Lt-Gen Charles Churchill, MP

Family and Education b. c.1679, illegit. s. of Gen. Charles Churchill, M.P., bro. of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. unm., 1s.

Offices Held

Ensign 3 Ft. 1688, capt. 1697; capt. and lt.-col. 2 Ft. Gds. 1704; a.-d.-c. to his fa. at Blenheim; maj. 3 Ft. 1706; brevet-col. 1707; col. regt. of Ft. (aft. Marines) 1709-14; col. regt. of Drags. 1715-17; col. 10 Drags. 1723-d.; brig.-gen. 1727; maj.-gen. 1735; lt.-gen. 1739.

Groom of the bedchamber to George II as Prince of Wales and King 1718-d.; gov. Chelsea Hospital 1720-2; gov. Plymouth 1722-d.; dep. ranger, St. James’s Park, 1739-d.

Biography ‘A worthy and good-natured, friendly and honourable man, who had lived Sir Robert Walpole’s intimate friend for many years, and through all the different stages of his power and retirement, prosperity and disgrace’, Churchill was returned by Walpole for Castle Rising in 1715, followed him into opposition in 1717, stood by him when he was expected to fall in 1727, and was one of the bodyguard of friends who escorted him through the anti-excise mob in 1733.1 He voted consistently with the Walpole and Pelham Administrations till his death, 14 May 1745.

According to Horace Walpole, Churchill

professed never having read a whole book through in his life, and his letters were so ill wrote and so ill spelled that Sir Robert Walpole used to keep them unread till he saw him, and then he often could not read them himself.2 Nevertheless he had a great reputation as a wit.

Last session on some great question Churchill came to vote, though lame on crutches. The Prince of Wales met him - ‘So, Mr. Churchill, I see even the lame and the blind come to vote’ - ‘Yes, Sir, the lame of our side, and the blind of theirs.’3 Hanbury Williams sums up his life:

None led through youth a gayer life than he, Cheerful in converse, smart in repartee. Sweet was his night, and joyful was his day, He dined with Walpole, and with Oldfield lay; But with old age its vices came along, And in narration he’s extremely long; Exact in circumstance, and nice in dates, On every subject he his tale relates.4 Illegitimate himself, he left a considerable fortune, derived from offices worth £4,800 a year,5 to his illegitimate son by Anne Oldfield, Charles, who married Walpole’s illegitimate daughter.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754 Author: Romney R. Sedgwick Notes 1. Hervey, Mems. 18, 28, 164. 2. Corresp. H. Walpole (Yale ed.), xxx. 289 n. 13. 3. Walpole to Lincoln, 13 Oct. 1741. 4. Works, i. 75-76. 5. Gent. Mag. 1739, p. 304.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Churchill_(governor)

Lieutenant General Charles Churchill (1679 - 14 May 1745) was a British Army General and a Member of Parliament.

Born the natural son of General Charles Churchill (1656–1714) and the nephew of the 1st Duke of Marlborough, Churchill spent his early career in the British Army during the War of the Spanish Succession and was then Member of Parliament for Castle Rising from 1715 to 1745.

He was despatched to Vienna in 1721 on a mission to secure the release of a "Mr Knight" who was being held in the Citadel of Antwerp. In 1727 he was promoted to Brigadier and appointed a Groom of the Bedchamber[4] and in 1728 King George II and Queen Caroline inspected his Regiment of Dragoons.

He was also Governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea from 1720 until 1722.

He was also Governor of Plymouth.

He had a relationship with Anne Oldfield, an English actress, by whom he had a son.

Lieutenant General Charles Churchill (1679 - 14 May 1745) was a British Army General and a Member of Parliament.

Career

Born the natural (illegitimate) son of Elizabeth Dodd and General Charles Churchill (1656–1714) and so the nephew of the 1st Duke of Marlborough, Churchill spent his early career in the British Army during the War of the Spanish Succession and was then Member of Parliament for Castle Rising from 1715 to 1745.

He was despatched to Vienna in 1721 on a mission to secure the release of a "Mr Knight" who was being held in the Citadel of Antwerp. In 1727 he was promoted to Brigadier and appointed a Groom of the Bedchamber and in 1728 King George II and Queen Caroline inspected his Regiment of Dragoons.

He was also Governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea from 1720 until 1722. and Governor of Plymouth.

Family

Churchill had a relationship with Anne Oldfield, an English actress, by whom he had an illegitimate son, Charles Churchill (of Chalfont). Charles (d 1745) also had an illegitimate daughter, Harriet, whose mother is unknown. Harriet married Sir Everard Fawkener and, later, Thomas Pownall.