Lord Charles Spencer-Churchill (3 December 1794 – 28 April 1840) was a British army officer and politician. He was the second son of

George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough FSA (6 March 1766 – 5 March 1840), styled Marquess of Blandford until 1817, was a British nobleman, politician, peer, and collector of antiquities and books. He was the first one to specifi ...

and Lady Susan Stewart, daughter of

John Stewart, 7th Earl of Galloway John Stewart, 7th Earl of Galloway, (13 March 1736 – 13 November 1806), styled Viscount Garlies from 1747 until 1773, was a British peer who became the 7th Earl of Galloway in 1773 and served as a Member of Parliament from 1761 to 1773. Early ...

Life and career

Spencer-Churchill entered the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in 1811, and he served in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He transferred from the 85th Foot to the 75th Foot as a

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in 1824. He purchased a

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

cy in 1827 and sold his commission in 1832. From 1818 until 1820, he also represented

St. Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman r ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

. He married Ethelred Catherine Benett on 24 August 1827 and had three children: * Susan Spencer-Churchill (d. 2 February 1898), married the Rev. and Hon. John Horatio Nelson, son of

Thomas Nelson, 2nd Earl Nelson Thomas Nelson, 2nd Earl Nelson, born Thomas Bolton (7 July 1786 – 1 November 1835), was the 2nd Earl Nelson. He was the son of Thomas Bolton of Wells, Norfolk, and Susannah Nelson, daughter of the Rev. Edmund Nelson. He was educated at Norwich ...

, and had issue * Lt.-Col. Charles Henry Spencer-Churchill (27 May 1828 – 3 April 1877), married in 1862 to Rosalie Lowther, daughter of the Reverend Gorges Paulin Lowther * Etheldreda Catherine Spencer-Churchill (15 June 1829 - 24 October 1881) * Lucy Caroline Spencer-Churchill (29 January 1832 - 13 March 1904), married in 1880 to Rev. John Fletcher Dixon-Stewart, uncle of Rowena, Duchess of Somerset. * John Kemys George Thomas Spencer-Churchill (27 December 1835 – 9 August 1913), married Edith Maxwell Lockhart, aunt of the novelist

Jean Rhys Jean Rhys, ( ; born Ella Gwendolyn Rees Williams; 24 August 1890 – 14 May 1979) was a British novelist who was born and grew up in the Caribbean island of Dominica. From the age of 16, she mainly resided in England, where she was sent for he ...

Spencer-Churchill was returned to Parliament in 1830 as member for the family borough of

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...

, but went out in 1832 when the representation of that borough was reduced by the

Great Reform Act The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...

. He replaced his elder brother, the

Marquess of Blandford A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman w ...

, in 1835, but having joined the Whigs was defeated in the election of 1837. Lord Charles was previously a

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

and, unlike his brother, did not support Reform.''Gentleman's Magazine'', August 1840, p. 205

References

* *F W S Craig, ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885'' (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)

External links

* 1794 births 1840 deaths Charles Spencer-Churchill King's Shropshire Light Infantry officers Gordon Highlanders officers British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Tory MPs (pre-1834) UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1835–1837 Younger sons of dukes {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1790s-stub