1 .sx Childhood .sx Winston Churchill was born in 1874 , half way through the Victorian Era .sx That November , his mother , Lady Randolph Churchill , then less than seven months pregnant , had slipped and fallen while walking with a shooting party at Blenheim Palace .sx A few days later , while riding in a pony carriage over rough ground , labour began .sx She was rushed back to the Palace , where , in the early hours of November 30 , her son was born .sx The magnificent palace at Blenheim was the home of the baby's grandfather , the 7th Duke of Marlborough .sx On his father's side he was a child of the British aristocracy , descended both from the 1st Earl Spencer and from the distinguished soldier John Churchill , 1st Duke of Marlborough , commander of the coalition of armies that had defeated France at the beginning of the eighteenth century .sx On his mother's side he had an entirely American lineage ; her father , Leonard Jerome , then living in New York , was a successful stockbroker , financier and newspaper proprietor .sx A century earlier his ancestors had fought in Washington's armies for the independence of the American Colonies .sx Almost a year before Churchill's birth , his father , Lord Randolph Churchill , had been elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Woodstock .sx This small borough , of which Blenheim was a part , had scarcely more than a thousand electors ; it had long been accustomed to send members of the Ducal family , or their nominees , to Westminster .sx In January 1877 Churchill's grandfather , the 7th Duke of Marlborough , was appointed Viceroy of Ireland , with Lord Randolph as his private secretary .sx The two-year-old boy travelled with his parents to Dublin , together with his nanny , Mrs Everest .sx When Churchill was four , Ireland suffered a severe potato famine , and an upsurge of nationalist ferment led by the Fenians .sx " My nurse , Mrs Everest , was nervous about the Fenians , " he later wrote .sx " I gathered these were wicked people and there was no end to what they would do if they had their way .sx " One day , when Churchill was out riding on his donkey , Mrs Everest thought that she saw a Fenian procession approaching .sx " I am sure now , " he later reflected , " that it must have been the Rifle Brigade out for a route march .sx But we were all very much alarmed , particularly the donkey , who expressed his anxiety by kicking .sx I was thrown off and had concussion of the brain .sx This was my first introduction to Irish politics !sx " .sx As well as his nanny , the young boy acquired a governess while in Dublin .sx Her task was to teach him reading and mathematics .sx " These complications , " he later wrote , " cast a steadily gathering shadow over my daily life .sx They took one away from all the interesting things one wanted to do in the nursery or the garden .sx " He also recalled that although his mother took " no part in these " , she had given him to understand that she approved of them , and " sided with the governess almost " .sx .sx Fifty years later Churchill wrote of his mother :sx " She shone for me like the Evening Star .sx I loved her dearly - but at a distance .sx " It was with his nanny that he found the affection which his parents did not provide .sx " My nurse was my confidante , " he later wrote .sx " Mrs Everest it was who looked after me and tended all my wants .sx It was to her I poured out my many troubles .sx " .sx In February 1880 Churchill's brother Jack was born .sx " I remember my father coming into my bedroom at Vice-Regal Lodge in Dublin & telling me ( aged 5 ) 'You have a little brother' , " he recalled sixty-five years later .sx Shortly after Jack's birth the family returned to London , to 29 St James's Place .sx There , Churchill was aware of the final illness of Disraeli , the former Conservative Prime Minister .sx " I was always sure Lord Beaconsfield was going to die , " he later wrote , " and at last the day came when all the people I saw went about with very sad faces because , as they said , a great and splendid Statesman who loved our country and defied the Russians , had died of a broken heart because of the ingratitude with which he had been treated by the Radicals .sx " Benjamin Disraeli , 1st Earl of Beaconsfield , died when Churchill was six years old .sx At Christmas 1881 , just after his seventh birthday , Churchill was at Blenheim .sx It was from there that his first surviving letter was written , posted on 4 January 1882 .sx " My dear Mamma , " he wrote , " I hope you are quite well .sx I thank you very very much for the beautiful presents those Soldiers and Flags and Castle they are so nice it was so kind of you and dear Papa I send you my love and a great many kisses Your loving Winston .sx " That spring Churchill returned to Blenheim for two months .sx " It is so nice being in the country , " he wrote to his mother , that April .sx " The gardens and the park are so much nicer to walk in than the Green Park or Hyde Park .sx " But he missed his parents , and when his grandmother went to London , he wrote to his father , " I wish I was with her that I might give you a kiss .sx " .sx It was Mrs Everest who looked after the two brothers at Blenheim .sx " When we were out on Friday near the cascade , " Churchill wrote to his mother shortly before Easter , " we saw a snake crawling about in the grass .sx I wanted to kill it but Everest would not let me .sx " That Easter Mrs Everest took the two boys to the Isle of Wight , where her brother-in-law was a senior warder at Parkhurst prison .sx They stayed at his cottage at Ventnor , overlooking the sea .sx From Ventnor , Churchill wrote to his mother .sx " We had a Picnic we went to Sandown took our dinner on the Beach and we went to see the Forts & Guns at Sandown there were some enormous 18 ton Guns .sx " .sx That autumn Churchill was told that he was to be sent to boarding school .sx " I was , " he later wrote , " what grown-up people in their off-hand way called 'a troublesome boy' .sx It appeared that I was to go away from home for many weeks at a stretch in order to do lessons under masters .sx " He was not 'troublesome' to everyone , however ; Lady Randolph's sister Leonie found him " full of fun and quite unselfconscious " when he stayed with her .sx The boarding school was St George's , near Ascot .sx Churchill was sent there four weeks before his eighth birthday .sx Term was already half over ; his mother took him there that first afternoon .sx The two of them had tea with the headmaster .sx " I was " , he recalled nearly fifty years later , " with the fear of spilling my cup and so making 'a bad start' .sx I was also miserable at the idea of being left alone among all these strangers in this great , fierce , formidable place .sx " .sx Unhappiness at school began from the first days .sx " After all , Churchill later wrote , " I was only seven , and I had been so happy with all my toys .sx I had such wonderful toys :sx a real steam engine , a magic lantern , and a collection of soldiers already nearly a thousand strong .sx Now it was to be all lessons .sx " Severity , and at times brutality , were part of life at St George's .sx " Flogging with the birch in accordance with the Eton fashion , " Churchill later wrote , " was a great feature of the curriculum .sx But I am sure no Eton boy , and certainly no Harrow boy of my day , " - Churchill was at Harrow from 1888 to 1892 - " ever received such a cruel flogging as this Headmaster was accustomed to inflict upon the little boys who were in his care and power .sx They exceeded in severity anything that would be tolerated in any of the Reformatories under the Home Office .sx " .sx Among the boys who witnessed these floggings was Roger Fry .sx " The swishing was given with the master's full strength , " he later wrote , " and it took only two or three strokes for drops of blood to form everywhere and it continued for 15 or 20 strokes when the wretched boy's bottom was a mass of blood .sx " Churchill himself was later to recall how during the floggings the rest of the boys " sat quaking , listening to their screams " .sx " How I hated this school , " he later wrote , " and what a life of anxiety I lived for more than two years .sx I made very little progress at my lessons , and none at all at games .sx I counted the days and the hours to the end of every term , when I should return home from this hateful servitude and range my soldiers in line of battle on the nursery floor .sx " .sx Churchill's first holiday from St George's , after a month and a half at school , was at Christmas 1882 .sx Home was now another house in London , 2 Connaught Place , on the north side of Hyde Park , where his parents were to live for the next ten years .sx " As to Winston's improvement , " his mother wrote to his father on December 26 , " I am sorry to say I see none .sx Perhaps there has not been time enough .sx He can read very well , but that is all , and the first two days he came home he was terribly slangy and loud .sx Altogether I am disappointed .sx But Everest was told down there that next term they mean to be more strict with him .sx " Lady Randolph also told her husband that their elder son " teases the baby more than ever " ; to remedy this " I shall take him in hand " .sx She ended her reference to her eight-year-old son , " It appears that he is afraid of me .sx " .sx Churchill's first school report was a poor one .sx His place in the form of eleven boys was eleventh .sx Under Grammar it read , " He has made a start , " and under Diligence , " He will do well , but must treat his work in general , more seriously next term .sx " The report ended with a note by the Headmaster , " Very truthful , but a regular 'pickle' in many ways at present - has not fallen into school ways yet but this could hardly be expected .sx " .sx Anxiety at school went hand in hand with ill-health , which was another cause of concern to his parents .sx " I'm sorry poor little Winston has not been well , " Lord Randolph wrote to his wife from the South of France on New Year's Day 1883 , " but I don't make out what is the matter with him .sx It seems we are a sickly family & cannot get rid of the doctors .sx " Four days later he wrote again :sx " I am so glad to hear Winny is right again .sx Give him a kiss from me .sx " To cure whatever was wrong with the boy , the doctor advised a week by the sea , at Herne Bay .sx Back at St George's , Churchill repeatedly and unsuccessfully asked his mother to visit him .sx Before term ended there was sports day .sx " Please do let Everest and Jack come down to see the athletics , " he wrote , " and come down your self sic !sx dear .sx I shall expect to see you and Jack & Everest .sx " Lady Randolph did not take up her son's invitation , but there was a consolation .sx " My dear Mamma , " he wrote to her when the sports day was over , " It was so kind of you to let Everest come down here .sx I think she enjoyed her-self very much , " and he added , " Only 18 more days .sx " .sx In Churchill's report that term there was praise for his History , Geography , Translation and General Conduct .sx The rest of the report was less complimentary ; Composition was " very feeble " , Writing " good - but so terribly slow " , Spelling " about as bad as it well can be " .sx Under Diligence was written ; " Does not quite understand the meaning of hard work - must make up his mind to do so next term .sx " His place in the Division of nine boys was ninth ; his place in the Set of thirteen was thirteenth .sx That summer , while Churchill was at school , his grandfather , the 7th Duke of Marlborough , died .sx In deep mourning , Lord Randolph sought solace in travel .sx