Jane Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (1798–1844)

Jane Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (29 March 1798 – 12 October 1844), formerly Lady Jane Stewart, was the first wife of George Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke of Marlborough.

Jane was the daughter of George Stewart, 8th Earl of Galloway, and his wife, the former Lady Jane Paget,[1] and was the first cousin of George Spencer-Churchill, whose mother had been Jane's father's sister.

She married the duke, then Marquess of Blandford, on 13 January 1819. It was the future duke's first legal marriage, though he had previously gone through a false marriage ceremony (with his brother, Lord Charles Spencer-Churchill, playing the role of clergyman) and had then lived as husband and wife in Scotland with the 16-year-old Susannah Adelaide Law, which might have made the marriage legal under Scottish law. Blandford had successfully contested the matter in court, even though she had a child by him. His mother was obliged to pay Susannah an allowance in order to prevent her making public his letters.[2] He had also had an affair with Elizabeth Conyngham, Marchioness Conyngham.[3]

They had four children:

Blandford inherited his father's dukedom in 1840.

The duchess died at Blenheim Palace, aged 46. The duke remarried a further twice, with more children from each marriage.[4]

References
  1. G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume VIII, page 501.
  2. A. L. Rowse, The Later Churchills. London: Macmillan, 1958, page 203
  3. "SPENCER CHURCHILL, George, mq. of Blandford (1793-1857)". History of Parliament. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  4. "Marlborough Family Tree". Blenheim Palace. Archived from the original on 29 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
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