Lord Randolph Churchill

The Right Honourable Lord Randolph Churchill
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office 3 August 1886 – 22 December 1886
Prime Minister	The Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded by	William Vernon Harcourt
Succeeded by	The Viscount Goschen
Leader of the House of Commons
In office 3 August 1886 – 14 January 1887
Prime Minister	The Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded by	William Ewart Gladstone
Succeeded by	William Henry Smith
Secretary of State for India
In office 24 June 1885 – 28 January 1886
Prime Minister	The Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded by	The Earl of Kimberley
Succeeded by	The Earl of Kimberley
Personal details
Born	Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill 13 February 1849 Belgravia, London, United Kingdom
Died	24 January 1895 (aged 45) London, England, United Kingdom
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Jennie Jerome
Children	Winston Churchill John Churchill
Alma mater	Merton College, Oxford
Profession	Politician

Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill (13 February 1849 – 24 January 1895) was a British statesman. Churchill was a genuine Tory radical, who coined the term Tory Democracy. He inspired a generation of party managers, created the National Union of the Conservative Party, broke new ground in modern budgetary presentations, attracting admiration and criticism alike from across the political spectrum. His most acerbic critics resided in his own party among his closest friends; but his disloyalty to Lord Salisbury was the beginning of the end of what should have been a glittering career. His devoted son, Winston, who hardly knew his father in life, wrote a biography of him.

Born at 3 Wilton Terrace, Belgravia, London. Randolph Spencer was the third son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough, and his wife, Lady Frances Vane. He was at first privately educated, and later attended Tabor's Preparatory School, Cheam, London. In January 1863 he travelled the short distance by private train to Eton College, where he remained until July 1865. He did not stand out either at academic work or sport while at Eton; his contemporaries describe him as a vivacious and rather unruly boy.

Among lifelong friendships made at school were Edward Hamilton and Archibald Primrose. In October 1867 he matriculated and was admitted at Merton College, Oxford. At Oxford, Primrose, now Lord Dalmeny, joined him at the champagne-fuelled parties as members of the Bullingdon Club. Randolph was frequently in trouble with the university authorities for drunkenness, smoking in academic dress, and smashing windows at the Randolph Hotel. His rowdy behavior was infectious, rubbing off on friends and contemporaries; he gained a reputation as an enfant terrible. He had a liking for sport, but was an avid reader, playing hard and working hard.

Churchill experienced none of the early doubts but made many mistakes, as alluded to in Rosebery's biography. He never regretted being an early friend and admirer of the Disraelis. It was however the later cause of dissension that emerged in his relations with a colder more aloof, disciplinarian Salisbury, of whom he fell foul of party challenges. Churchill's youthful exuberance did not prevent him gaining a second-class degree in jurisprudence and modern history in 1870. A year later Churchill and his elder brother, George, were initiated into the rites of Freemasonry, as later his son Winston would be.

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