FATHER AND SON

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 36, 11 August 1934, Page 16

FATHER AND SON

A FAMOUS TITLE

DUKES OF MARLBOROUGH

TENTH OF THE LINE

(From "The Port's" Representative.) . , „ ;-. ' LONDON, July 6.'

The .tenth Duko of Marlborough, who until a week ago was tho Marquess of Blandford, is 30. \For some timo past he has been managing his own provision shop in Berkeley Square, selling produce from his Leicestershire farm. Ho married in 1920 the Hon. Mary Cadogan, daughter of the late Viscount-Chelsea and Lady Meux, and has four children —one son and three daughters.

Blenheim. Palace, Woodstock, ono of the Duke's homes, is the largest private residence in England. It was presented to the .first Duke of Marlborough by Queen Anne in recognition of his military achievements 'over tho French. Every year on1 the anniversary of the Battle' of Blenheim the Duko pays "quit rent" to tho King, or his representative at;. Windsor, for his estate. It. co.nsists .of a small flag bearing tho fleur-de-lis, ; and ; is '" .placed over the bust of.the first Duke in the Guardroom of Windsor1 Castle. ■ :

The late Duko had somo aspirations towards a political* career. His first post. was' that ;of :'Paymaster-Geueral in tho Salisbury administration, but two years .later" tho South African war broke out and he volunteered for active service. .He.went out with the Imperial Yeomanry, and as A.D.C. to General Sir lan Hamilton took part in the march through the Orange Free State on to Johannesburg. Ho was mentioned in dispatches. 'His regiment included in its full dress "Mantua purple breeches (the Churchill family colours) and Hessian boots with pink heels. After his' return ho was appointed Lord High Steward, and as such acted at the Coronation of King Edward. In 1903 Mr. Balfour nominated him as Undersecretary for the Colonies, and ho made no .secret of his desire to advance in every possible way a seheino of Imperial preference. His last political office was that, of joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture, which he hold from 1917.t0' 101 S. NOTABLE FRIENDSHIP. Sniair of.-;stat'ure, the. late, Duke posSessM'::great"'dignity of bearing. ,A friend-reniarksirri- -'. .. ....-'.. "Ono could say of him with truth that even tho vastness of Blenheim Palaco could never dwarf tho personality of its owner, and indeed ho was at his best against this. splendid background. Here, in his home, his manner, often austere,:became most courteously charming; he will ever remain, in the memory of his guests, a generous and delightful host.' Theso great hosts exist no more; perhaps he was tho last of them. I can never think of the Duke without remembering tho deep, affectionate friendship existing between him and tho first Earl of Birkenhead. Perhaps no two_ men could have boen more utterly dissimilar—the Duko, reserved, preciso; F. E. reckless and audacious. Yet they loved one another. They had, it is true, certain qualities in common—t in particular, a lion-hearted courage and a passion for horses. "Those Blenheim Chpstmases of long ago:,will never bo forgotten by the children who rode their Shetland ponies in the Park to gartieipatc—from a very long way away3=in tho exacting paperchases arranged by their host and P. E. The Duke, a magnificent horseman, rodo the thoroughbred grey hunters so long associated with the Blenheim staples;, F...E., a heavier man, possessed numerous weight-carriers with mouths of iron. " flVE.'s. damned horses, 5 tho Duke remarked frequently, 'all run away at a'walk.' But the- paper-chasea continued—sometimes the Duke was 'hare,' sQmetim,es his, friend. Then in the .evenings the children gathered happily in the Long Library while Mr. Perkins played :the famous organ and the Buke and Winston and P. E. talked politics, and not far away, in one of the State Booms, ■& giant •Christmas tree was prepared in secret." KNOWLEDGE OF AGRICULTURE. As the years passed ho devoted an increasing amount of his time to the management of his estates. His knowledge of agriculture widened, and he made many experiments of great value to the working farmer. In 1913 he put 1000 acres of Blenheim Park under the plough in order to demonstrate that with wheat at 4s a bushel, or 32s a quarter, it would pay the community to put back under the plough the land which was turned into rather poor pasturago during the time of tho depression. In, spite of tho light nature of tho soil, tho experiment was a success in that the laud gavo a better return from wheat than from pasturage. In; 1915, realising the increased needs of tho Stato in regard to foodstuffs, he substituted sheep for mowers in tho Blonheim Palace gardens and grew cabbages in the flower beds. The 9th Duke's first wife- was Consiiclo Vandcrbilt, daughter of the late Mr. W. K. Vanderbilt, of New York, whom.he married in 1895, when she was 17. Two sons were born—the one being the new Duke, the other Lord Ivor Churchill—and in 1921 the Duchess obtained a divorce. Five years later the Duchess applied to the Curia of the Roman Catholic diocese of Southwark for the annulment of. her marriage, which was granted. The official defender of the marriage bond appealed to the Holy Boman Rota, which in February, 1926, upheld the findings of the Southwark Diocesan Court; on the ground that Miss Vanderbilt was "coerced to enter into the marriage.:in order to free herself from the fear and constant threats of her mother. !!. In 1921 £he Duchess married Lieut.rColonel Jacques Balsan, and in the same year the Duke married Gladys Marie, daughter of Mr, Edward Parker-Deacon, of Boston. Ho was received into; the Roman Catholic Church in 1927.

During his last illness, tho nature of which ho was unaware, ho was visited by Madame- Balsan, who flew across from Franco. Her home is in the Alpcs Maritunes, high above Montel Carlo. His end. was swift and painless; he passed away in his sloop. His friends always called him "Sunny"—short for Sunderlantl,the Earldom which he boro when his fattier was Mnrquess of BlandfQTCl,