Lord Alan Spencer-Churchill DL (25 July 1825 – 19 April 1873) was a British aristocrat, officer in the British Army, deputy lieutenant of Oxfordshire, a lieutenant in the Oxfordshire Yeomanry and a businessman. He was a great uncle of Sir Winston Churchill.
Family Alan Spencer-Churchill was born in Garboldisham, Norfolk, the third son of the three-times-married George Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke of Marlborough, and his first wife, Lady Jane Stewart, daughter of George Stewart, 8th Earl of Galloway. After Eton he served as an officer in the cavalry regiment of the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars, becoming a lieutenant by purchase in 1844.
In 1843, Lord Alan was best man at the wedding of his eldest brother, John, then Marquess of Blandford, to Lady Frances Vane, the future grandparents of Prime Minister Winston Churchill.Forster, Margaret, E. Churchill's Grandmama: Frances, 7th Duchess of Marlborough, New York: The History Press. . NB: the author of this work is married to the archivist at Blenheim Palace and should not be confused with the novelist and biographer Margaret Forster, who died in February 2016.
While stationed at York with his regiment in 1846, he met and married Rosalind Dowker (sometimes referred to as 'Rosamond'), daughter of Thomas Dowker of Huntington, York. They had no surviving children.Chrystal, Paul; and Sunderland, Mark. (2010). 'Villages Around York through Time'. Amberley publications. West Huntington Hall.
Business interests Unlike his two elder brothers, upon leaving the Army, Lord Alan eschewed a political career and chose instead, unusually for people of his class, to go into business. His association with Peter Rolt (1798-1882), merchant and Conservative MP for Greenwich, led to his involvement in international trade and to a number of company directorships, in the then burgeoning sectors of shipping and tourism. Among his interests were the importation of beef from Argentina as well as shipbuilding at the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, and the establishment of freight transport networks, for example, through the British and South American Steam Navigation Company.London Evening Standard, London, England: 24 Jun 1871, BRINDISI MAIL ROUTE to INDIA, CHINA, AUSTRALIA - A WEEKLY EXPRESS, via Ostend or Calais, Brussels, Cologne, Munich, and Verona (Messrs Rolt & Co.) listing Peter Rolt, Lord Alan Spencer-Churchill and Joseph Churchward (of Dover) He entered tourism through the hotel venture that was the new Imperial Hotel at Torquay.The Weekly Reporter - Vol XV. March 1867. p. 504. Retrieved 2 November 2016.The Imperial Hotel, Torquay https://www.thehotelcollection.co.uk/cms/the-hotel-collection/pdfs/the-history-of-the-imperial-hotel-torquay.pdf Retrieved 1 November 2016.
Country pursuits As was the convention for people of his class at that time, he divided his life between business and clubs in London and the pursuits of a country squire. In August 1852 he was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Oxfordshire, the location of the family seat at Blenheim Palace, which passed to his eldest brother, John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough.Walford, Edward. The County Families of the United Kingdom Or Royal Manual of the Titled and Untitled Aristocracy of Great Britain and Ireland. London: R. Hardwicke, 1869. p. 203. Alan Spencer-Churchill was for many years patron of the Chelsea Relief Society, founded in 1861.'Social history: Social and cultural activities', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 12, Chelsea, ed. Patricia E. C. Croot (London, 2004), pp. 166-176. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol12/pp166-176 [accessed 5 November 2016].
He died suddenly at his home in Lowndes Square, London, aged 47 years, and was buried at Brompton Cemetery.Obituary of Lord Alan Spencer-Churchill: Illustrated London News, Saturday 26 April 1873, London, England, p. 24. (subscription needed).
References