Lord Ivor Charles Spencer-Churchill (14 October 1898 – 17 September 1956) was the younger son of the 9th Duke of Marlborough and his first wife, the former Consuelo Vanderbilt, an American railroad heiress. His elder brother, John, was the 10th Duke of Marlborough.

Early life

Lord Ivor Charles Spencer-Churchill was born on 14 October 1898. He was the second son of the 9th Duke of Marlborough and Consuelo Vanderbilt. In 1921, his parents

divorced Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving th ...

when he was 22 years old. His father later wed the former Gladys Deacon; while his mother went on to marry Col. Jacques Balsan. His mother was the only daughter and eldest child of William Kissam Vanderbilt, a New York railroad millionaire, and his first wife, the Mobile, Alabama born

Alva Erskine Smith Alva Erskine Belmont (née Smith; January 17, 1853 – January 26, 1933), known as Alva Vanderbilt from 1875 to 1896, was an American multi-millionaire socialite and women's suffrage activist. She was noted for her energy, intelligence, strong ...

(1853–1933), who later married Oliver Belmont. His mother's name was in honour of her godmother,

Consuelo Yznaga Consuelo Montagu, Duchess of Manchester (1853 – 20 November 1909), née María Francisca de la Consolación "Consuelo" Yznaga (also spelled Iznaga by some sources), was a Cuban American heiress who married George, Viscount Mandeville, in ...

(1853–1909), a half-Cuban, half-American socialite who created a social stir a year earlier when she married the fortune-hunting George, Viscount Mandeville. Spencer-Churchill was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

and Magdalen College, Oxford.

Career

He joined the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and d ...

in 1917, gaining the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

. He fought in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

and was decorated with the French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

. A conveyance dated 26 September 1930 documents the purchase of three parcels of land and premises known as Springhead situated along Mill Street at Fontmell Magna in the county of Dorset. Another conveyance dated 8 November 1934 documents Lord Ivor Churchill selling one of these parcels (31 Mill Street, a semi-detached cottage) to Henry Rolf Gardener (see Rolf Gardiner.)

Personal life

In 1923, he was rumored to have become engaged to Grace Vanderbilt, a distant cousin and the daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt III. On 15 November 1947, he married Elizabeth "Betty" Cunningham (1914–2010), the daughter of James Cyril Cunningham. Together, they had a son: *Robert William Charles Spencer-Churchill (born 1954), who in 1979 married Jeanne M. Maze, daughter of Etienne Maze and granddaughter of Paul Maze, a painter and friend of Winston Churchill. He developed an inoperable brain tumour and died in September 1956. He is buried beside his cousin, Sir Winston Churchill, and close to his mother at St Martin's Church, Bladon, near

Woodstock, Oxfordshire Woodstock is a market town and civil parish, north-west of Oxford in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 3,100. Blenheim Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is next to ...

Art collector

He was a famous art collector, especially interested by modern French painting, collecting paintings and organizing exhibitions like the Anglo-French Art & Travel Society's ''Exhibition of 19th Century French Painting'' (1–31 October 1936). He was in close relations with the English art dealer, Percy Moore Turner.D. Salmon, ''Le Saint Joseph charpentier de Georges de la Tour : un don au Louvre de Percy Moore Turner'', Gand : Snoeck, 2017.

Notes

Ancestry

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer-Churchill, Lord Ivor Charles 1898 births 1956 deaths Royal Army Service Corps officers British Army personnel of World War I Ivor Spencer-Churchill Younger sons of dukes Vanderbilt family Recipients of the Legion of Honour People educated at Eton College Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Deaths from brain cancer in England Burials at St Martin's Church, Bladon