When you think about Sir Winston Churchill, one of the great political and military leaders in British history, your mind doesn’t automatically connect him with Brooklyn, NY.
After you read this article, though, it just might, because the world and the people in it are often connected in weird and wonderful ways.
According to sightseeing guide Tommy Silk of Landmarks of New York, the former British Prime Minister was born in England – Oxfordshire to be exact – but his mother Jeanette (Jennie) was born in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.
Image Credit: Erik Lander
There’s some debate as to whether she lived at 190 Amity Street or 426 Henry Street, but either way, he was definitely half-American.
“Some people don’t realize that Winston Churchill was half-American, and fewer still know that his mother was from Brooklyn.”
Jennie’s father Leonard Jerome was a wealthy financier who was known at the time as the “King of Wall Street.”
He made flamboyant investments and was a close friend and business associate of at least one Vanderbilt – both of which ensured that his daughters would marry well.
Image Credit: Public Domain
Jeannette married Lord Randolph Churchill in April of 1874.
Winston was their eldest son, born in November of 1874 and a younger brother, John Strange Spencer-Churchill, followed 6 years later.
Image Credit: Public Domain
The family resided in England after the couple’s marriage and most people don’t realize that Jennie was born an American at all.
But the truth, as they say, is always out there and when it comes to cool historical tidbits, and I’m totally here for unearthing every single little one.
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