Charles Churchill (governor)

Lieutenant General Charles Churchill
Born	1679
Died	14 May 1745 (aged 65 or 66)
Allegiance	Kingdom of Great Britain
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	Lieutenant-General
Battles/wars	War of the Spanish Succession

Lieutenant General Charles Churchill (1679 - 14 May 1745) was a British Army General and a Member of Parliament.

Career

Born the natural (illegitimate) son of Elizabeth Dodd and General Charles Churchill (1656–1714) and so the nephew of the 1st Duke of Marlborough, Churchill spent his early career in the British Army during the War of the Spanish Succession and was then Member of Parliament for Castle Rising from 1715 to 1745.^[1]

He was despatched to Vienna in 1721 on a mission to secure the release of a "Mr Knight" who was being held in the Citadel of Antwerp.^[2] In 1727 he was promoted to Brigadier^[3] and appointed a Groom of the Bedchamber^[4] and in 1728 King George II and Queen Caroline inspected his Regiment of Dragoons.^[5]

He was also Governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea from 1720 until 1722.^[6]

Churchill had a relationship with Anne Oldfield, an English actress, by whom he had an illegitimate son, Charles Churchill (of Chalfont). Charles (d 1745) also had an illegitimate daughter, Harriet, whose mother is unknown. Harriet married Sir Everard Fawkener and, later, Thomas Pownall.^[8]

^ Leigh Rayment
^ London Gazette: no. 5929. p. 1. 11 February 1721. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
^ London Gazette: no. 6572. p. 3. 11 April 1727. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
^ London Gazette: no. 6634. p. 2. 19 December 1727. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
^ London Gazette: no. 6671. p. 1. 4 May 1728. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
^ Survey of London, volume 11, edited by Walter H. Godfrey (editor), Published 1927
^ Sneakers Roots
^ Norma Perry, Sir Everard Fawkener, Friend and Correspondent of Voltaire (Banbury, 1975), 109-12; Edward J. Davies, "Further Notes on Governor Thomas¹ Pownall", The American Genealogist, 77(2002):190-94.

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Horatio Walpole, junior William Feilding	Member of Parliament for Castle Rising 1715–1745 With: William Feilding 1715–1724 The Earl of Mountrath 1724–1734 Thomas Hanmer 1734–1737 Viscount Andover 1737–1745	Succeeded by William Howard Richard Rigby
Military offices
Preceded by Joseph Johnson	Colonel of Churchill's Regiment of Marines 1709–1713	Regiment disbanded
New regiment	Colonel of The Prince of Wales' Own Regiment of Dragoons 1715–1717	Succeeded by Sir Charles Hotham
Preceded by Thomas Stanwix	Governor, Royal Hospital Chelsea 1720–1722	Succeeded by William Evans
Preceded by Charles Trelawny	Governor of Plymouth 1722–1745	Succeeded by The Earl of Dunmore
Preceded by Humphrey Gore	Colonel of Churchill's Regiment of Dragoons 1723–1745	Succeeded by The Viscount Cobham