Winston & Clementine Churchill were married for 56 years from 1908 until his death in 1965. For one of my posts this Valentine’s week, I thought to begin by taking a look at this letter from Winston Churchill to Clementine’s mother upon his proposal of marriage (note I changed “vy” to “very” to make it more understandable):
“My dear Lady Blanche Hozier,
Clementine will be my ambassador today. I have asked her to marry me & we both ask you to give your consent & your blessing. You have known my family for so many years that there is no need to say very much in this letter. I am not rich nor powerfully established, but your daughter loves me & with that love I feel strong enough to assume this great & sacred responsibility; & I think I can make her happy & give her a station & career worthy of her beauty and her virtues.
Marlborough is very much in hopes that you will be able to come down here today & he is telegraphing to you this morning. That would indeed be very charming & I am sure Clementine will persuade you.
With sincere affection
Yours ever,
Winston S. Churchill”
On September 12, 1908, at St. Margaret’s, Westminster, Clementine made the wise decision to marry Winston Churchill. He was more than a decade older and already a seasoned Parliamentarian, and obviously a humble man at this point who would go on to become perhaps the greatest statesman of the 20th century. (Is it any wonder that I named my son after him?)
We may never know all that Clementine did to contribute to her husband's success and leadership of the Western world during WWII, but the love of such a woman surely held him up in his "black dog" days.
Truly a love to inspire…
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