Albertha Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough

Albertha, Duchess of Marlborough VA
Born	Lady Albertha Frances Anne Hamilton 29 July 1847
Died	7 January 1932(1932-01-07) (aged 84)
Spouse(s)	George Spencer-Churchill, 8th Duke of Marlborough ​ ​ (m. 1869; div. 1883)​
Issue	Lady Frances Gresley Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough Lady Lillian Grenfell Lady Norah Bradley-Birt
Parents	James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn Lady Louisa Russell

Albertha Frances Anne Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, VA (née Lady Albertha Frances Anne Hamilton; 29 July 1847 – 7 January 1932) was an English aristocrat.

Early life

She was born the sixth daughter and tenth child of James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn, and Lady Louisa Russell. She was known to her friends and family as 'Goosey'^[1] and had a reputation being highly respectable,^[2] but a practical joker.^[1]

As a young woman, aged 18, Lady Albertha Hamilton was one of eight train bearers at the wedding of The Princess Helena and Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein on 5 July 1866 at Windsor Castle, Windsor, Berkshire, England.^[3]

Marriage and issue

On 8 November 1869, Albertha married George Spencer-Churchill, Marquess of Blandford, eldest son of John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough.^[2] This was in defiance of the wishes of George's dominating mother, Frances Anne Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, who disliked Albertha and described her as "stupid, pious and dull".

The wedding was held at the Westminster Abbey^[4] and was a double ceremony for the Hamilton family, where her sister Maud Evelyn Hamilton married Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne.^[5] The wedding was attended by the Prince and Princess of Wales^[6] and Albertha received a wedding gift of a "valuable Indian shawl" from Queen Victoria.^[7]

They had four children:

• Lady Frances Louisa Spencer-Churchill (15 September 1870 – 13 November 1954), married 6 June 1893 Sir Robert Gresley, 11th Baronet, and had issue.
• Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough (13 November 1871 – 30 June 1934), married firstly Consuelo Vanderbilt (they divorced in 1921) and secondly Gladys Marie Deacon.^[8] Had issue.
• Lady Lillian Maud Spencer-Churchill (9 July 1873 – 4 January 1951), married 6 October 1898 Colonel Cecil Grenfell, and had no issue.
• Lady Norah Beatrice Henriette Spencer-Churchill (1 September 1875 – 28 April 1946), married 1 December 1920 Francis Bradley Bradley-Birt, and had no issue.

Her husband was a member of the Marlborough House Set of the Prince of Wales and was involved in a society scandal known as the Aylesford Affair.^[9] Heneage Finch, 7th Ear of Aylesford cited Blandford as co-respondent in his divorce petition against his wife Edith Peers-Williams, due to their affair. They had an illegitimate son together. Albertha and her adulterous husband lived separately after 1875 and signed a formal deed of separation in 1878.^[9]

Later life

On 20 November 1883, shortly after Blandford inherited the dukedom following the death of his father,^[10] the couple were divorced on grounds of Blandford’s adultery, cruelty, and desertion towards his wife.^[11] Afterwards, though still entitled to be addressed as Albertha, Duchess of Marlborough, she preferred to use the title she had used throughout most of the couple's married life and was known as Albertha, Marchioness of Blandford.

She died in 1932.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Albertha Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough

8. John Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercorn 4. James Hamilton, Viscount Hamilton 9. Catherine Copley 2. James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn 10. The Hon. John Douglas 5. Harriet Douglas 11. Lady Frances Lascelles 1. Albertha Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough 12. Francis Russell, Marquess of Tavistock 6. John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford 13. Lady Elizabeth Keppel 3. Lady Louisa Jane Russell 14. Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon 7. Lady Georgina Gordon 15. Jane Maxwell

References

1. Pearson, John (1 December 2011). The Private Lives of Winston Churchill. A&C Black. ISBN 978-1-4482-0783-1.
2. Schutte, Kimberly (2014), Schutte, Kimberly (ed.), "An Open Aristocracy?", Women, Rank, and Marriage in the British Aristocracy, 1485–2000: An Open Elite?, London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 69–83, doi:10.1057/9781137327802_5, ISBN 978-1-137-32780-2, retrieved 16 September 2024
3. "No. 23140". The London Gazette. 17 July 1866. p. 4092.
4. "Marriages at Westminster Abbey". Lady's Own Paper. 13 November 1869. p. 11. Retrieved 15 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. Debrett's peerage, and titles of courtesy, in which is included full information respecting the collateral branches of Peers, Privy Councillors, Lords of Session, etc. Wellesley College Library. London, Dean. 1921. p. 539.
6. Hall, Matthew (5 March 2023). The Royal Princesses of England. BoD – Books on Demand. ISBN 978-3-382-12750-3.
7. "The Sun, London, Tuesday Evening November 9 1869". Sun (London). 9 November 1869. p. 2. Retrieved 15 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh (1985). Blenheim Revisited: The Spencer-Churchills and Their Palace. Bodley Head. ISBN 978-0-370-30848-7.
9. Dismore, Jane (20 October 2014). "The Duchess of Marlborough and the Aylesford Affair". Royal Central. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
10. Spencer-Churchill, Henrietta (3 September 2024). Blenheim: 300 Years of Life in a Palace. Rizzoli International Publications. ISBN 978-0-8478-3350-4.
11. Horstman, Allen (1 July 2016). Victorian Divorce. Routledge. pp. 135–136. ISBN 978-1-317-26796-6.