John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough

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John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough : biography

26 May 1650 – 27 June 1722

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

  • 26 May 1650 – 21 December 1682: John Churchill, Esq.
  • 21 December 1682 – 9 April 1689: The Right Honourable The Lord Churchill of Eyemouth
  • 9 April 1689 – December 1702: The Right Honourable The Earl of Marlborough
  • December 1702 – 16 June 1722: His Grace The Duke of Marlborough
    • in the Holy Roman Empire: 18 November 1705 – ??? 1714: His Serene Highness The Prince of Mindelheim
    • in the Holy Roman Empire: ??? 1714 – 16 June 1722: His Serene Highness The Prince of Mellenburg

Arms

Ancestors

Notes

Early life (1650–78)

Ashe House

At the end of the English Civil War Lady Eleanor Drake was joined at her Devon home, Ashe House in the parish of Musbury, by her third daughter Elizabeth, and Elizabeth’s husband, Winston Churchill. Unlike his mother-in-law who had supported the Parliamentary cause, Winston had had the misfortune of fighting on the losing side of the war – for which he, like so many other Cavaliers, was forced to pay recompense; in his case £446 18s.Churchill: Marlborough: His Life and Times, Bk. 1, 27. Churchill insists that the often recorded fine of £4446 18s was a misprint in Hutchin’s History of Dorset, 1774. This huge figure was subsequently, and erroneously repeated by other Marlborough biographers including Coxe. Although Winston had paid off the fine by 1651, it had impoverished the ex-Royalist cavalry captain whose motto Fiel Pero Desdichado (Faithful but Unfortunate) is still today used by his descendants.

Winston and Elizabeth Churchill had at least nine children, only five of whom survived infancy.Holmes: Marlborough: England’s Fragile Genius, 42. Winston, Henry, Jasper, and Mountjoy all died in infancy. Theobald died in 1685 The eldest daughter, Arabella, was born on 28 February 1649;Churchill: Marlborough: His Life and Times, Bk. 1, 30. Sources vary as to the year Arabella was born: Holmes states 1647, Gregg 1648. the eldest son, John, was born on 26 May 1650 (O.S.). They had two younger brothers: George (1654–1710), who later became an admiral in the Royal Navy; and Charles (1656–1714), who became a general and later served on campaign in Europe with John. However, little is known of John Churchill’s childhood for he himself tells us nothing of it, but growing up in these impoverished conditions at Ashe, with family tensions soured by conflicting allegiances, may have had a lasting impression on the young Churchill. His father’s namesake, and John Churchill’s biographer and descendant, Sir Winston Churchill, asserted – "[The conditions at Ashe] might well have aroused in his mind two prevailing impressions: First a hatred of poverty … and secondly, the need of hiding thoughts and feelings from those to whom their expression would be repugnant."Churchill: Marlborough: His Life and Times, Bk. 1, 31

After the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660 the elder Churchill’s fortunes took a turn for the better, although he remained far from prosperous.Barnett: Marlborough, 60 In 1661, Winston became Member of Parliament for Weymouth, and as a mark of royal favour he received rewards for losses incurred fighting against the Parliamentarians during the civil war, including the appointment as a Commissioner for Irish Land Claims in Dublin in 1661. When Winston departed for Ireland the following year, John enrolled at the Dublin Free School; but by 1664, following his father’s recall to the position of Junior Clerk Comptroller of the King’s Household at Whitehall, John had transferred his studies to St Paul’s School in London. The King’s own penury meant the old Cavaliers received scant financial reward, but the prodigal monarch could offer something which would cost him nothing – positions at court for their progeny. Thus in 1665 Arabella became Maid of Honour to Anne Hyde, the Duchess of York. Some months later Arabella’s brother John joined her at court, serving as page to Anne’s husband, James, Duke of York,Chandler: Marlborough as Military Commander, 5 the brother of the King.