Card of the Day - 2022-04-05

The first thing that I pick up on is the rather odd text calling the King of Burma “…an insolent native”, presumably for daring to try and protect his country against ours. Its no wonder that Empire has become such an objectionable word over the centuries. 
This of course is Lord Randolph Churchill (1849 – 1895), who is called “a descendant of Marlborough”, and whose own descendent, his son, was Winston Churchill. Lord Randolph Churchill also appears on a Guinea Gold, number 32 of 62 in the “Politicians” series, as “The Late Lord Randolph Churchill Secretary in Lord Salisbury`s First and Chancellor of the Exchequer in Lord Salisbury`s Second Ministry.

Cousis also shows him, not as "late", though it says the card was issued in 1905. Both these cards are from Chartwell Booksellers, a New York retail outlet devoted to Churchilliana. 

Another of his ancestors is on Lea “Miniatures”, First Series 30/50 – this is John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough K.G. from an original by Sir Godfrey Kneller. The intriuguing thing here is that it says he was the “Second son of Sir Winston Churchill”. You can read of his exploits direct on the card at the New York Public Library. The same portrait of John Churchill, but in brown and white, also appears in Nicolas Sarony “Celebrities and Their Autographs” card 36 – and do note that he signs his name not as John Churchill, but as “Marlborough