Victor Spencer, 1st Viscount Churchill

The Viscount Churchill
Major The Right Honourable; The Viscount Churchill; GCVO JP
	The Viscount Churchill by Leslie Ward, 1904.
Lord-in-waiting
	In office; 1889–1892
Preceded by	The Earl of Hopetoun
Succeeded by	The Lord Playfair
	In office; 1895–1905
Preceded by	The Lord Camoys
Succeeded by	The Lord Denman
Personal details
Born	Victor Albert Francis Charles Spencer; 23 October 1864
Died	3 January 1934 (aged 69)
Spouse(s)	Lady Verena Maud Lowther; Christine McRae Sinclair

Major Victor Albert Francis Charles Spencer, 1st Viscount Churchill GCVO JP (23 October 1864 – 3 January 1934), known as the Hon. Victor Albert Spencer until 1886 and as The Lord Churchill between 1886 and 1902, was a British peer and courtier.

Background

Spencer was born at 32, Albemarle Street, London, the son of Francis Spencer, 2nd Baron Churchill, and his wife Jane. He was a Page of Honour to Queen Victoria from 1876 to 1881, and in 1886 he succeeded to his father's title of Baron Churchill.

Educated at Eton College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, he was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards[1] in 1884 as a lieutenant, staying in the Guards until 1889.[2] He was a colonel in the Home Defense from 1915 to 1918.[2]

For Edward VII's coronation he served as Lord Chamberlain, and at the coronation of Edward's successor, George V, he was Master of the Robes.[2] He was acting Master of the Buckhounds between 1900 and 1901 during the tenure of Charles Cavendish, the office holder, while Cavendish was in South Africa.[2][3]

Political career

Spencer was a Lord in Waiting from 1889 to 1892 and 1895 to 1905 in both of Salisbury's governments and was created Viscount Churchill, of Rolleston, in the County of Leicester, on 15 July 1902[4] (it had already been announced in the Coronation Honours list the previous month that he would be created a Viscount[5]).

Business career

He was chairman and director of several transport companies, including the Great Western Railway 1908-34 and was the longest serving chairman of the company.[1] He was also a director of the British India Steamship Company, P&O and the Grand Union Canal.[2]

Honours

British honours

GCVO: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order – 9 November 1902 – 1902 Birthday Honours list, invested by King Edward VII at Sandringham House the same day.[6][7]

Foreign honours

Kingdom of Prussia: Knight 1st class of the Order of the Crown - 1899 - in connection with the visit of Emperor Wilhelm II to the United Kingdom.[8]
The Red Eagle of the Kingdom of Prussia[2]
The Order of the Crown of Italy[2]
The Order of the Redeemer of Greece[2]
The Order of Jesus Christ of Portugal[2]

Family

Lord Churchill married Lady Verena Maud Lowther, daughter of Henry Lowther, 3rd Earl of Lonsdale, at Cottesmore, Rutland, on 1 January 1887. They had four children.[1] When she wished to divorce Lord Churchill, King Edward forbade it, to avoid a scandal among his social circle. Instead she disappeared in 1909 taking their son, aged 19, and two daughters, aged 13 and 8, with her. Lord Churchill placed an anonymous advertisement seeking information about his family's whereabouts, but the scandal soon became public. In 1927 he obtained a divorce on the grounds of desertion.[2][9] Churchill married as his second wife Christine McRae Sinclair. They had two children. He died of pneumonia on 3 January 1934.[1]

gollark: As someone on mobile I cannot see the top of the screen.

gollark: Odd.

gollark: 🌵

gollark: Hi.

gollark: We should only *support* `node.lua` users.

References

"Great Western Chairmen". The Great Western Archive. John Daniel. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
"LORD CHURCHILL, 69, DIES OF PNEUMONIA; Made Viscount in 1902, He Was Victoria's Godson and Lord-in~Waitingto 3 Rulers. EXECUTIVE OF RAILROAD Chairman of the Great Western Railway Was Banker and Ship Company Director". The New York Times. 4 January 1934. p. 19. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
"No. 27243". The London Gazette. 2 November 1900. p. 6689.
"No. 27455". The London Gazette. 18 July 1902. p. 4586.
"The Coronation Honours". The Times (36804). London. 26 June 1902. p. 5.
"No. 27493". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 November 1902. pp. 7161–7163.
"Court Circular". The Times (36922). London. 11 November 1902. p. 10.
"Court Circular". The Times (36068). London. 17 February 1900. p. 11.
"Lady Churchill leaving her husband in 1909. - Newspapers.com". Los Angeles Times. 12 December 1909. p. 1. Retrieved 31 March 2018 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Viscount Churchill

Court offices
Preceded by Victor Biddulph	Page of Honour 1876–1881	Succeeded by Percy Cust
Preceded by The Lord Chesham	His Majesty's Representative at Ascot 1901–1934	Succeeded by The Lord Hamilton of Dalzell
Political offices
Preceded by The Earl of Hopetoun	Lord-in-waiting 1889–1892	Succeeded by The Lord Playfair
Preceded by The Lord Camoys	Lord-in-waiting 1895–1892	Succeeded by The Lord Denman
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Viscount Churchill 1902–1934	Succeeded by Victor Spencer
Preceded by Francis Spencer	Baron Churchill 1886–1934	Succeeded by Victor Spencer

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[greatwestern-1] "Great Western Chairmen". The Great Western Archive. John Daniel. Retrieved 5 April 2017.

[:0-2] "LORD CHURCHILL, 69, DIES OF PNEUMONIA; Made Viscount in 1902, He Was Victoria's Godson and Lord-in~Waitingto 3 Rulers. EXECUTIVE OF RAILROAD Chairman of the Great Western Railway Was Banker and Ship Company Director". The New York Times. 4 January 1934. p. 19. Retrieved 30 March 2018.

[3] "No. 27243". The London Gazette. 2 November 1900. p. 6689.

[4] "No. 27455". The London Gazette. 18 July 1902. p. 4586.

[5] "The Coronation Honours". The Times (36804). London. 26 June 1902. p. 5.

[6] "No. 27493". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 November 1902. pp. 7161–7163.

[7] "Court Circular". The Times (36922). London. 11 November 1902. p. 10.

[8] "Court Circular". The Times (36068). London. 17 February 1900. p. 11.

[9] "Lady Churchill leaving her husband in 1909. - Newspapers.com". Los Angeles Times. 12 December 1909. p. 1. Retrieved 31 March 2018 – via Newspapers.com.