Sarah Churchill

Duchess of Marlborough

• Born: June 5, 1660
• Birthplace: St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England
• Died: October 18, 1744
• Place of death: London, England

Churchill, duchess of Marlborough, was the wealthiest and most powerful woman in early eighteenth century England. The duchess’s early friendship with Anne, princess and later queen, helped the Churchills rise to prominence, wealth, and power. Churchill’s ambition and controlling personality caused breaches with her children, grandchildren and, most important, Queen Anne.

Early Life

Sarah Churchill was born to Richard Jennings and Frances Thornhill. Her father was a member of the House of Commons but had fallen on hard times. Thus, Sarah grew up in an unstable financial environment and lacked formal education. However, she was spirited, independent, strong willed, and beautiful, which attracted attention when she became maid of honor in October, 1673, to Mary Modena, the second wife of James, duke of York and Albany, heir to the throne as James II. This brought Sarah into contact with James’s daughters from his first marriage—Mary, age ten, and Anne, age eight—and initiated a friendship with Anne that lasted until its irreparable breach in April of 1710.

Sarah attracted the attention of the extremely handsome page, John Churchill, ten years her senior, and after initially rejecting his proposal, she accepted, and the two secretly married, perhaps as early as November, 1677. Thus began one of the most remarkable personal and political partnerships in English history.

Married life was characterized by periods of separation caused by John’s accompanying James and in later years conducting military and diplomatic operations on the Continent. This caused them great heartache, as Sarah was in England giving birth to their seven children. She attempted to procure good marriages for them, but her meddling in their lives caused familial friction.

Life’s Work

During the Exclusion Crisis (1679-1681), when the Whigs attempted to exclude James from the succession to the throne because of his Catholic beliefs, Sarah exhibited sympathy for Whig political ideals, although she was closely attached to James’s household. Because of her marriage, Sarah had to resign her position, but when Princess Anne married Prince George of Denmark in 1683, this necessitated an expansion of Anne’s household, and Sarah became one of the ladies of the bedchamber, beginning an official connection that lasted until Sarah was forced to resign her positions in January, 1711. Anne sought a friend and confidante while Sarah benefited from Anne’s position. Eventually, to create a more equal standing between them, Anne suggested that they use slang names in their correspondence—Anne became “Mrs. Morley” and Sarah became “Mrs. Freeman.”

After James II (r. 1685-1688) ascended the throne, Anne elevated Sarah to a salary of œ400 per year and gave Sarah greater financial independence. As James II’s policies worried leading Protestants that he intended to restore Catholicism, William of Orange, leader of the Netherlands and husband of Anne’s older sister Mary, led an invasion of England initiating the Glorious Revolution (1688-1689), which elevated William III (r. 1689-1702) and Mary II (r. 1689-1694) as joint sovereigns after James II fled into exile. John and Sarah performed notable services for William and Mary, as John had deserted James II and brought the army to William. Sarah had helped Anne escape from London ahead of attempts to place Anne and James under guard. However, Sarah and John did not benefit as much as they desired; John was elevated to earl of Marlborough. Suspicions that John was in contact with James and fear of John’s ambitions caused William III to strip John of his positions and briefly imprison him in the Tower of London. William and Mary asked Anne to dismiss Sarah, but Anne’s steadfast refusal to comply caused friction between the royal sisters.

When Anne became queen in 1702, the Marlboroughs benefited from Anne’s friendship. Sarah became keeper of the privy purse and ranger of Windsor Park, with an annual income of œ6,000. Since Sarah held these posts independently of John, it gave her financial independence. John was elevated to duke of Marlborough and named commander of English troops in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714). The couple wielded tremendous influence. To commemorate John’s victory at Blenheim (1704), Anne rewarded him with the royal manor at Woodstock. This became the site of their tremendous residence, Blenheim Palace, but it became a burden to them and occupied their attention the remainder of their lives, spawning acrimonious battles with the architect Sir John Vanbrugh and lawsuits over payment to the workers. After the Marlboroughs’ fall from favor, Anne ordered a halt to construction in 1712.

While John was on the Continent for a good part of the year because of his military and diplomatic responsibilities, Sarah, highly political and a supporter of the Whigs, attempted to influence Anne, a moderate Tory. Sarah’s constant badgering of Anne over appointments and policy caused Anne to seek a new confidante, Abigail Hill Masham, Sarah’s cousin, and gradually Sarah’s influence with the queen waned. Sarah was not above using Anne’s funds, about œ22,000 for construction of Blenheim Palace, and when it became apparent that Abigail was now Anne’s favorite, Sarah “accused” Anne of having lesbian relations with Abigail.

In 1710, Anne began replacing Whigs in her administration with Tories and the breach with Sarah became permanent. Anne and the Tories sought to end the War of the Spanish Succession and secure commercial and territorial gains by reaching a secret agreement with France. John became a liability because of his support for continuing the war, and the Marlboroughs were brought to heel. Sarah was forced to resign her positions in January, 1711; John, accused of seeking to prolong the war for his personal financial benefit, was formally stripped of his posts and command in December, 1711, and January, 1712. In late 1712, John left England for the Continent and Sarah joined him in early 1713.

When Anne fell ill in July of 1714, the Marlboroughs made preparations to return to England; they arrived the day of Anne’s death, August 1, 1714. The Marlboroughs were disappointed that they did not gain greater favor under George I (r. 1714-1727), but the king did order resumption of work on Blenheim Palace in 1716. However, in May and November of 1716, John suffered strokes and Sarah cared for him until his death on June 16, 1722. Sarah’s shrewd investments in land and stock substantially increased her wealth, but lawsuits over Blenheim Palace and poor health troubled her in the 1720’s.

She rejected marriage proposals because marriage would end her independence. Although she no longer possessed the political clout she once held, Sarah did have electoral influence because of her many estates, but her last attempt at intervention in politics in 1734 by supporting candidates opposed to Prime MinisterRobert Walpole was not successful, although she did live to see him resign in 1742. She published An Account of the Dowager Duchess of Marlborough in 1742 to elucidate the ill treatment she felt she had received. On October 18, 1744, Sarah died and was buried at Blenheim Palace. The body of her beloved husband John, buried at Westminster Abbey, was moved and buried next to her.

Significance

Sarah Churchill left a phenomenal fortune—estimated at œ400,000 in estates, œ250,000 in capital, and œ12,000 in annuities—that sparked lawsuits over its disposition. Her friendship with Queen Anne was one of the most significant between royalty and a commoner and provided the couple with tremendous advantages, but Sarah was unable to perceive that her hectoring and badgering of the queen had driven a wedge between them that contributed to loss of favor. In many ways, Sarah was her own worst enemy.

Her remarkable life and her marriage to John Churchill make her one of the most influential women in English history. She had mused what would have happened if she were a man and could run for Parliament. Sarah’s combination of intelligence, ambition, loyalty to her husband, tempestuous personality, and passion for life made her a force to be reckoned with. Her influence continued beyond her own lifetime, as the most illustrious of her descendants, English prime minister and statesman Winston Churchill, honored John with a massive biography. Winston Churchill applied lessons learned from his study of John’s dealings with King Louis XIV to his own dealings with Adolf Hitler and the English war effort in World War II.

Bibliography

Bucholz, R. O. The Augustan Court: Queen Anne and the Decline of Court Culture. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1993. Bucholz examines how and why court culture declined in importance by the early eighteenth century despite Anne’s efforts to restore it to its former glory. Maintains that Anne was not dependent upon her female favorites but was able to exert independence over Sarah Churchill and Abigail Hill Masham.

Butler, Iris. Rule of Three. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1967. This work provides valuable psychological insight into the characters of Anne, Sarah Churchill, and Abigail Masham. It is rich with many previously unpublished items.

Field, Ophelia. The Favourite: Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2003. A popular biography that is strong on Sarah’s relationships with her children.

Gregg, Edward. Queen Anne. 1980. Reprint. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2001. The first work to offer a major reassessment of Queen Anne’s political influence, containing an extensive treatment and analysis of the relationship between Sarah and Anne.

Harris, Frances. A Passion for Government: The Life of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1991. This extremely analytical, scholarly biography, based on extensive archival research, provides a complete treatment of Sarah’s life and influence.

Hibbert, Christopher. The Marlboroughs: John and Sarah Churchill, 1650-1744. New York: Viking Press, 2001. This dual biography from the well-known biographer Hibbert details the relationship and careers of this remarkable couple.