Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough
Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, KG, TD, PC (13 November 1871 – 30 June 1934), styled Earl of Sunderland until 1883 and Marquess of Blandford between 1883 and 1892, was a British soldier and Conservative politician, and a close friend of his first cousin Winston Churchill. He was often known as "Sunny" Marlborough after his courtesy title of Earl of Sunderland.
The Duke of Marlborough
30 June 1934 (aged 62)
British
Early life and education[edit]
Born at Simla, British India, Marlborough was the only son of the then Marquess of Blandford (who succeeded as The 8th Duke of Marlborough in July 1883) and Lady Albertha Frances Anne, daughter of The 1st Duke of Abercorn. He was a nephew of Lord Randolph Churchill and a first cousin of Sir Winston Churchill, with whom he had a close and lifelong friendship. He was educated at Winchester College and Trinity College, Cambridge.[1]
Military career[edit]
Marlborough was appointed a lieutenant in the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars in 1897. After the outbreak of the Second Boer War, he was in January 1900 seconded for service as a Staff Captain in the Imperial Yeomanry serving in South Africa,[11] and received the temporary rank of captain.[12] He arrived in Cape Town in March 1900, and left for Naauwpoort in Northern Cape Colony with the Oxford company of the Imperial Yeomanry.[13]
He was subsequently appointed Assistant Military Secretary to Lord Roberts, Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in South Africa, and was aide-de-camp to Lieutenant-General Ian Hamilton.[14]
He was mentioned in despatches and promoted to major on 7 December 1901.[15] After the formation of the Territorial Army he was appointed honorary colonel of the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in 1908.[14]
He was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel of his yeomanry regiment in 1910, serving until 1914. He was awarded the Territorial Decoration (TD) in 1913.[16] He rejoined during the First World War, when he served as a lieutenant-colonel on the General Staff in France. During a visit at the Western Front to his cousin Winston who was then serving in the trenches, both narrowly missed being killed when a piece of shrapnel (now displayed at Blenheim Palace) fell between them.[17] He was later Honorary Colonel and commandant of the Oxfordshire Volunteer Regiment of the Volunteer Training Corps from 1918 to 1920.[16]
In popular culture[edit]
Marlborough was played by David Markham in the ITV drama Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years.