ChurchillOnline

"Churchill's Women" - a talk by Sir Martin Gilbert on 23/10/01:

 notes and sketch

On 23^rd October, hundreds gathered in a marquee in the Royal Geographical Society's grounds to hear Sir Martin Gilbert talk about "Churchill's Women". This summary aims to enable those who were unable to attend to gather something of the flavour and sway behind a very enjoyable talk.

Churchill, we were told during the introduction to Sir Martin, is a subject that arouses strong passions. Indeed, no sooner than the day after the announcement of the title of Sir Martin's lecture, an indignant answerphone message was left with the RGS claiming that the title was an "insult to the great man"! A slight misunderstanding, but the indignant caller need not have worried about Churchill's treatment at the hands of one of his greatest admirers, and in the presence of Sir Winston's daughter, Lady Soames. As one would expect from the pre-eminent Churchill scholar, the talk was gripping from beginning to end, frequently funny, and throughout a fascinating glimpse into the human side of the great man, and the influence of women throughout his life.

Of the women involved in Churchill's early life, the first to impact on the young Winston was of course his mother, Lady Randolph Churchill. Winston was, she wrote, a "demanding son", and Sir Martin gave us plenty of examples to show what she meant. Churchill was, even at the early age of twelve, a great letter-writer and one possessed of a precocious talent. Even then, he wrote to get others to do what he wanted them to do. In addition to the frequent appeals for visits from his parents, he wrote to his mother at the time of Queen Victoria's Jubilee, explaining how much he wanted to see Buffalo Bill. Unfortunately, he had to be allowed to leave Brighton, where he was at school with the Thompson sisters. He felt that a letter from his parents, demanding that he be released for the day to go to London for the Jubilee, was what was required and wrote to ask for it, even going so far as to draft the letter that his mother might send. The proposed letter did not, unsurprisingly, cite Buffalo Bill as a reason for their request! He was, he wrote, "in torment" at the delay in his mother's reply. Needless to say, he got his way, and saw Buffalo Bill.

Churchill unashamedly used his mother's influence to the full. His letters are full of phrases like "what you might be able to do for me", "please exert yourself", "it is no use to preach the gospel of patience", "leave no stone unturned to help me". She was the one whom he turned to in order to further his career. On his plans to go to Egypt as part of the Omdurman campaign, he exhorted her to "strike while the iron is hot", and to leave "no cutlet uncooked".

  A major influence in Churchill's young life was the Dowager Duchess of Marlborough, his Great-Aunt. She, whilst thinking he was "affectionate, not naughty", also felt that he was too "excitable", and that this was made worse by his going out too much. His school reports frequently disagreed with this generous appraisal, and his parents suggested the idea of a tutor for the school holidays, an idea which was greeted with opprobrium. "Some enemy has sown tears in your mind", he wrote in desperation to his mother, "please give me a chance" to acquit himself of the "evil of which I am accused". As he wrote to the woman that he called his "deputy mother", Lady Wilton (a friend of his parent's), "my mother is incensed against me", something that obviously caused him great distress.

  His nanny, Mrs Everest, was the dominant female influence on him at this young age. His attachment to her remained for life, long after boys were supposed to leave their nannies behind at the age of sixteen. Sir Martin quoted an occasion when he asked for help with his teeth, which were giving him trouble. Mrs Everest replied with a number of bizarre but well-intentioned remedies, including pulling socks over his head when he went to sleep. His mother replied more practically, telling him that he should brush them.

Once the prima facie reason for her employment was past, Churchill's parents peremptorily dismissed their son's devoted nanny. Winston, aghast, wrote to his parents appealing for her better treatment. His appeal was in vain, for she was dismissed by letter, without even the customary courtesy of an interview with her employer. Doubtless this incident, and the fate of Mrs Everest and her class had a great effect on Winston, and spurred him during his radical years as a crusading young Liberal MP. It was through Mrs Everest that he saw the working class, with whom he would otherwise have had no contact.

It was to the women in his life that Churchill wrote his letters, confiding, amongst other things, the realities of warfare. Churchill was critical of tearing down water towers, and using the new dum-dum bullets, which caused such horrific injuries. These, he said, were "not [to be] alluded to in print". To his grandmother, he explained his disgust, but his mother was not wholly impressed by his letters, which she felt were too boastful. Not for the first time, he had to apologise.

Perhaps one of the most profound influences on Churchill, albeit not one of the most obvious, came from Lady Gwendolen, his sister-in-law, for it was she who introduced him to painting, which was to provide him with so much solace and enjoyment for the rest of his life. On her suggestion, he bought himself a substantial painting set, but it was another lady, Hazel Lavery, who taught him how to attack a canvas. "Wallop, smash, clean no longer" was her attitude, and Winston wholeheartedly adopted this: "I fell upon my victim with berserk fury", as he characteristically put it.

Churchill had a number of girlfriends before he married Clementine, the first being Polly Hackett, a relationship with whom was abruptly cut off when she married elsewhere. Then there was Muriel Wilson, who tried to help Churchill cure himself of the slight speech impediment that caused him so much irritation. Over and over again she practised with him the line "The Spanish ships I cannot see for they are not in sight". Engagement was discussed, but unfortunately Muriel wanted someone with good financial prospects, and this was one thing that Winston could not offer.

Pamela Plowden was the most serious of these girlfriends, however. She was, he said, "the most beautiful girl that I have ever seen". They had a lifelong friendship, and fifty years later he was to write to her "I cherish your signal across the years¼I was a freak, but you saw some qualities". But their relationship did not work: in 1900 she complained that he was "incapable of affection". Churchill responded to this: "Why do you say I am incapable of affection? Perish the thought. I love one above all others. And I shall be constant. I am no fickle gallant capriciously following the fancy of the hour. My love is deep and strong¼Who is this that I love. Listen - as the French say - over the page I will tell you". Over the page he had written: "Yours vy sincerely, Winston S. Churchill".

His wife Clementine was, as Sir Martin said, the "rock for his career". But the start to their relationship was not straightforward. When they first met he was too shy to speak to her. A few weeks after this meeting, the young Colonial Secretary was present at a meeting of the colonial states in London, where a rumour of his engagement with Helen Botha emerged. The Manchester Guardian presented its compliments, and former love Muriel Wilson spoke of her hope for "little Bothas". However, there was no engagement. Shortly after, Winston was sat next to Clementine at a party, but he spent his time talking to the girl on the other side of him. At the end of the dinner he did notice Clementine's presence, and asked if she would read a copy of his new book. She said she would, if he would send it round. He agreed, but forgot.  Eventually, despite these false starts, fate intervened and the relationship blossomed.

Clementine was to see first hand the great strain of Winston's political life, and was throughout the greatest support to him. He feared that he was a "dull companion" and said, "I wish I were more varied". But politics was his life, and he knew that one has to be "true to oneself".

In time Churchill was to become a loving husband and then a father, cautioning Clementine "do not let [the children] suck the paint off" their new toys. Despite this care, Winston frequently caused Clementine pain and anxiety. He loved flying, but three of his instructors were killed, one of them in a machine that Winston frequently used. Clementine begged him to desist, which eventually he did: "this is a wrench", but he was sorry to have enjoyed himself "at your expense. I am so sorry".

After the failure of the Dardanelles initiative, a period in which Clementine thought "he would die of grief", Churchill wanted to go to the Dardanelles to see his project for himself. Although he was prevented by Conservative opposition, he wrote a letter to Clementine, to be read in the event of his death. It is a revealing document. She was to get hold of his papers relating to the Dardanelles, she was to be his sole literary executor, and she was to ensure that "the truth be known". Randolph would carry on his work, whilst Clementine was instructed "do not grieve, death is only an incident, I have been happy". His beloved wife had taught him to know "how noble a woman's heart to be".

As we know, Churchill survived six months on the Western Front, after which he needed to rebuild his career. Crucial for this were a number of secretaries, whom he worked hard, but genuinely cared for. For example, he provided for Mrs Pearson and her daughter's education after her retirement. There was Katherine Hill, who was the first to be resident at Chartwell and who served throughout the Second World War. There were Miss Holmes and Miss Layton, who, as Sir Martin said "saw him in all moods and lights". In addition to the later Prime Ministerial work, they were vital in Churchill's massive outpouring of books.

All the time he thought of Clementine, and a ceaseless stream of letters winged their way to her. Even in his 80's, he would still write to her, albeit at this point with great difficulty. On her seventy-eighth birthday in 1963 he wrote her a birthday letter in his own hand, as he had every year for fifty-five years. "I am a pretty dull and paltry scribbler", he wrote, "but my stick, as I write, carries my heart along with it".

Sir Martin ended his inspiring talk with a reference to some of the most important women in Churchill's life: his children. They offered him comfort and encouragement when depressed, especially towards the end of his life, and when blows and criticism came his way. In the presence of his daughter, Mary Soames, Sir Martin quoted her own words that sum up, perhaps better than any others, what Churchill did for the world: "I owe you what every Englishman, woman and child does - Liberty itself".

© The Copyright of all photographs and text on this site is the author's, 2001/2, who claims the sole right to be identified as the author such work.