Jacob Bannister - Churchill

Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born two months prematurely at 1:30 a.m. on November 30, 1874, in the splendor of Blenheim Palace , near Oxford in south central England. The grand estate originally belonged to John Churchill , the first Duke of Marlborough, who purchased its 2,000 acres and built a 300-room manor house with money given him by Queen Anne . It was a reward for his victory in the Battle of Blenheim in 1704.

Churchills parents were distinguished in their own right. Lord Randolph Churchill was the talented son of the seventh Duke of Marlborough, but as a younger son, Randolph couldnt inherit the dukedom. However, he became the secretary of state for India and chancellor of the Exchequer . Educated at Eton and Oxford , he was a gifted orator and Parliament member for much of his adult life. Jennie Jerome Churchill was the determined second daughter of Leonard Jerome, a wealthy New York stock speculator and promoter whose ancestors fought on the American side in the Revolutionary War .

The young Winston Churchill was small for his age, sensitive, and emotional. From age two to six, he lived in Dublin, his grandfather having been appointed viceroy to Ireland and employing Winstons father as his private secretary. It was in Dublin that Winstons brother John was born; the two were close and companionable playmates. As was the custom of the times, the boys were raised by a nanny, Elizabeth Anne Everest. She was hired by the Churchills when Winston was a month old. He fondly called her Woomany. Later he wrote, My nurse was my confidante. Mrs. Everest it was who looked after me and tended all my wants. It was to her that I poured out all my many troubles.... His mother, Churchill wrote in My Early Life, shone for me like the Evening Star. I loved her dearly - but at a distance. He was much closer to Mrs. Everest; in the prime ministers office, it was her photo that hung on the wall by his desk.

A month before Churchills eighth birthday, his parents enrolled him at St. Georges, Ascot, a boarding school outside London. He was miserable there. Caned often, he left after two years with bitter memories, having fared poorly both in the classroom and on the athletic field.

Churchills father thought his sons poor grades meant the boy was intellectually slow. He was not. Winston did well at subjects he liked, poorly at those he did not. Where my reason, imagination, or interest were not engaged, he later wrote, I would or could not learn.

In 1883, Churchill transferred to a boarding school run by two women in Brighton in southwest England. It was smaller than St. Georges and friendlier, with teachers who recognized his strengths. He spent three years there, and despite a bout of double pneumonia, he grew healthier and stronger. Churchills mother rarely visited, though he wrote letters begging her either to come to the school or allow him to come home. His relationship with his father was even chillier; he once remarked that they barely spoke to each other.

After graduating in 1888, Churchill enrolled at Harrow , a public school that, in the British sense, meant private. His father chose Harrow over the more prestigious Eton because it was a feeder school for the Royal Military College at Sandhurst . Lord Randolph had long imagined that the army might be his sons destiny. Surveying one of the boys elaborate toy-soldier battlefields and envisioning it as a clue to his future, Randolph suggested that a military career might suit him. Young Winston was elated.

Even among English schools, Harrow was old, having received its Royal Charter in 1572, though its roots went back to the thirteenth century. It clung to tradition. Students were required to participate in school-wide choral performances, and many also played sports. The game of squash was invented at Harrow, and the school helped to codify the formal rules of soccer. The students wore uniforms - white shirts with black ties and light-gray trousers. In cold weather, the boys added a blue sweater or a coat called a bluer. They also wore the Harrow Hat, a straw boater encircled by a blue band. On Sundays and formal occasions, the students donned tailcoats and pinstriped pants, sometimes accompanied by top hats and canes.

Churchill won a fencing championship at Harrow and earned high marks in history and English. Under the tutelage of his English teacher, Robert Somervell, Churchill became, in the words of biographer Paul Johnson , not merely adept but masterly in his use of words. And he loved them.

Churchill was also beginning to think about his future. His friend Murland de Grasse Evans, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and lived to see Churchill become prime minister, recalled a conversation with Winston about their ambitions. Evans asked if Churchill would join the army, and Churchill said it was likely. He also said that whatever he did, he was sure to have great adventures.