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Jeanette (Jennie) Jerome {Link without Title} CI DStJ , known also as '''Lady Randolph Churchill''' ( January 9 , 1854 – June 9 , 1921 ) was an American society beauty, best known to history as the mother of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill . EARLY LIFE She was born at 197 (formerly 8) Amity Street, in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn , New York , (426 Henry Street is incorrectly cited in some sources). She was the middle daughter of financier Leonard Jerome and his wife, Clara Hall. A noted beauty – an admirer said that there was "more of the panther than of the woman in her look" – Lady Randolph Churchill also worked as a magazine editor and bore a fashionable tattoo of a snake twined around her left wrist. Hall family lore insists that Jennie Jerome was part Iroquois , but no evidence of any Native American ancestry has yet been uncovered, despite much genealogical digging. MARRIAGE AND ADULTERY Long considered one of the most beautiful women of the time, she married, first, in 1874 , at the British Embassy in Paris , France , Lord Randolph Churchill ( 1849 – 1895 ), third son of John Winston Spencer-Churchill , the 7th Duke Of Marlborough . By this marriage, she acquired the title "Lady Randolph Churchill." They had two sons: Winston Churchill ( 1874 – 1965 ) and John Strange Spencer-Churchill ( 1880 – 1947 ). As was the custom of the day, she played a limited role in her sons' upbringing, relying largely upon nannies such as Winston's beloved Mrs. (Elizabeth) Everest. Winston completely worshipped his mother, writing her numerous letters during his time away from home at school, begging her to visit him, which she rarely did. However, after he became an adult, she and he became good friends and strong allies, to the point where Winston regarded her almost more as a sister than as a mother. Jerome was influential in the uppermost British social and political circles. She was said to be appealing and pleasing to be around, considered to be a strong personality, witty, intelligent, said to have laughed often, and was well respected. {Link without Title} It was said that , Jerome greatly helped Lord Randolph's early career. It has been long rumored that her second son, John Churchill, was not fathered by her husband Lord Randolph, but instead was possibly the son of an Irish nobleman, Col. John Strange Jocelyn, 5th Earl of Roden ( 1823 – 1897 ), with whom she is believed to have had an affair. That seems unlikely, however, given the similarity of names, which would seem okay a bit obvious under the circumstances that this was an alleged ''secret'' affair. She did, however, have numerous lovers during her marriage, including Count Charles Andreas Kinsky , King Edward VII Of The United Kingdom , and King Milan Of Serbia , the more prominent ones with the full knowledge of her husband. Later marriages Five years after the death of Lord Randolph, she married George Cornwallis-West ( 1874 – 1951 ) in 1900 , a captain in the Scots Guards . It was during this marriage, in 1908 , that she wrote ''The Reminiscences of Lady Randolph Churchill''. They separated in 1912 and were divorced in April 1914 . Jerome then married a third time, in 1918 , to Montague Phippen Porch ( 1877 – 1964 ), a member of the British Civil Service in Nigeria . Throughout her life, and all three marriages, Jerome had extra-marital affairs. In the early years this was generally for the social and political strengthening of her first husbands position. Her second and third husbands were both more than 20 years younger than she. Ironically, the year she married Lord Randolph was the year her second husband was born, and three years before her third husband would be born. During her first marriage, regardless of her affairs, her loyalty was always to Lord Randolph. She supported his causes, and wielded considerable power behind the scenes. Her second and third marriages seemed to have never held that loyalty to which she showed for him. DEATH AND AFTER Jerome has been portrayed on screen by the late actress, Lee Remick , in the American television series, ''Jennie'', and by the late actress Anne Bancroft in the film, ''Young Winston''. Jerome died in 1921 at the age of 67 after surgery to remove a gangrenous leg, and is buried in the Churchill plot at St Martin Church, Bladon , Oxfordshire , near her first husband and sons. Even after the death of Lord Randolph, Jerome preferred to be known as "Lady Randolph Churchill" despite her re-marriages, and even though she was not strictly entitled to this style any longer she was so well received in royal circles that no one seemed to object. Her affairs during her marriage with Lord Randolph never shook her respect for him and her loyalties to him. After her death her third husband, Porch, married in 1926 his second wife, Donna Giulia Patrizi (died 1938 ), a daughter of the Marchese Patrizi della Rocca. The last image is CHURCHILL, LADY RANDOLPH Neg. No: Lafayette 2220 Neg. Size: 15"x12" Neg. Date: 09-12-1899 It has been copied without permission or credit from a web site set up by the V&A Museum, London. BOOK
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