Spencer family

Spencer

Spencer coat of arms
Ethnicity	English
Current region	Northamptonshire, England
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Members	Duke of Marlborough Earl of Sunderland Earl Spencer Viscount Churchill Sir Winston Churchill Diana, Princess of Wales
Connected families	British Royal Family
Estate	Blenheim Palace Althorp

The Spencer family is one of Britain's preeminent aristocratic families. Over time, several family members have been made knights, baronets, and peers. Hereditary titles held by the Spencers include the dukedom of Marlborough, the earldoms of Sunderland and Spencer, and the Churchill viscountcy. Two prominent members of the family during the 20th century were Sir Winston Churchill and Diana, Princess of Wales.

The family is descended in the male line from Henry Spencer (died c. 1478). In the 16th century they claimed that Henry was a descendant of the cadet branch of the ancient House Le Despencer. The descent of the family from the Medieval Despencers has been debunked, especially by J. Horace Round in his essay The Rise of the Spencers. The Spencers were granted a coat of arms in 1504, "Azure a fess Ermine between 6 sea-mews’ heads erased Argent" which bears no resemblance to that used by the family after c. 1595, which was derived from the Despencer arms, "Quarterly Argent and Gules in the second and third quarters a Fret Or overall on a Bend Sable three Escallops of the first" (the scallops standing for the difference as a cadet branch). Round argued that the Despencer descent was fabricated by Richard Lee, a corrupt Clarencieux King of Arms. Citing Round, The Complete Peerage dismissed the alleged Despencer descent as an "elaborate imposture" which "is now incapable of deceiving the most credulous."

Today's Spencers are direct descendants, albeit illegitimate, of the House of Stuart, with the family boasting at least five lines of direct descent from the Stuarts; and from them, the Spencers can trace their ancestry to other royal houses such as the Bourbons, the Medicis, the Wittelsbachs, the Hanovers, the Sforzas, the Habsburgs, and the Houses of Howard and Boleyn through Mary Boleyn, Mistress of Henry VIII of England. Of course, the heirs to the Prince of Wales, Princes William and Harry are half Spencers.