SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL’S WILDERNESS YEARS

CHARTING CHURCHILL, 1874 – 1965

Part 4, The Wilderness Years, 1929 – 1939

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

The previous post marked the end of Part 4, The Wilderness Years, 1929 – 1939. During this time, Sir Winston Churchill’s political career was at a stand still; he continued to serve as the Member of Parliament for Epping, but for ten long years he was not a member of the cabinet. Photographs featured in Part 4, The Wilderness Years, 1929 – 1939 can be reviewed below.

To view the photographs from Part 1, The Early Years, 1874 – 1892; Part 2, The Defining Years, 1892 – 1908; and Part 3, The Political Years, 1908 – 1929, please visit the Haute Vitrine posts of November 30th through December 31st 2014.

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

Marlborough Room, Royal Military College, Sandhurst 2014

Royal Albert Hall, London 2014

11 Morpeth Mansions, London 2014

Berry Bros. & Rudd, 3 St. James’s Street, London 2014

Brick Wall at Chartwell, Westerham 2014

Sundial at Chartwell, Westerham 2014

Turnbull & Asser, 71-72 Jermyn Street, London 2014

Round Tower, Windsor Castle, Windsor 2014

Westminster Abbey, London 2014

Admiralty Citadel, Horse Guards Parade, London 2014

The images featured above are part of the limited edition collector’s portfolio created by Leslie Hossack. She presents locations that chart Sir Winston Churchill’s personal and political life, from his birth at Blenheim Palace in 1874 until his death in London in 1965. To read the stories behind these images, 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: Berry Bros. & Rudd, Wine Merchants, 3 St. James’s Street, London

Berry Bros. & Rudd, Wine Merchants, 3 St. James’s Street, London 2014

It is well known that Winston Churchill enjoyed the finer things in life, although his taste for luxuries generally exceeded his budget. He was particularly fond of champagne, preferring Pol Roger. In 1938, he ordered 108 bottles of the 1921 vintage from John Fenton & Co. Wine Merchant.

Shown above is Berry Bros. & Rudd Wine Merchants, located at 3 St. James’s Street. Although Churchill would have known about this establishment, he did not patronize them. However, in their archives is a telegram, dated December 2nd 1950, that was sent from Winston to Pug (Lord Ismay, Churchill’s chief military assistant during World War II). It reads: LORD ISMAY WORMINGTON GRANGE BORADWAY WORCS; THANK YOU SO MUCH MY DEAR PUG FOR YOUR LOVELY ELEPHANT = WINSTON. An elephant was a large refillable bottle of Cognac, which Lord Ismay (Pug) used to get refilled at Berry Bros & Rudd.

At the Churchill Society International Convention in London in August 1989, Dr. Maurice Ashley gave an address called As I Knew Him: Churchill in the Wilderness. Ashley remarked: Much has been written about Churchill’s own drinking habits. When I used to visit him in the morning at a flat he had in Morpeth Mansions near Victoria, he always greeted me with a glass of sherry. He could not stand cocktails. For lunch there was beer, at tea he had whisky. But his whisky and sodas were pretty mild… He is reputed once to have said, “I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.” Dr. Ashley also noted that at Chartwell, Churchill had sherry before dinner, followed by champagne, brandy and port.

Referencing a quote by Napoleon, Churchill himself said: “I cannot live without champagne; in victory I deserve it; in defeat I need it.”

The image featured above is part of the limited edition collector’s portfolio created by Leslie Hossack. She presents locations that chart Sir Winston 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: 11 Morpeth Mansions, London

11 Morpeth Mansions, London 2014

Winston and Clementine Churchill moved their young family from one home to another countless times. In June 1929, when Churchill resigned as Chancellor of the Exchequer, the family moved out of the official residence at 11 Downing Street and lived in a number of London flats and even a hotel. Chartwell, their country home in Kent, was a welcome alternative when Winston’s schedule did not require the family to be in the city.

Late in 1931, the Churchills moved into 11 Morpeth Mansions with their four children: Diana, Randolph, Sarah and Mary. Here they would live until the end of the decade. In 1939, Winston would leave his Wilderness Years behind him when he was once again appointed First Lord of the Admiralty and the family was ensconced in Admiralty House, his official residence.

In December 1931, at about the same time as the family moved into Morpeth Mansions, Churchill set off on a lecture tour of North American. In New York City, his first stop, he was hit by a car on Fifth Avenue and almost died. Winston, Clementine and Diana sailed for Nassau where he spent a month recuperating.

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

Charting Churchill: Royal Albert Hall, London

Royal Albert Hall, London 2014

During his Wilderness Years, from 1929 to 1939, Winston Churchill did a great deal of writing; he made a very good living with his pen. His work appeared in many newspapers and magazines, and in 1930 he published My Early Life, an autobiography covering the years from his birth in 1874 to his marriage in 1908. In 1931, he published The Eastern Front, the final volume of The World Crisis, a series examining World War I. Also in 1931, Churchill published a collection of speeches entitled India.

Churchill spoke out against his party’s support for the India Act. On March 18th 1931, he made a speech entitled Our Duty to India at Royal Albert Hall. This was just one of many occasions when Churchill took to the stage at Albert Hall; in fact, he made 16 appearances there between 1911 and 1959. In 1911, when he was Home Secretary, Churchill attended the Shakespeare Memorial Ball along with Prime Minister Herbert Asquith. One of his most famous speeches at Royal Albert Hall was delivered on November 23rd 1944, American Thanksgiving Day, when he stood under a huge image of Abraham Lincoln and gave thanks to the United States for their support in the war effort.

Years later, on November 30th 1954, Royal Albert Hall was the venue for a concert celebrating Churchill’s 80th birthday. To this day, Albert Hall continues to host ‘Churchill Songs’ concerts for students from Harrow School. Shown above as it appeared in 2014, the Royal Albert Hall was opened in 1871 by Queen Victoria and dedicated to her deceased husband Prince Albert. Now it is best known as the venue of the Proms concerts that have been held there every summer since 1941.

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

Charting Churchill: The Marlborough Room, Royal Military College, Sandhurst

Marlborough Room, Royal Military College, Sandhurst 2014

At the beginning of 1929, Winston Churchill’s political career appeared to be at its zenith. However, Stanley Baldwin’s government was defeated in May, and Churchill resigned as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Thus began his “Wilderness Years.” Throughout this period, he continued to represent Epping in the House of Commons, but not as a member of the governing party. From the spring of 1929 until the spring of 1939, Churchill would not hold a cabinet post.

In August 1929, Winston set out on a North American tour with his son Randolph, his brother Jack and his nephew Johnnie. The four travelled across Canada by train to Vancouver and Victoria. Churchill enjoyed the scenery en route and painted various sights, including Lake Louise. The group then travelled south to California. By the end of October, Churchill’s party had reached New York City where he observed the Wall Street Crash first hand. He himself lost £17,000, at a time when he could ill afford a financial set back.

Once again, Churchill would turn to writing as his main source of income. He received an advance of £20,000 for Marlborough, a book he wanted to write about his ancestor John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough. Winston had been born in Blenheim Palace, which was given to the 1st Duke of Marlborough in gratitude for his victory at the Battle of Blenheim in 1705.

Shown above is the Marlborough Room, Royal Military College, Sandhurst. This room, named after the 1st Duke, features a triptych on leather of the Battle of Blenheim, painted by Horensburg. Now the room is used as an officer cadet anteroom where one of the companies of cadets assembles. Winston Churchill was a cavalry cadet at Sandhurst from September 1893 to December 1894.

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