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The Museum
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Lady Randolph Churchill
1854-1921
Born in Brooklyn in 1854 Jennie Jerome was the daughter of a prosperous yet eccentric financier and a socially aspirant mother. At the age of 13 she and her sister were taken to Paris from New York by their mother who had suffered one scandal too many at the hands of her husband (he had a particular penchant for opera singers, one of whom, the Swede Jenny Lind, his daughter was named after unbeknownst to his wife).
In 1873 she was introduced to Randolph Churchill who was immediately enchanted by the lively American and proposed to her four days later. The arrangement was greeted with dismay by both their parents; Jennie's mother had hoped for better than a mere "second son" as a husband for her daughter and Randolph's father, Duke of Marlborough, did not take long to discover the character of her father.
It required the intervention of the Prince of Wales, himself as charmed by Miss Jerome as he was by most beautiful American ladies, to gain the approval of the Duke. He eventually allowed the wedding to take place once Churchill had entered the House of Commons. After a great deal of manoeuvring this was finally achieved and the couple married in 1874.
From this time Lady Randolph actively supported her husband's political career, tirelessly campaigning on his behalf. At the time it was even rumoured that she was responsible for some of his speeches. Socially, Lady Randolph proved a popular member of the court of the Prince of Wales until an argument between the Prince and her husband resulted in the challenge of Lord Randolph to a duel (which he naturally refused) and the excommunication of the couple from London's social circles for a whole eight years.
Lady Randolph's political activities were also dramatically brought to an end in 1886 when her husband suddenly and without warning resigned his posts of Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons. The shock of the event was heightened by the fact that Lady Randolph heard the news via the a letter to the Times rather than from her husband directly. Wrote a popular newspaper of the time: "we are sorry Randy is in the muck, less for his own account than for that of the gallant American girl he had the luck to marry. She had worked so hard to popularize him and forward his ends."
After her husband's death (possibly of syphilis) in 1895, Lady Randolph once again found herself cast in the role of political supporter; this time for her son, Winston Curchill. She was able to use her previously acquired contacts to promote Churchill's career. She was "an ardent ally, furthering my plans and guarding my interests with all her influence and boundless energy," wrote Sir Winston.
In 1900, the year Churchill gained the seat of Oldham in the House of Commons, Lady Randolph also introduced her son to Robert Lewis (she had been procuring Robert Lewis gold tipped cigarettes from us for many years) and the world of fine cigars, thus giving rise to our enduring relationship with the future prime minister.
Lady Randolph Churchill was to marry a further two times, to increasingly younger men, before she died in 1921. She was buried next to her first husband, Lord Randolph Churchill, in a churchyard near Blenheim Palace.
JJ Fox & Robert Lewis, 19 St James's Street,
London, SW1A 1ES
Tel:+44 (0)20 7930 3787 Fax:+44 (0)20 7495 0097
