Winston Churchill (1620-1688)
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Sir Winston Churchill FRS (18 April 1620-26 March 1688), was an English soldier, historian and politician. He was the father of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, as well as an ancestor of his 20th-century namesake, Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.
Churchill was the son of John Churchill, a lawyer, and Sarah Winston, daughter of Sir Henry Winston. The Churchills were an old Dorsetshire family. He was educated at St John's College, Oxford, but left university without taking a degree. Churchill was a fervent Royalist through his life and fought in the Civil War as a Captain in the King's Horse and, after the Royalists were defeated, was forced to pay a recompense fee of £4,446. After the Restoration he sat as Tory Member of Parliament for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis from 1661 to 1679 and for Lyme Regis from 1685 to 1688. Churchill was also a Commissioner of the Irish Court of Claims and Explanations between 1662 and 1668 and a Junior Clerk Comptroller to the Board of Green Cloth from 1664 to 1679. He was knighted in 1664 and made a Fellow of the Royal Society the same year. He also published a history of the kings of England, entitled Divi Britannica; being a remark upon the Lives of all the Kings of this Isle, from the year of the World 2855 until the year of Grace 1660.
In 1643 Churchill married Elizabeth Drake, daughter of Sir John Drake and his wife Eleanor, niece of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. They had twelve children, of whom only five survived infancy. Three of their sons gained distinction. The aforementioned John became a famous military commander and was created Duke of Marlborough, Charles Churchill became a Lieutenant-General in the Army while George Churchill became an Admiral in the Royal Navy. One of their daughters was Arabella Churchill. Churchill died in March 1688, aged 67.
| Parliament of England | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir William Penn Henry Waltham Peter Middleton Bullen Reymes |
Member of Parliament for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis with Sir William Penn 1661–1670 Bullen Reymes 1661–1673 Sir John Strangways 1661–1667 Sir John Coventry 1667–1679 Lord Ashley 1670–1679 Sir John Man 1673–1679 1661–1679 |
Succeeded by Sir John Coventry Lord Ashley Thomas Browne Michael Harvey |
| Preceded by Henry Henley Thomas Moore |
Member of Parliament for Lyme Regis with John Pole 1685–1688 |
Succeeded by John Pole John Burridge |
[edit] References
- Stephen, Sir Leslie; Lee, Sir Sidney (editors). The Dictionary of National Biography, From the Earliest Times to 1900: Volume IV Chamber-Craigie. Oxford University Press.
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page
- www.thepeerage.com
