No More Champagne

by David Lough

31. 16 Aug 1923 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C1:54–5.

  32. 2 Sep 1923 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C1:56–9.

  33. 1 Oct 1923 R. Watson ltr to JSC, CHAR 2/128/18.

  34. 5 Sep 1923 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C1:59–60; Sep 1923 LlBk statement, CHAR 1/171. Churchill’s bank account confirms he made three cash withdrawals totalling 15,000 francs at the casino (and one other on the way home), then banked 59,000 French francs and 3,660 Spanish pesetas on return, a profit of more than 30,000 francs.

  35. Sep 1923 LlBk statement, CHAR 1/171.

  36. 2 Aug, 17, 23 Oct 1923 TB ltrs to WSC, CHAR 8/50/21, 32, 33. The second volume was published in October in time for the Christmas selling season on both sides of the Atlantic. By early 1924 British sales reached 9,587 (compared to the first volume’s 11,848), at which point Churchill had earned British book royalties (for both volumes) of £9,424. US sales reached only 2,700 after three months. See R. Cohen, Bibliography of the Writings of Sir Winston Churchill, pp. 223, 238.

  37. 15 Aug 1923 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C1:54–55.

  38. A. Atkinson, Top Incomes in the United Kingdom over the 20th Century, p. 7, University of Oxford, Discussion Papers, Economic and Social History, 43, Jan 2002; u/d 1925 Cox & Co. schedule, CHAR 1/185/24.

  39. 2 Sep 1923 WSC ltrs to CSC, 5C1:56–59; 20 Nov 1923 R. Waley-Cohen ltr to WSC, 5C1:68–9.

  40. 22 Nov 1923 LlBk statement, CHAR 1/171.

  41. Jan 1924 B. Bracken, ‘Monthly Notes’, English Life, cited C. Lysaght, Brendan Bracken, p. 60.

  42. 16 Jan 1924 Tilden accounts, CHAR 1/395/48–9.

  43. 22 Dec 1923, 16 Jan 1924 WSC corresp with P. Tilden, CHAR 1/395/19, 48; 12 Sep 1923 KFR ltr to WSC, 1/167/25. The finished property was due to comprise six reception rooms, twenty-two bedrooms and seven bathrooms.

  44. 17 Feb 1924 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C1:105–7.

  45. WSC, Thoughts and Adventures, p. 213.

  46. 23 Apr 1924 WSC ltr to TB, CHAR 8/199/12; A. Curtis Brown ltr to CSIII, Scribner Archive 3A box 31, PUFL.

  47. 12 Jun 1924 E. Nonweiler ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/176/5. Churchill’s 1924/5 tax liability of £1,500 represented an effective tax rate of 26.5 per cent on £5,613 of literary and investment income. His 1925/6 liability of £3,400 worked out at 35 per cent on earnings of £9,713, triggering a greater super-tax liability.

  48. 17 Apr 1924 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C1:144.

  49. 8 May 1924 W. Bray schedule, CHAR 1/173/17–8;10 Apr, 4 May 1923 P. Tilden ltr to WSC, 1/395/21,23–5; u/d 1924 WSC draft notes, 1/395/6–12.

  50. 16 Jun, 2, 4 Jul 1924 W. Bray, J. Leaning & Sons ltrs to WSC, CHAR 1/173/26, 35–6, 37–8; 10 Jul 1924 W. Bray ltr to P. Tilden, 1/395/44; 15 Jul 1924 WSC ltr to W. Bray, 1/395/51–2.

  51. 22, 25 Nov, 1 Dec 1924 J. Leaning & Sons report and corresp with WSC, WSC correspond with NM, CHAR 1/173/46, 52, 55, 56; 1/174/30. The sum assured was £19,760.

  52. G.M. Young, Stanley Baldwin p.88, cited H. Pelling Winston Churchill, p.296

  12. Chancellor under Pressure, 1925–8

  1. 8 Nov 1924 WSC ltr to WHB, CHAR 1/176/39.

  2. Ibid. 9 Feb 1925 WSC ltr to NM, CHAR 1/184/6. Churchill borrowed an additional £1,150 from Lord Randolph’s will trust.

  3. 17 Jan 1925 WSC ltr to WHB, CHAR 28/144/243.

  4. 15 Dec 1924 E. Nonweiler ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/176/40. Nonweiler forecast tax bills for Churchill of £4,480 in 1925/6, £5,933 in 1926/7 and £5,745 in 1927/8.

  5. 6, 7 Nov 1924 WSC ltrs to W. Lints Smith, TB, CHAR 8/198, 8/199/18.

  6. 4 Mar 1925 E. Nonweiler ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/185/6.

  7. 15 Dec 1924 R. Hopkins ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/176/44.

  8. 21 Oct 1924, 4 Mar 1925 E. Nonweiler ltrs to WSC, CHAR 1/148/56, 1/185/6.

  9. 15 Mar 1925 WSC ltr to CSC, SFT:291. Nash’s Pall Mall published one of these articles, Hobbies – for Those Whose Work and Pleasure are One (December 1925); it was reused as a chapter in Thoughts and Adventures (1932) and in Painting as a Pastime (1948). See R. Cohen, Bibliography of the Writings of Sir Winston Churchill, pp. 1348–9.

  10. 2 Feb 1925 WSC corresp tr with Hope & Sons, P. Tilden, J. Leaning & Sons, CHAR 1/395/70–1, 72–4.

  11. WSC draft memoirs, CHUR 4/76/13 cited R. Toye, Lloyd George & Churchill, p. 256.

  12. 28 Apr 1925 WSC speech to House of Commons, Parliamentary Debates 5th ser. 183, 28 Apr 1925, cols 64–5, 85–6. Churchill increased death duties on estates valued from £12,500 up to £1 million in order to cut the basic rate of income tax by 10 per cent, reduce the pension age from 70 to 65 and extend its payment to widows and orphans. See M. Daunton, Just Taxes, pp. 124, 132–7; 9 December 1924 WSC letter to Lord Salisbury, 5C1:297–8

  13. May 1925 LlBk statement, CHAR 1/187.

  14. 16 Aug 1925 WSC ltr to JSC, CHAR 1/184/62.

  15. For more details of the first Chartwell economy drive, see CHAR 1/178/36, 1/182/54, 1/184/63, 66, 1/191/18; Oct 1925 E. Nonweiler schedule, CHAR 1/185/26–7.

  16. 27, 28 Dec 1925, 23 Jan 1926 WSC ltrs to J. Leaning, CHAR 1/182/94, 95, 1/189/8.

  17. 29 Jan 1926 P. Tilden ltr to Fleetwood, Eversden & King, Tilden Papers, cited S. Buczacki, Churchill & Chartwell, p. 145.

  18. 4 Feb 1926 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C1:640–1

  19. 25 Mar 1926 WSC ltr to W. Guinness CHAR 1/192/25. Walter Guinness had gifted the lamp to Churchill, who reported feeling ‘decidedly more energetic’ after two ‘doses’.

  20. May 1926 LlBk statement, CHAR 1/193.

  21. 10 Jun 1926 JSC ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/190/15.

  22. U/d 1926 R. Hopkins note, NA IR 40/12833

  23. 9 Jun 1926 R. Hopkins note of meeting with WSC, ibid.

  24. 30 Jun 1926 R. Hopkins draft ltr, CHAR 1/191/29; 20 Jul 1926 WSC amended ltr to R. Hopkins, 1/191/38. Churchill crossed out the words ‘but not serially’ in a sentence that Hopkins had drafted as: ‘In these circumstances I am now proposing to complete the two books which I had in preparation & to publish them (but not serially) in the spring.’

  25. 23 Jul 1926 J. Shaw note to R. Hopkins, NA IR 40/12833.

  26. 30 Jul 1926 R. Hopkins ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/191/39.

  27. 21 Jun 1926 C. Kingsley ltr to ACB, CHAR 8/207/40; 12 Jul 1926 Scribner contract, 8/205/10. Kingsley offered £700, later squeezed up to £800.

  28. 13 May, 2 Jun 1926 TB ltrs to ACB, CHAR 8/207/30; 2 Jun 1926 LlBk guarantee, 8/205/2.

  29. 31 Jul 1926 LlBk loan statement, CHAR 1/193, 196. The total includes: £6,500 overdraft; £2,000 bank loan; £12,000 mortgage from Lord Randolph’s will trust; £11,600 loan from Churchill’s Elder Children’s Settlement. CHAR 1/196/1.

  30. 27 Jul 1926 W. Lints Smith ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/205/11, 11 Sep 1926 WSC ltr to TB, CHAR 8/206/14, u/d W. Lints Smith internal memo, TNL Archive Sir Winston Churchill Managerial File, MAN/1.

  31. Aug 1926 WSC memo to CSC, CSC Papers 3/24, CAC.

  32. R. Boothby, Recollections of a Rebel, pp. 44, 46.

  33. 11 Sep, 31 Oct 1926 WSC corresp with TB, CHAR 8/206/14, 30; 9 Nov, 7 Dec 1926, 7 Jan 1927 H. Bourne ltrs to WSC, 8/206/34, 42, 8/213/4. Churchill’s final bill for corrections, deletions, errata slips, maps and index on the third volume of The World Crisis exceeded £600.

  34. 6 Jan 1927 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C1:906–7.

  35. 1 Feb 1927 LlBk statement, CHAR 1/193. Three separate cash withdrawals at Casino R. Ferrand that evening totalled 35,000 francs (£385); on return, Churchill deposited 1,020 francs (£8).

  36. 28, 25 Jan 1927 WSC ltrs to CSC, 5C1: 922, 927–9.

  37. 18 Mar, 25 Apr 1927 CSIII ltr, cbl to WSC, Scribner’s Archive, Author files I, 3A Box 31/2, PUFL; 26, 27, 30 April 1927 TB ltrs to WSC, CHAR 8/213/15, 18,20; 22 Jul 1927 CSIII ltr to WSC, 8/214/67; 13 May, 2 Jun 1927 TB ltrs to WSC, 8/213/24, 28, 66. The book’s extra length and many maps forced publication in a boxed set of two books, at a higher price. Scribner’s printed 3,150 sets in America reporting sales of only 1,500 in the first six weeks; by late July 1927, they had picked up to 2,800.

  38. 20 May 1925 LlBk statement, CHAR 1/193; 27 Mar, 30 Apr WSC ltrs to E. Nonweiler, 1/197, 40, 32
.

  39. 20 May 1927 WSC memo to O. Niemeyer, 5:238. Sir Otto Niemeyer (1883–1971) was Controller of Finance at the Treasury, 1922–7; he became a director of the Bank of International Settlements (1931–65) and of the Bank of England (1938–52).

  40. 18, 23 Aug 1927 C. Fisher corresp with CB, CHAR 8/214/72, 76; 25 Aug, 29 Sep 1927 WHB ltrs to WSC, 1/197/16, 18; 22 Sep 1927 ACB ltr to WSC, 8/214/78; TB and CB statements, 8/214/81, 79.

  41. 12 May 1927 Fleetwood, Eversden, King ltr to P Tilden, Tilden Papers, cited S. Buczacki, Churchill & Chartwell. Churchill had first expected the combined costs of purchase and alterations to amount to £13,500. Tilden’s career went into decline; Churchill’s carpenter, Wallace, left Westerham, bankrupt, two years later; the builders, electricians and surveyors disappeared from view, leaving only Henry Hope & Sons, the window and locks contractor, still trading.

  42. 2, 4 Dec 1927 ACB corresp with WSC, CHAR 8/207/43, 44; 9 Dec 1927 with C. Kingsley, Scribner’s Archive Author files I, 3A Box 31/2 PUFL; 28 Dec 1927, 16 Jan, 3 Feb 1928 CSIII ltr to ACB, ibid. Scribner first offered $3,000 before settling at $3,600 (£720).

  43. 21 Nov 1927 W. Lints Smith ltr to WSC, TNL Archive Sir Winston Churchill Managerial File, MAN/1. The Times cut its fee from £2,500 to £2,000.

  44. 29 Feb 1928 WSC contract, International Magazine Company, CHAR 8/219/5.

  45. 26 Jan, 27 Feb 1928 WSC corresp with TB, CHAR 8/220/3, 9–10.

  46. 1 Mar 1928 WSC ltr to TB, 5C1:1218–19; 2 Apr 1928 TB contract, CHAR 8/220/29; TNL Archive Sir Winston Churchill Managerial File, MAN/1. The Times lent Butterworth half the funding for the extra advance.

  47. 6, 9 Dec 1927, 11 Jan, 6 Mar 1928 E. Nonweiler corresp with WSC, CHAR 1/197/24,23, 1/203/3, 9. Churchill introduced a single graduated scale, covering both income and the renamed sur-tax. See M. Daunton, Just Taxes, p. 111.

  48. 8 Apr 1928 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C1:1253–4. For Scribner’s contract, see CHAR 8/219/1.

  49. Oct, Nov 1928 Hilda Neal account, Miss Bradford expenses, CHAR 8/219/16–18. Miss Bradford and a typewriter cost four guineas a week; she was put up at a hotel in Westerham and given a daily taxi to and from Chartwell.

  50. 1 Aug 1928 S. Gaselee ltr to O. O’Malley, CHAR 8/217/41; 4 Aug 1928 C. Fisher letter to S. Gaselee, 8/217/43; 30 Nov 1928 S. Gaselee ltr to O. O’Malley, 8/218/147.

  51. 7 Aug WSC ltr to CSC, 5C1:1321–2.

  52. 21–3 Sep 1928 Diary of James Scrymgeour-Wedderburn, Dundee papers, cited 5C1:1340–47.

  53. 22 Sep 1928 WSC ltr to TB, CHAR 8/220/44.

  54. 27 Dec 1928 WSC ltr to W. Lints Smith, CHAR 8/219/40; 7 Jan 1929 WSC ltr to S. Baldwin, Baldwin papers cited 5C1:1411–3.

  55. 25 Oct 1928 ACB ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/207/51.

  56. 14 Nov 1928 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C1:1378–9.

  57. 28 Dec 1928 TB ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/220/68.

  58. 6 Mar 1929 R. Dingle ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/225/77.

  59. 29 Mar 1929 F. Greenslet ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/225/81–5.

  60. 10 May 1921 G. Harrap ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/225/95–6.

  61. 23 May 1929 WSC cbl to TB, CHAR 8/226/54.

  13. Making – and Losing – a New World Fortune, 1928–9

  1. Jun 1929 WSC schedule, CHAR 1/211/6–7.

  2. 5 Jul 1929 WSC ltr to W. Lints Smith, CHAR 8/225/162. When serialization began in June 1933, Lord Camrose decided to use The Sunday Times rather than The Daily Telegraph.

  3. 30 Jan 1929 G. Blake ltr to EHM, CHAR 8/225/3717; 20 Feb 1929 WSC corresp with G. Blake, 8/225/60, 64.

  4. 8 Jun 1929 J. Farquharson ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/228/4.

  5. 1925 Dealing Profits and Losses, Baruch Papers, MC006/742, Mudd Manuscript Library, PUMM.

  6. 29 Jun 1929 WSC ltr to C. Brown, CHAR 8/227/30.

  7. 28 Jun 1929 WSC ltr to BMB, CHAR 1/205/29.

  8. Jul 1929 BMB notes on WSC letter, Baruch Papers MC 006 Vol 64, PUMM.

  9. 28 Jul 1929 WSC ltr to BMB, Baruch Papers, MC 006 Vol 64, PUMM.

  10. 15 Jul 1929 BMB ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/206/17.

  11. 30 Jun 1929 LlBk statement, CHAR 1/213. £872 income tax was already overdue for 1927/8; £880 income tax and £2,300 sur-tax was now due for 1928/9; Churchill would have to pay at least £1,200 income tax for 1929/30 in mid-1930.

  12. 1, 22 Jul 1929 WSC ltrs to G. Harrap, CHAR 1/210/1–3; C. Scribner 5C2:23.

  13. 30 July 1929 WSC ltr to WHB, CHAR 28/145/12.

  14. 27 Jun, 16 Jul 1929 ACB ltrs to WSC, CHAR 8/227/31, 33.

  15. 8 Aug 1929 WSC ltr to CSC, 2C:37–40.

  16. 8 Aug 1929 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C2:37–40.

  17. 12 Aug 1929 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C2:43–6.

  18. 16 Aug 1929 E. Rich ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/227/2. The Daily Telegraph offered to take ten articles for a fee of £1,000; 29 Aug 1929 J. Wheeler ltr to E. Rich, 8/227/4; The Bell Syndicate guaranteed Churchill a minimum $500 each article for US sales; he was also to keep 60 per cent of Canadian sales. The articles were also sold to South Africa, Australia and Malaya (for a combined £225), and to Holland and France’s Le Figaro. With a foresight to which he paid scant personal heed, Churchill suggested ‘The Great Stock Market Craze’ as an early subject.

  19. 16 Aug 1929 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C2:51.

  20. 20 Aug 1929 WSC ltr to TB, CHAR 8/226/71.

  21. 27 Aug 1929 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C2:60–2. The article,‘Trotsky – the Ogre of Europe’, (fee £450) appeared in Nash’s Pall Mall and Cosmopolitan (US) in December 1929. ‘Lord Ypres’ (formerly Sir John French) and ‘Joseph Chamberlain’ were despatched from New York on 10 October for the magazines’ January and February 1930 editions. After retouching, both featured in ‘Great Men of Our Time’, the News of the World (1936).

  22. 28 Aug 1929 J. Richardson ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/211/16. Together, the two stakes cost $6,271.

  23. 25 Aug 1929 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C2:55–8.

  24. 27 Aug 1929 WSC letter to CSC, 5C2:60–2.

  25. 3 Sep 1929 F. Schultz ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/211/29.

  26. 4 Sep 1929 WSC ltr to J. Richardson, CHAR 1/211/34. Churchill sold the shares three weeks later for a profit of $1,400.

  27. 6 Sep 1929 RSC diary, 5C2:72.

  28. 29 Sep 1929 WSC ltr to CSC, SFT:346–7.

  29. 19 Sep 1929 WSC ltr to CSC, CHAR 1/207/81.

  30. 7 Sep 1929 WSC schedule, CHAR 1/211/43.

  31. 25 Sep 1929 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C2:93–6.

  32. 30 Sep 1929 H. Vickers cbl to WSC, CHAR 1/211/54.

  33. 29 Sep 1929 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C2:96–8.

  34. 1 Oct 1929 W. Van Antwerp cbl to WSC, CHAR 1/211/62.

  35. Oct 1929 Savoy Plaza Hotel account, Baruch Papers, MC 006 Vol 64, PUMM. For three weeks’ stay, including theatre tickets and valet service, the bill was $1,250.

  36. 9 Oct 1929 WSC cbl to W. Van Antwerp, CHAR 1/211/64.

  37. 10 Oct 1929 WSC cbl to W. Van Antwerp, CHAR 1/211/67; 9 Oct 1929 Torge & Schiffer cbl to WSC, 1/208/9. The fee of $12,500 for a speech which Churchill gave at New York’s Bond Club (arranged by Baruch and sponsored by McGowan) funded the first cheque – see 14 Oct 1929 E. F. Hutton Account, CHAR 1/211/57. Churchill sent a second cheque for $2,187.

  38. 10 Oct 1929 WSC cbl to A. Bailey, CHAR 1/208/25.

  39. 12 Oct 1929 WSC corresp with VdaC, CHAR 1/211/71, 75.

  40. 10 Oct 1929 WSC cbl to VdaC, CHAR 1/211/69.

  41. Dec 1929 VdaC schedule, E. F. Hutton dealings October 1929, CHAR 1/211/140–41.

  42. Oct 1929 WSC schedule, CHAR 1/216/44.

  43. 25 Oct 1929 Van Antwerp cbl to WSC, CHAR 1/211/92.

  44. 25 Oct 1929 WSC cbl to H. McGowan, CHAR 1/208/108.

  45. Cited C. Sandys, Chasing Churchill, p. 98.

  46. 29 Oct 1929 WSC schedule, CHAR 1/211/98.

  47. Averell Harriman Papers, General File, working file 2, CURBMSL.

  48. 1929 Income tax computation, Baruch Papers, MC 006/742, PUMM.

  49. 30 Oct 1929 BMB cbl to WSC, Baruch Papers, MC 006 Vol 64, PUMM.

  50. 31 Oct 1929 B. Baruch cbl to WSC, CHAR 1/211/102. These transactions we
re the source of the story that Baruch reversed all of Churchill’s New York losses (told in Sir John Colville’s memoirs: J. Colville, The Churchillians, pp. 86–7): ‘When Churchill arrived in New York, unhampered by his wife’s sobering presence,’ Colville wrote, ‘he allowed his gambling instinct to take charge. He went to Baruch’s office, sat down before the price indicator and played the markets. He knew nothing of what he was doing: to him it was like playing roulette at Monte Carlo. He plunged deeper and deeper. Finally he stopped, for he had lost more than he possessed. He realized that he must sell Chartwell and all that he owned. Baruch came into the room and Churchill told him that he was ruined. Baruch explained that, guessing what would happen, he had given instructions that every time Churchill bought Baruch would sell, and every time Churchill sold Baruch would buy. He was therefore all square. Presumably Baruch paid the commissions. Churchill never forgot the debt he owed.’ There is no evidence to back up this story in Baruch’s Financial Records for 1927–36 [Baruch Papers, MC 006, box 742, PUMM]: these record Baruch’s transactions with more than twenty brokers and identify the investments that he made for various third parties (his daughter et al). None of the sixty-seven deals recorded in his October 1929 accounts were originally carried out in Churchill’s name. The deals consist of Baruch’s customary mix of sales and purchases, undermining the legend that he was one of the few financiers to foresee the Crash.

  51. 9 Dec 1929 WSC article, Daily Telegraph.

  14. A Strategy for Survival, 1930–1

  1. 12, 13 Nov 1929 WSC draft, WHB ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/211/106, 28/145/5.

  2. 3, 7 Jan 1930 WSC corresp with G. Blake, CHAR 8/273/3, 13.

  3. 20 Nov 1929 L Thornley ltr to WHB, CHAR 28/145/26–7; 28 Nov 1929 G. Allen ltr to WHB, 28/145/21; 11 Dec 1929 NM account, 1/211/135. The life insurance premium on Churchill’s £6,000 policy (required to secure a £5,000 loan) cost £263 a year; loan interest at 5¼ per cent a further £262; a combined total of £525 a year.

  4. 15 Nov 1929 BMB cbl to WSC, Baruch Papers, MC 006 Vol 64, PUMM.

  5. 13, 16, 20 Nov, 3, 16 Dec 1929 WSC corresp with WHB, NM, CHAR 1/211/108, 111, 138; 28/145/26; 18 Nov WSC ltr to MWB, cited K. Young, Churchill and Beaverbrook: a study in friendship and politics, p. 110.