Birth

Churchill was born on 30 November 1874 at his family's ancestral home, Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. As direct descendants of the Dukes of Marlborough, his family were among the highest levels of the British aristocracy. His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, had been elected Conservative MP for Woodstock in 1873. His mother, Jennie, was daughter of Leonard Jerome, a wealthy American businessman.