The Churchill Series – Mar. 2, 2007

(One of a series of weekday posts on the life of Winston S. Churchill.)

In this post I’ll just say a few things concerning posts earlier this week.

We had the incident Inspector Thompson related of Churchill refusing to let the insurance company pay for damage he knew wasn’t covered by his policy even though the company had already cut a check for the damage.

That story put me in mind of something few historians note: In Chruchill’s a long political career spanning almost 60 years there’s, no evidence of Churchill ever using public office or connections for improper financial gain.

A questioner asks whether Churchill ever took his nurse and nanny, Mrs Ann Everest, to Harrow. I don’t know about that but here’s something about his treatment of her which gets most things right:

Mrs. Ann Everest, Winston Churchill's nanny. He addressed her as "Woom", which was the nearest he could get to saying "Woman." She was born in Chatham in Kent.

So far as is known, she was never married, so the "Mrs." may well have been an honorary title. Churchill wrote in his autobiography, "My Early Life" : "I loved my mother dearly - but at a distance. My nurse was my confidante. Mrs. Everest it was who looked after me and tended all my wants. It was to her I poured out all my many troubles. Before she came to us, she had brought up for twelve years a little girl called Ella, the daughter of a clergyman who lived in Cumberland." She went into service with the Churchill family in early 1895, a few months after Winston's birth, and remained with the family until 1893

. When she died (at her sister's house, 15 Crouch Hill in North London), Churchill telegraphed to the clergyman, the Venerable Thompson Phillips, in Barrow-in-Furness. Churchill wrote, "He had a long memory for faithful service. We met at the graveside. He had become an Archdeacon. He did not bring little Ella with him."

Churchill paid for the headstone. His son, Randolph, wrote in the first volume of the biography of his father, "For many years afterwards he paid an annual sum to the local florist for the upkeep of the grave." The same book states that the headstone bears Churchill's name along with that of his brother, Jack

Mrs. Everest never married. It was common for nannies who did not to be accorded what was seen in those days as the more honored address of “Mrs.” instead of merely “Miss.”

The information about Mrs. Everest is here.

There will be no Churchull posts next Monday and Tuesday, Mar. 5 & 6. My wife and I will be traveling to Australia visiting our grandkids.

On Wed. Mar. 7 the Churchill Series will resume.

I hope you each have a wonderful weekend.