Lord Randolph Churchill

British politician, father of Winston Churchill (1849-1895)

Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill (13 February 1849 – 24 January 1895) was Winston Churchill's father. He was a son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough.


Lord Randolph Churchill
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office
3 August 1886 – 22 December 1886
Prime MinisterThe Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded byWilliam Vernon Harcourt
Succeeded byGeorge Goschen
Leader of the House of Commons
In office
3 August 1886 – 14 January 1887
Prime MinisterThe Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded byWilliam Ewart Gladstone
Succeeded byWilliam Henry Smith
Secretary of State for India
In office
24 June 1885 – 28 January 1886
Prime MinisterThe Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded byThe Earl of Kimberley
Succeeded byThe Earl of Kimberley
Personal details
Born
Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill

13 February 1849
Belgravia, London, England
Died24 January 1895(1895-01-24) (aged 45)
Westminster, London, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)
(m. 1874)
ChildrenSir Winston Spencer-Churchill
John Spencer-Churchill
ParentsJohn Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough
Lady Frances Anne Vane
EducationCheam School
Eton College
Alma materMerton College, Oxford
ProfessionPolitician

He was a leading British Tory politician.[1] Churchill was a Tory radical who coined the term One-nation conservatism.[2]

He inspired a generation of party managers and created the National Union of the Conservative Party. He broke new ground in modern budgetary presentations. He got admiration and criticism from across the political spectrum. His disloyalty to Lord Salisbury was the beginning of the end of what might have been a glittering career. His elder son, Winston, wrote a biography of him in 1906.[3]

Medical condition and early death

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Churchill died early, suffering from a disease.[4] That disease was either syphilis or a brain tumour or even multiple sclerosis.

It is definitely the case that he was treated for syphilis, and it has been suggested that he was suffering from symptoms of the mercury-based medication.[5] The Churchills' family doctor in the 1880s had written about syphilis. He referred Randolph to the specialist Thomas Buzzard, and continued to prescribe potassium iodide and mercury.[5]

Sources

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  • Churchill, Winston C. 1906. Lord Randolph Churchill. 2 vols, Macmillan, London.
  • Rosebery, Lord 1906. Lord Randolph Churchill.
  • Cornwallis-West, Mrs 1908. The reminiscences of Lady Randolph Churchill.
  • Jennings, Louis J. 1889. Speeches of Lord Randolph Churchill 1880–88. 2 vols.

References

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  1. "Lord Randolph Churchill | British politician". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  2. Quinault, R.E. (1979). "Lord Randolph Churchill and Tory Democracy, 1880–1885". The Historical Journal. 22 (1): 141–165. doi:10.1017/S0018246X0001671X. ISSN 0018-246X.
  3. Churchill, Winston C. 1906. Lord Randolph Churchill. 2 vols, Macmillan, London.
  4. Quinault, Roland. "Churchill, Lord Randolph Henry Spencer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5404. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. 5.0 5.1 Foster, R. F. (1988). Lord Randolph Churchill: a political life. p. 218.