General Notes

Churchill, Randolph Henry Spencer, usually called Lord Randolph Churchill
(1849-95), British statesman, born at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, England,
and educated at Eton College and the University of Oxford. Churchill entered
the House of Commons as a Conservative in 1874 and was a passive member until
1880, when the Conservative defeat roused him to action as leader of the
so-called Fourth party, a small band of independents of the Conservative and
Tory parties. They advocated a progressive program for the Conservative party
known as "Tory democracy." Churchill distinguished himself as a ready
unconventional debater, attracting particular attention by his criticism of
the foreign and domestic policy of Prime Minister William E. Gladstone. When
the Conservatives returned to power in 1885, Churchill became secretary of
state for India. His period of office was marked by the annexation of Burma.
For six months in 1886 he was leader of the House of Commons and chancellor of
the Exchequer, but he resigned because he opposed increased military
expenditures. Thereafter he was inactive in public life. In 1874 Churchill
married the American heiress Jennie Jerome. Their son, Sir Winston Churchill,
was British prime minister during and after World War II.