Francis Spencer, 1st Baron Churchill

Francis Almeric Spencer, 1st Baron Churchill, was born on December 26, 1779, and died on March 10, 1845. He was a British peer and a member of the Whig political party, belonging to the Spencer family lineage.

Early Life

He was born as Lord Francis Almeric Spencer, the second youngest of four children of John Spencer, the 4th Duke of Marlborough, and Lady Caroline Russell. His siblings included Lady Caroline Spencer, Lady Elizabeth Spencer, George Spencer-Churchill (later the 5th Duke of Marlborough), Lady Charlotte Spencer, Lord Henry John Spencer, Lady Anne Spencer, and Lady Amelia Spencer.

His paternal grandparents were Charles Spencer, the 3rd Duke of Marlborough, and Hon. Elizabeth Trevor, herself the daughter of Thomas Trevor, 2nd Baron Trevor. Among his paternal aunts were Lady Diana Beauclerk and Lady Elizabeth Spencer.

On his maternal side, his grandparents were John Russell, the 4th Duke of Bedford, who served as the British Ambassador to France, and Gertrude Leveson-Gower, daughter of John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower. His maternal relatives included his uncle Francis Russell, Marquess of Tavistock, and cousins Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford, and John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford.

Career

From 1801 to 1815, Spencer served as a Member of Parliament for Oxfordshire. Upon retiring from Parliament, he was elevated to the peerage as Baron Churchill, of Wychwood in Oxfordshire.

During the Napoleonic Wars, he raised a volunteer cavalry Troop in Oxford, becoming its Captain on November 3, 1803. After the wars, the volunteer troops were consolidated into the North Western Oxfordshire Regiment of Yeomanry, with Spencer, now titled Lord Churchill, as Lieutenant-Colonel.

Personal Life

He married Lady Frances FitzRoy, daughter of Augustus FitzRoy, the 3rd Duke of Grafton, on November 25, 1800. They had several children:

- Francis George Spencer, 2nd Baron Churchill (1802–1886), who married Lady Jane Conyngham in 1849.

- Lt.-Col. Hon. George Augustus Spencer (1804–1877), married Charlotte Munro in 1834.

- Hon. Caroline Elizabeth Spencer (1805–1864), married Robert Dillon, 3rd Baron Clonbrock, in 1830.

- Hon. General Sir Augustus Almeric Spencer (1807–1893), married Helen Maria Campbell in 1836.

- Hon. William Henry Spencer (1810–1900), a clergyman, married Elizabeth Rose Thornhill in 1838; after her death, he married Louisa Mercer Call in 1852, and later Anna Maria Cowley Sheppard in 1893.

- Hon. Robert Charles Henry Spencer (1817–1881), married Lady Louisa Spencer-Churchill in 1845.

- Hon. Charles Frederic Octavius Spencer (1824–1895), vicar at Sutton, married Hester Eliza Fardell in 1847.

- Hon. Elizabeth Spencer (d. 1858), married Rev. Havilland de Sausmarez in 1850.

He died in 1845 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Francis.

His fourth son, William Henry Spencer, married Elizabeth Rose Thornhill in January 1838, and their daughter, Isabella Elizabeth Spencer (later Griffin), married Marten Harcourt Griffin, a barrister and grandson of Captain William Sandey of the Royal Navy.

Legacy

Mount Churchill in British Columbia, Canada, was named after him in 1860 by Sir George Henry Richards.