Janus: Papers accumulated by Henry Winston (Peregrine) Churchill

Churchill/PCHL contains:
1	Papers of Lady Randolph Churchill, mainly letters to her son, John S Churchill [known as "Jack"]
2	Letters from Lord Randolph Churchill, mainly to John S Churchill [known as "Jack"]
3	Letters from Winston Churchill
4	Letters from and to John S Churchill
5	Letters to and from Lady Gwendeline Churchill
6	Letters from John G Churchill
7	Other correspondence and papers of Peregrine Churchill
8	Photographs
9	Legal and financial papers

More information

Please feel free to contact the repository.

Papers accumulated by Henry Winston (Peregrine) Churchill

Title	Letters to and from Lady Gwendeline Churchill
Reference	PCHL 5
Creator	Churchill, Lady Gwendeline Theresa Mary, 1885-1941, wife of John S Churchill
Covering Dates	1910–1940
Extent and Medium	3 files

Content and context

Includes letters from Lady Gwendeline ("Goonie") to her husband, mainly during 1914, to her son Peregrine, and also letters to her from friends, particularly Augustine Birrell, again mainly dating from the First World War.

Index Terms

Churchill, Lady Gwendeline Theresa Mary (1885-1941) wife of John S Churchill

Churchill/PCHL 5 contains:

Letters from Lady Gwendeline ("Goonie") to Jack Churchill and Peregrine Churchill. Subjects covered include: looking after Winston and Clementine Churchill's children while they were on holiday in Overstrand [Norfolk] and trouble with their French nurse as her family was in occupied territory; her fear of a German invasion and wish that Jack Churchill could be with her; her distress that the Oxfordshire Yeomanry were going to be sent to France; meeting Roger Keyes [Captain and Commodore in charge of the Submarine Service]; cheering reports of the army from Field Marshal 1st Lord Kitchener [Secretary of State for War]; German successes against the French; her work at All Saints Hospital, London; Jack's departure for Dunkirk; having to lay off domestic staff; going to live with Winston and Clementine at the Admiralty; her holiday in Cornwall with the children while Jack was sorting out Lady Randolph Churchill's estate; receiving some of Lady Randolph's pictures, ornaments and gloves; trying to help John G Churchill (Johnnie) and Peregrine with their schoolwork; Peregrine's good school reports from Summer Fields [Oxford] and Harrow and Johnnie's bad report; sympathising with Peregrine's chilblains, recalling her own depressing childhood and urging him not be sorry for himself; recommendations on studying engineering at Cambridge; her concern that Peregrine would follow other people rather than finding his own path; his coming of age; her anxiety about him during the war. Also includes: a letter from Lady Gwendeline's father 7th Lord Abingdon, to Jack in 1914, praising his courage, assuring him that Goonie had decided to stay in Norfolk as the Churchill family were in the public eye and it would harm public confidence if she were to leave, and also complaining about the large number of naturalized Germans in Britain; a letter from Peregrine describing being caught in a bombing raid (1940). Includes some typewritten transcripts of the letters prepared by Celia Lee, filed next to the originals.
Creator: Churchill, Lady Gwendeline Theresa Mary (1885-1941), wife of John S Churchill.
1 file.

1914–1940

Letters to Lady Gwendeline Churchill ("Goonie"). Correspondents include: 2nd Duke of Westminster on visits to the theatre with her, and Winston Churchill drowning out the chorus (3); William Orpen on subjects including a commission that she had suggested to him, his feelings about being in the army, his wish to paint her again and a picture of Orpen himself which she had (includes a rough sketch of himself) (5); Lieutenant Colonel Harold Brassey asking her to write to him, advising her to be true to herself, his hopes that the war would soon be over, the loss of all his headquarters staff during the battle of the Somme, his concern at not receiving letters from her [she had not yet received his letters] and the loss of two thirds of his battalion (5); Herbert Asquith [later 1st Lord Oxford and Asquith] thanking her and assuring her how much he valued her sympathy [? on the death of Raymond Asquith]; [Alfred] Duff Cooper [later 1st Lord Norwich], wanting to see her before he went to France; Sir William Mackenzie [later 1st Lord Amulree] congratulating her on the birth of Clarissa Churchill; Sir James Barrie on various social engagements (7); Marques Alfonso de Merry de Val, Spanish Ambassador to Britain, on saints called Peregrine; Lord Hartington, regretting that he could not accept an invitation and on wild plants to be found in London (2). Also includes a copy of a letter from her brother Arthur Bertie, sympathising with her on an operation (1931).
1 file.

1915–1934

Letters from Augustine Birrell to Lady Gwendeline Churchill ("Goonie"). Subjects covered include: the death of his sister; social events; having to stay in Ireland (Easter 1916) and his state of mind following his resignation [as Chief Secretary for Ireland]; the reaction of Herbert Asquith [later 1st Lord Oxford and Asquith] after his resignation as Prime Minister and his relatively soft landing; Birrell's satisfaction that Winston Churchill had returned to politics after his spell on the Western Front; the health of his stepson; his view of the 1918 General Election; meetings with Lady Ottoline Morrell.
1 file.

1910–1928