Winston Churchill Trivia
Five Fascinating Facts about British Prime Minister Churchill's Life
Jul 7, 2009
Sir Winston Churchill is one of the best- known political figures of all time. As British Prime Minister during the period of the Second World War he won the adulation of his own countrymen and the respect of the world as a great war leader. There are many curious and remarkable facts about his 90 years: here are a few bits of fascinating trivia.
Churchill Was Part-American
His mother was Jennie Jerome, daughter of the US entrepreneur Leonard Jerome, at one time, part-owner of the New York Times. In his obituary, the Times (March 5, 1891) described Jerome as “one of the most conspicuous men in this country in finance, as the treasurer of the Union Defense Committee and as a turfman.” The latter reference was to Leonard Jerome’s great interest in horse racing and his establishment of two of the country’s finest race courses. The Times also revealed that his paternal grandmother, Betsy Bell, was a relative of George Washington. If Churchill could trace his paternal ancestry to the illustrious Dukes of Marlborough, his US connection was no less auspicious.
Winston Churchill was born in a cloak room
In the final weeks of her pregnancy, Churchill’s mother was at Blenheim Palace, the 320-room castle which had been the seat of the Duke of Marlborough since the 1700s. Against her doctor’s advice, she insisted on going to the ball at Blenheim. Peter de Mendelssohn in The Age of Churchill records that Lady Churchill suddenly realized the birth was imminent, even though it was supposed to be several weeks away. She hurried for her bedroom but only made it as far as the little room that was serving as the ladies cloak room for the night. It was here, surrounded by coats and boas, that she gave birth to Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill on 30 November 1874.
Churchill Started Life with a Lisp
Churchill is remembered as one of the world’s greatest orators. It is still possible to hear recordings of a Churchill speech - the rich, rumbling voice, clear enunciation and powerful words that inspired the nation. Even today, stock phrases of Churchill's speeches are remembered: "finest hour", "We will fight them on the beaches" , "Never give up" . It is even more remarkable when, according to Peter de Mendelssohn in The Age of Churchill , as a boy, Churchill suffered from a “distinct speech impediment, a combination of stammer and lisp.” That he lost the impediment is no lucky chance. Rene Kraus in his 1941 biography Winston Churchill reveals that, as a teenager, Churchill sought out a speech therapist, indicated that he believed he would one day be in the ministry and said, “I can’t be haunted by the idea that I must avoid every word beginning with an S.” It is hard to dismiss this is as braggadocio when he fulfilled his every ambition.
The British Prime Minister Was a Poor Scholar
Churchill hated school! He started school at St James School at Ascot, where, according to Virginia Cowles in Winston Churchill: the Era and the Man, disciplinary beatings were a common practice. Young Winston was rebellious, and so was beaten often – on one occasion for kicking the headmaster’s straw hat to pieces. Peter de Mendelsson (The Age of Churchill) supports the impression. He writes that Churchill, having been sent to Harrow at 12, was the worst pupil in the form, never rising above the bottom in four and a half years. He refused to devote time to things that did not interest him, and his anxious father, certain the boy could not go on to university, on discovering that the teenager could engross himself with arranging battles for toy soldiers, asked him if he would like to go into the army. Winston readily agreed and was sent to Sandhurst Miltary Academy, where he only passed the entrance examination on his third attempt.
Churchill Did a Good Gorilla Imitation
In a performance reminiscent of Don Corleone’s game with his grandchildren in The Godfather, Winston Churchill would play games with his young nieces and nephews. John Spencer Churchill in Crowded Canvas gives a delightful account of his famous uncle, wearing his oldest clothes, lying in wait for them behind bushes and hedges, ready to leap out and scare them. He would make blood-curdling gorilla noises, swing his arms limply, chase them and then climb a tree. John Spencer Churchill writes: “Few people can say they have seen the ex-First Lord of the Admiralty, crouching in the branches of an oak, baring his teeth and pounding his chest.”
Clearly, as with every great public figure, there was far more to Churchill than the tough war-time politician and statesman that the world remembers. See Suite101 for a brief biography. His military leadership was as much an offshoot of his obsession with war. He was a complex character, a family man, a hive of creativity and a great wit.
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