Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Victor Albert Francis Charles Spencer, 1st Viscount Churchill (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. He was from the

Spencer family The Spencer family is an Aristocracy (class), aristocratic British family. From the 16th century, its members have held numerous titles, including the dukedom of Marlborough, the earldoms of Earl of Sunderland, Sunderland and Earl Spencer (title) ...

Early life

Spencer was born at 32,

Albemarle Street Albemarle Street is a street in Mayfair in central London, off Piccadilly. It has historic associations with George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, Lord Byron, whose publisher John Murray (publishing house), John Murray was based here, and Oscar ...

, London, the son of Francis Spencer, 2nd Baron Churchill, and his wife Jane (''née'' Conyngham). He was a Page of Honour to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

from 1876 to 1881, and in 1886 he succeeded to his father's title of Baron Churchill. He was a grandson of Francis Spencer, 1st Baron Churchill.''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage,'' 100th Edn, London, 1953. Educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

, he was commissioned into the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

in 1884 as a lieutenant, staying in the Guards until 1889.

Career

On 12 July 1905 he was commissioned as a

in the part-time Oxfordshire Imperial Yeomanry (Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars), which his father and grandfather had commanded, and in which several of his Spencer-Churchill kinsmen also served. He was later a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Territorial Army Reserve and served as a temporary

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in Home Defence from 1915 to 1918. For Edward VII's coronation he served as lord chamberlain, and at the coronation of George V, he was Master of the Robes. He was acting

Master of the Buckhounds The Master of the Buckhounds (or Master of the Hounds) was an officer in the Master of the Horse's department of the British Royal Household. The holder was also His/Her Majesty's Representative at Ascot. The role was to oversee a hunting pack; a ...

between 1900 and 1901 during the tenure of Charles Cavendish, the office holder, while Cavendish was in South Africa. 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 (it had already been announced in the Coronation Honours list the previous month that he would be created a Viscount).

Business career

He was chairman and director of several

transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

companies, including the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

1908–34 and was the longest serving chairman of the company. He was also a director of the British India Steamship Company, P&O and the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmi ...

Personal life

Lord Churchill married Lady Verena Maud Lowther, daughter of

Henry Lowther, 3rd Earl of Lonsdale Henry Lowther, 3rd Earl of Lonsdale (27 March 1818 – 15 August 1876) was a British nobleman and Conservative politician. Early life Lowther was born on 27 March 1818. He was the eldest son of Hon. Henry Cecil Lowther and Lady Lucy Sherard ...

, at Cottesmore, Rutland, on 1 January 1887. They had four children: * Hon. Victor Almeric Lancelot Spencer (1888–1888), who died young. * Victor Alexander Spencer, 2nd Viscount Churchill (1890–1973), who married Katherine Emily Beaven, daughter of

Robert Beaven Robert Beaven (January 20, 1836 – September 18, 1920), son of James Beaven, was a British Columbia politician and businessman. Beaven moved to British Columbia from Toronto, where he had been educated at Upper Canada College, because o ...

, 6th

Premier of British Columbia The premier of British Columbia is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian province of British Columbia. Until the early 1970s, the title ''prime minister of British Columbia'' was often used. The word ''premier'' is derived ...

, in 1916. After her death, he married Joan Black, daughter of Joseph Baron Black, in 1949. * Hon. Victoria Ivy Louise Spencer (1897–1946), who married Capt. Hon. Cecil Henry Brassey, son of Maj. Henry Brassey, 1st Baron Brassey, and Lady Violet Gordon-Lennox (daughter of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 7th Duke of Richmond), in 1920. * Hon. Ursula Spencer (1901–1934), who married Lt.-Col. Alick Frederick Tod, son of Col. George Russell Tod, in 1928. 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. Churchill married as his second wife Christine McRae Sinclair, daughter of William Sinclair. They had two children: * Hon. Sarah Faith Georgina Spencer (1931–2015), who married Richard John Palmer, son of Reginald Howard Reed Palmer, in 1951. * Victor George Spencer, 3rd Viscount Churchill (1934–2017) Lord Churchill died of pneumonia on 3 January 1934.

Honours

;British honours *GCVO: Knight Grand Cross of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

– ''9 November 1902'' – 1902 Birthday Honours list, invested by King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

Sandringham House Sandringham House is a country house in the parish of Sandringham, Norfolk, England. It is one of the royal residences of Charles III, whose grandfather, George VI, and great-grandfather, George V, both died there. The house stands in a est ...

the same day. ;Foreign honours *: Knight 1st class of the Order of the Crown – ''1899'' – in connection with the visit of Emperor

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as th ...

to the United Kingdom. *The Red Eagle of the Kingdom of Prussia *The Order of the Crown of Italy *The

Order of the Redeemer The Order of the Redeemer (), also known as the Order of the Saviour, is an order of merit of Greece. The Order of the Redeemer is the oldest and highest decoration awarded by the modern Greek state. Establishment The establishment of the Orde ...

of Greece *The Order of Jesus Christ of Portugal

Arms

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Churchill, Victor Spencer, 1st Viscount 1864 births 1934 deaths Deaths from pneumonia in England Coldstream Guards officers Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars officers 3 Conservative Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting English justices of the peace Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Pages of Honour People educated at Eton College Victor Spencer, 1st Viscount Churchill Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Peers created by Edward VII