challenges, Winston was still busy writing. He published Mr. Brodrick’s Army (1903), Lord Randolph Churchill (1906), For Free Trade (1906) and My African Journey (1908). And last, but not least, he found time to fall in love with Clementine and win her hand in marriage. What characteristics of Winston eventually won her over? His “dominating charm and brilliancy” according to Churchill Trivia, The Churchill Centre.

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

Charting Churchill: Riding School, Blenheim Palace

Riding School, Blenheim Palace, Woodstock 2014

Winston Churchill’s grandmother, the Duchess of Marlborough, gave him a pony to ride during his frequent stays with her at Blenheim Palace. The photograph above shows the riding school at Blenheim as it appears today. In May 1882, seven-year-old Winston mentions the riding school and his pony, Robroy, in a letter to his mother.

“My Dear Mama I hope you are quite well when are you coming to Blenheim again Jack and I both want you very much please do come soon I rode Robroy to day round the Park and rode him all by myself in the school. with love and kisses From your loving Winston.”

The letter quoted here was part of a Library of Congress exhibition entitled: Churchill and The Great Republic. The original letter is housed in the Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge, U.K.

Young Winston often expressed a longing to spend more time with his mother, Lady Randolph. In his book My Early Years, Churchill wrote of his mother: “She shone for me like the Evening Star. I loved her dearly – but at a distance. My nurse was my confidante. Mrs. Everest it was who looked after me and tended to my wants.” Elizabeth Ann Everest was Winston’s beloved nanny whom he called Woomany. As a little boy, Winston had three significant women in his life: his nanny, his mother and his grandmother.

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

Charting Churchill: River Glyme, Blenheim Palace

River Glyme, Blenheim Palace, Woodstock 2014

Winston Churchill was sent to boarding school at the age of seven, and he missed his parents greatly. Even when he was home in London, Lord & Lady Randolph Churchill were frequently conspicuous in their absence, as they busily pursued their own social and political interests. Young Winston often spent school holidays with his grandparents at Blenheim Palace. There his paternal grandmother, Frances, 7th Duchess of Marlborough, took an active interest in his well-being and played a personal role in his upbringing.

On September 15th, 1883, Winston wrote to his mother from Blenheim. “My dear Mamma I hope you are quite well. I went out fishing today. I caught my first fish by myself. Jack and I are quite well. With love and kisses Winston.” That day, eight-year-old Winston was likely fishing in the Main Lake located just beyond the bend in the River Glyme pictured above. At that time, Winston was on holiday at Blenheim with his younger brother Jack and his twelve-year-old cousin Sunny. “Sunny” Marlborough was known as the Earl of Sunderland until 1883, the year this letter was written. Born Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, Sunny went on to become the 9th Duke of Marlborough and he remained a close lifelong friend of Sir Winston Churchill.

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

Charting Churchill: South Facade, Blenheim Palace

South Facade, Blenheim Palace, Woodstock 2014

As a small boy, Winston Churchill lived with his parents, Lord & Lady Randolph Churchill, and his baby brother Jack, at 29 St. James’s Place in the heart of London. Their townhouse was very close to Green Park, and not far from Hyde Park. These huge public parks provided Winston with expansive green spaces to explore close to home.

Away from home, Winston often visited his grandparents, the Duke & Duchess of Marlborough, at Blenheim Palace. Here was Winston’s preferred playground. Over 2,000 acres of private parks and gardens surrounded the palace. From Blenheim, Winston wrote to his mother: “The gardens and Park are so much nicer to walk in than the Green Park or Hyde Park.”

Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace in 1874. Today, Blenheim Palace, a World Heritage Site, is described by UNESCO as follows. “The Palace sits within a large walled landscape park, the structure by Vanbrugh overlaid by the designs of Lancelot “Capability” Brown from 1761 onwards. The design and building of the Palace between 1705 and 1722 represented the beginning of a new style of architecture and its landscaped Park, designed by Lancelot “Capability” Brown, is considered “a naturalistic Versailles.”

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

Sir Winston Churchill’s 140th Birthday

Sir Winston Churchill’s Birth Room, Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, 2014

Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born 140 years ago at Blenheim Palace on the 30th of November 1874. His father, Randolph Henry Spencer Churchill, was the Member of Parliament for Woodstock, and his mother was American Jennie Jerome.

When Winston was born, his parents were visiting his grandparents. Winston’s grandfather was the 7^thDuke of Marlborough; Blenheim Palace had been built to honour the 1^st Duke of Marlborough’s victory over the French in 1704.

Blenheim Palace had an enormous influence on Sir Winston Churchill during his long and remarkable life. In 1951 he wrote: “I am proud to be born at Blenheim.”

The image above shows Winston Churchill’s birth room at Blenheim Palace. It is the first in a series of photographs by Leslie Hossack that examines the extraordinary life of Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, from his birth in 1874 until his death in 1965.

Churchill became Prime Minister on May 10th, 1940, and he is widely regarded as the resolute, inspirational leader who saved western civilization from Nazi tyranny. He also achieved fame as a soldier, writer, orator and parliamentarian. In addition, he is known as a man who loved his family and the life of luxury.

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