Frances Anne Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough
Frances Anne Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, VA was an English noblewoman, the wife of British peer and statesman John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough. One of her sons, Lord Randolph Churchill, was the father of Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill. She had a total of 11 children, and her principal home was the monumental Blenheim Palace, which she rejuvenated with her "lavish and exciting entertainments", and transformed into a "social and political focus for the life of the nation". She was invested as a Lady of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert for her efforts at famine relief in Ireland.
Full-length portrait of Frances Anne Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough
An 1880 engraving of Blenheim Palace
Lord Randolph Churchill, the youngest surviving son of Frances and the Duke
John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough
John Winston Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough,, styled Earl of Sunderland from 1822 to 1840 and Marquess of Blandford from 1840 to 1857, was a British Conservative cabinet minister, politician, peer, and nobleman. He was the paternal grandfather of Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.
John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough