by David Lough
28. 24 Oct 1934 P. Davies ltr to WSC, CHAR 4/491/30; 30 Oct 1934 V. Pearman ltr to P. Davies, 8/491/32; 19 Nov 1934 C. Everitt cbl to WSC, 8/493/93. Curtis Brown sold the series to the Chicago Tribune for $6,000, but the paper’s insistence that all material must be ‘first-run’ meant Churchill had to re-employ Diston to paraphrase the material taken from My Early Life.
29. 10 Nov 1931 NM ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/223/59–60.
30. 18 Dec 1934 WSC ltr to NM, CHAR 1/259/13.
31. 21 Dec 1934 WSC cbl to CSC, 5C2:969.
32. 1 Jan 1935 WSC ltr to CSC, SFT:369–70; LlBk statements CHAR 1/241.
33. U/d Jan 1935 WSC schedule, CHAR 1/279/1. Churchill still based his spending estimates on household running costs of £500 a month; records show that the two households cost approximately £950 a month to run.
34. 18 Jan 1935 WSC ltr to CSC, SFT:373–4.
35. 21 Jan 1935 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C2:1037–40.
36. 23 Jan 1935 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C2:1044–6.
37. 23 Jan 1935 A. Korda ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/514/112–14.
38. 1 Jan 1935 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C2:979–83.
39. 11 Jan 1935 WSC ltr to P. Cudlipp, CHAR 8/508/4.
40. 2 Apr 1935 Secretary’s note on A. Cranfield ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/509/15.
41. 13 Apr 1935 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C2:1137–41. It took three more months for lawyers to agree a final settlement: Churchill was to receive £7,000 in 1935 and the early part of 1936, of which £4,000 would be treated as compensation (exempt from tax).
42. Ibid. May 1935 LlBk statement, CHAR 1/269/46; SFT:299. The outstanding amounts, exceeding £1,000, were owed to Randolph Payne & Sons (wine merchants) and two tailors. According to her daughter, Clementine bought a pair of diamond earrings with the gift.
43. Cabinet Minute Cab.11 (34) 5, CAB 23/78; Cabinet Paper CP 69 (34), CAB 24/248, NA, cited D. Reynolds, In Command of History, pp. 26–8.
44. 19 Nov 1934 WSC ltr to R. Howorth, 5C2:925. Nine former ministers, including Lloyd George, held out.
45. 18, 27 Jun 1935 WSC corresp with M. Hankey, 5C2:1198–9, 1203–4. See D. Reynolds, In Command of History, pp. 26–8.
46. 6, 8 Jul 1935 WSC corresp with JSC, CHAR 1/277/90, 91; 27 Jun 1935 VdaC account, 1/277/92.
47. 1–28 Aug, 2–9 Sept 1935 VdaC reports and contract notes, CHAR 1/278/1, 3, 7, 10, 11, 13, 39–46, 50, 52, 54. At the end of August, Churchill’s accumulated loss was $9,250.
48. 16–23 Sep 1935 VdaC contract notes, CHAR 1/278/67–82.
49. 5 Oct 1935 WSC cbl corresp with BMB, CHAR 1/272/19, 20. Churchill bought 100 shares at $423? each.
50. 20 Sep 1935 C. Thornton-Kemsley, Sir Colin Thornton-Kemsley Diaries, 5C2:1262–4.
51. 11 Sep 1935 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C2:1257–9.
52. Sep 1935 LlBk statement, CHAR 1/269/58.
53. 14, 26 Sep 1935 WSC corresp with S. Williams, CHAR 1/279/152–3, 161.
17. Films, Columns and Debts, 1935–7
1. 3 Oct 1935 WSC ltr to G. Harrap, CHAR 8/504/56.
2. WSC, The Second World War, 1:141.
3. 12, 15, 23 Jul 1935 P. Davies corresp with WSC, CHAR 8/511/26, 25, 32; 12, 17 Oct 1935 A. Diston corresp with V. Pearman, WSC, 5/511/39, 40, 46, 49. Churchill received c.£350 for each article (before foreign sales or subsequent re-publication in book form); he paid Diston £15 for each draft (on Clemenceau, Balfour, French, Curzon, Morley, Chamberlain and Fisher).
4. 11 Sep 1935 W. Chenery ltr to C. Everitt, CHAR 8/512/85.
5. 2, 3 Dec 1935 WSC corresp with S. Williams, CHAR 1/279/197, 9. Churchill’s £8,000 overdraft was secured by his holding in Sir Henry Strakosch’s Union Corporation shares (worth £4,125), by gilt-edged stock (£1,750) and by the surrender value of his 1908 life insurance policy (valued by his bank at £3,500).
6. 9 Aug 1935 Randolph Payne & Sons ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/283/36; 11 Dec 1935 Lord Sandhurst ltr to V. Pearman, 1/275/150; Dec 1935 account, 1/283/39.
7. Dec 1935 Secretaries’ analysis: 1935/6 Wines and spirits supplied, CHAR 1/318/4–12. In addition to the champagne, 1935’s deliveries included £96 of brandy, £62 of whisky and £40 of port. Economy measures, including a switch to the less expensive 1926 Pol Roger vintage, reduced the cost in 1936 to £740.
8. 30 Dec 1935 WSC ltr to CSC, SFT:404–5.
9. 8 Jan 1936 WSC ltr to CSC, SFT:406–8.
10. 21, 29 Jan 1936 E. Carr cbl, ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/533/3, 13.
11. 31 Jan 1936 WSC corresp with R. Shaw, A. Diston, CHAR 8/535/1, 2, 6, 13.
12. 26 Nov 1935 WSC ltr to ACB, CHAR 8/516/71.
13. 28 Mar 1936 V. Pearman note re H. Long tel call, WSC ltr, CHAR 8/538/44, 43; 2 Apr 1936 WSC Evening Standard contract, 8/534/32–4.
14. 22, 27 Feb, 11, 19, 24 Mar, 2 Apr 1936 WSC corresp with W. Hearst, C. Everitt, H. Long, CHAR 8/813/78, 8/536/16, 8/538/32–4, 37, 38.
15. 3, 14 Apr 1936 WSC ltr to W. Hearst, H. Long ltrs to WSC, WSC cbl to Hyde, editor Today, 5C3:89, CHAR 8/538/56, 51, 8/536/31. Churchill and Curtis Brown lowered the price to interest other US buyers, but sold only two articles, one at a trial price of $100 and another at $250.
16. 18 Apr 1936 WSC ltr to K. Feiling, 5C3:104.
17. 18, 20 May 1936 WSC corresp with G. Harrap, CHAR 8/529/115–7, 122–3. The first volume of Marlborough had sold 13,000 copies, the second 9,500.
18. 23, 27 May 1936 WSC ltrs to CSIII, W. Hadley, CHAR 8/529/126, 8/528/195.
19. 6, 7, 11 Aug 1936 N. Flower corresp with WSC, CHAR 8/532/195, 196–7, 200.
20. 28 Aug, 7 Sep 1936 The Sunday Times, G. Harrap ltrs to WSC, CHAR 8/528/183, 8/530/112. The Sunday Times paid £500 at the end of August; Churchill’s corrections, deletions and extra proof copies reduced Harrap’s cheque to £2,624 (from £3,000).
21. 5 Sep 1936 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C3:336–8.
22. Sep 1936 LlBk statement, CHAR 1/269/90.
23. 29 Apr 1936 RSC ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/284/110; 13 May, 3 Sep 1936 NM ltrs to WSC, CHAR 1/290/31, 53; 3 Aug 1936 RSC cbl to WSC & CSC, 1/285/116. In April 1936 Randolph admitted to new debts (since his last rescue) of £1,180, mostly as a result of gambling losses. Churchill approved a fresh loan from Lord Randolph Churchill’s will trust to Randolph, because bankruptcy would have ruined his hopes of a political career. By the time the trust completed formalities in September, it had advanced Randolph £7,200 and he declared himself ‘definitely cured of casinoitis’.
24. 21 Feb 1936 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C3:52–4.
25. 5 Jun, 2 Jul 1936 Chadbourne, Stanchfield & Levy reports, CHAR 1/288/7, 21.
26. 20 Sep 1936 WSC cbl to RSC, CHAR 1/288/40.
27. 15, 17, 27 Oct 1936 P. Cudlipp corresp with WSC, CHAR 8/534/41–2, 39, 52.
28. 23 Oct 1936 WSC ltr to H. Long, CHAR 8/538/156.
29. 2 Oct 1936 Secretary note to WSC, CHAR 2/283/20.
30. D. Irving, Churchill’s War: The Struggle for Power vol.i; E. Spier, Focus, pp. 20–2, pp. 160–2. Between 1936–9 Spier contributed £9,600 to Focus, which held several further lunches at The Savoy (29 October 1936, 19 April, 14 June, 16 December 1937, January 1938); public meetings at the Royal Albert Hall (3 December 1936), in Manchester and other cities (spring 1937); and in Manchester and Sheffield (May 1938).
31. 27 Sep 1936 J. Landau ltr to WSC, 5C3:251–2. The visit was planned by a group of friends led by Jacob Landau, an Austrian-born Jewish journalist, founder of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in London and New York. Churchill marked Landau’s letter ‘Secret’.
32. 13, 15, 21 Oct, 26 Nov, 15 Dec 1936 R. Shaw corresp with WSC, CHAR 8/534/41–6; 13 Nov 1936 P. Cudlipp ltr to WSC, 8/534/57.
33. A. de Courcy, The Viceroy’s Daughters, p. 229.
34. 21 Oct 1936 G. Mason ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/292/97. The amount claimed was £1,014.
35. 27 Nov 1936 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C3:438–9.
36. 28 Nov 1936 RSC cbl to WSC, 5C3:445.
37. 8 Dec 1936 H. Nicolson, Diary, Nicolson Papers.
38. 18 Dec 1936 H. Everitt ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/536/60. The offer was from the Chicago Tribune.
39. 1 Jan 1937 WSC ltr to BMB, CHAR 1/298/3.
40. 7 Jan 1937 WSC ltr to CSC, CHAR 1/303/2.
41. 2 Feb, 26 Mar 1937 WSC ltrs to S. Oliver, CHAR 1/330/21, 44.
42. 31 Dec 1936 LlBk statement, CHAR 1/297/102. Churchill’s overdraft finished 1936 at £8,080.
43. 28 Dec 1936 WSC ltr to S. Williams, CHAR1/292/117–18. The long-term loans totalled £4,000.
44. December 1936 Harrods and other accounts, CHAR 1/311–2.
45. U/d 1936 V. Pearman memo, CHAR 1/310/1; 24 Mar 1937 Inventory of wine at Chartwell, 1/318/34–5. The inventory listed 180 bottles and thirty half-bottles of Pol Roger champagne, twenty bottles and nine half-bottles of other champagne, over a hundred bottles of claret, 117 bottles and 389 half-bottles of Barsac, thirteen bottles of brandy, five of champagne brandy and seven of liqueur whisky.
46. U/d WSC memo, CHAR 1/310/2–3.
47. 1 Mar 1937 Secretaries’ schedule of accounts outstanding, CHAR 1/310/26–8.
48. 2 Feb 1937 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C3:572–6.
49. 2 Feb 1937 WSC letter to N. Flower, CHAR 8/550/1.
50. The loans included: £7,000 from Commercial Union, £5,000 from National Mutual, £4,000 from Lloyds Bank, where Churchill’s overdraft stood at £6,500.
51. U/d WSC memo, CHAR 1/310/2–3.
18. Bracken and Partner to the Rescue, 1937–8
1. 24, 25 Feb 1937 W. Robertson memos to P. Cudlipp, CHAR 8/552/149–150, 152.
2. 1 Mar 1937 ER ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/561/10–11.
3. 26 Mar, 18 Apr 1937 V. Pearman note, ER ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/552/48, M. Gilbert (ed.), Churchill and Emery Reves, p. 33.
4. 13, 17, 30 Jun 1937 ER corresp with WSC, CHAR 8/561/19–22, 31–2.
5. 9 Jul 1937 Cooperation accounts, CHAR 8/561/36. The article’s title was ‘Arrest of British Socialism’.
6. 9, 20 Aug 1937 ER ltr to WSC, Cooperation accounts, M. Gilbert, Churchill and Emery Reves, p. 52, CHAR 8/561/81, 8/552/182.
7. 1 Apr 1937 WSC schedule, secretaries’ schedule, CHAR 1/304/7, 1/310/35. Receipts included a £3,500 advance on Marlborough’s fourth volume, £4,200 from the News of the World, £2,100 from thirteen Evening Standard articles, £1,800 from six Collier’s articles, £600 from a renewed brandy bet with Rothermere, and £2,550 from investment income, director’s fees and MP’s salary. Expenditure included £4,500 for nine months’ household spending (at £500 a month), £3,000 tax, £2,000 for his office and old bills, and £1,000 for personal expenditure.
8. Apr 1937 LlBk statement, CHAR 1/297/114.
9. 18 April 1936 WSC ltr to TB, CHAR 8/357/11
10. 19 Apr 1937 WSC ltr to TB, CHAR 8/558/12.
11. 23, 27 Apr, 15 May 1937 TB corresp with WSC, contract, CHAR 8/558/14, 16, 29, 128–31.
12. 16 Jun 1937 G. Harrap ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/547/49.
13. 15 Jun 1937 N. Flower ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/550/11.
14. 7 Apr 1937 NM ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/303/48.
15. 13 May 1937 WSC ltr to G. Mason, CHAR 1/304/45.
16. 17 Jun 1937 G. Mason ltr, schedules to WSC, CHAR 1/304/65. 1935/6 income tax (£2,936) was due for payment in January and July 1936, but Churchill had paid only £1,760 by June 1937, leaving £1,176 to settle). 1935/6 sur-tax of £3,465 had been due in January 1937, but Churchill had paid only £1,465, leaving £2,000 to settle. By June 1937, 1936/7 income tax of £2,296 had also become due; Churchill had paid only £119, leaving £2,177 outstanding. 1936/7 sur-tax, estimated at £2,395, would become payable on 1 January 1938.
17. 5 Jun 1937 V. Pearman ltr to KFR, CHAR 1/393/178.
18. 3 Aug 1937 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C3:742–3.
19. K. Hill ltr to M. Gilbert, cited M. Gilbert, In Search of Churchill, p. 162.
20. 26, 27 May, 1 Jun WSC corresp with S. Williams, CHAR 1/304/47, 48, 56.
21. 16 Aug 1937 NM ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/303/114.
22. 1 Jul 1937 Secretaries’ schedule, CHAR 1/303/100, 1/310/60.
23. 13 Aug 1937 NM ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/303/111. Churchill borrowed £1,700 against a mortgage on Wellstreet Cottage, which he had recently built on the edge of Chartwell’s estate.
24. Late Aug or early Sep 1937 WSC schedule, CHAR 1/304/4.
25. 10, 13 Sep 1937 WSC corresp with BMB, CHAR 1/300/8, 16.
26. 18 Oct 1937 WSC cbl to BMB, CHAR 1/300/29.
27. U/d 1936 Male servant licence, CHAR 1/309/31.
28. U/d Nov 1937 Secretaries’ schedule ‘Chartwell Winter Scale’, CHAR 1/332/2-4.
29. Ibid.
30. 29, 21 Oct, 15 Nov 1937 W. H. Haynes Ltd, H & M Rayne, Loufte & Co. accounts, CHAR 1/337/185, 118, 1/340/11.
31. 5 Nov 1937 Surveyor’s report, CHAR 1/408/86. See S. Buczacki, Churchill & Chartwell, pp. 181–3.
32. Nov 1937 Mullett Booker & Co. ltr to CSC, CHAR 1/408/1; 2 Nov 1937, NM ltr to Ecclesiastical Commission, 1/408/3.
33. 31 Dec 1937 WSC note to CSC, CHAR 1/408/32–3. Neither Churchill nor Clementine wished to administer the coup de grâce; Clementine was still discussing plans for storing their silver with the architect in February 1938.
34. 22 Oct 1937 C. Hughes ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/306/10.
35. 22 Oct 1937 D. Cunnynghame ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/557/5.
36. 4 Oct, 24 Dec 1937 TB ltrs to WSC, CHAR 8/559/46, 8/668/108; 27 Jul 1938 TB sales report, K. Hill memo to WSC, 8/605/7, 62: British sales hit 14,000 in July 1938; CHAR 1/321/ 132–62 Churchill received £500 at publication, £248 (net of author’s corrections) in October 1937, £455 in November, £608 in December, £750 in January 1938, £1,459 in February, £430 in May and £266 in June. 25 Dec 1937, 4 May 1938 G. Putnam cbls to WSC, CHAR 8/546/202, 8/605/33: US sales reached 8,000 in May 1938; Churchill received £500 on publication (on account of 15 per cent royalty on the first 7,500 volumes, 20 per cent thereafter). CHAR 8/598/75: Churchill received advances of £30–£75 on sales in France, Holland, Norway, Sweden and Germany (where the chapter on the Kaiser was omitted).
37. 6 Nov 1937 WSC ltr to P. Davies, CHAR 8/551/24–5.
38. 16 Dec 1937 P. Davies ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/551/33–4.
39. 23 Dec 1937 WSC ltr to G. Harrap, CHAR 8/547/218–20.
40. 31 Dec 1937 LlBk statement, CHAR 1/321/ 144; u/d early 1938 WSC schedule, CHAR 1/329/1.
41. 1 Dec 1937 G Mason ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/304/94. Liabilities included £2,364 of income tax and £2,345 of sur-tax.
42. 30 December 1937 H. Peat ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/407/62–4, 66.
43. 3, 10 Jan 1938 WSC ltrs to CSC, SFT:431, 433.
44. 10 Jan 1938 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C3:884–6. The casino lured Churchill before the end of his visit: per CHAR 1/321/147, his bank account shows the withdrawal of 50,000 francs (£330) over five visits at the end of the month. Churchill brought 39,850 francs back to London (a net loss of £71).
45. 9, 11 Jan 1938 G. Mason ltr to WSC, LlBk statement, CHAR 1/329/13, 1/321/146. Two payments (£676 income tax and £1,000 sur-tax) had cleared the 1935/6 tax year, but left £2,177 of income tax and £2,345 of sur-tax owing for 1936/7.
46. 20, 22 Jan 1938, WSC schedule, ltr to S. Williams, CHAR 1/329/6, 18.
47. WSC, The Second World War 1:201.
48. 7, 10 Mar 1938 WSC ltr to S. Williams, NM schedule, CHAR 1/329/29, 1/327/33.
49. 18 Mar 1938 LlBk statement, CHAR 1/321/151. The payment allowed Churchill to pay £1,000 towards 1935/6 sur-tax, while leaving his bank account £1,204 in credit.
50. 21 Mar 1938 WSC schedule, CHAR 1/28/2; 10 Oct 1938 H. Strakosch schedule, 1/328/6. Churchill estimated the shares’ cost at £17,600, but Sir Henry Strakosch’s later schedule showed it to have been £18,162. Churchill estimated the shares’ March value at £5,600; Sir Henry later showed it as £5,692. Original documents are not available, presumed burned with Bracken’s other papers after his death.
51. 22 Mar 1938 LlBk statement, CHAR 1/321/152.
52. 18 Jan 1938 BRB ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/323/10.
53. 19 Mar 1938 WSC ltr to BRB, 5C3:950–1.
54. 19 Mar 1938 WSC draft, ltr to BRB CHAR 1/328/3, 4.
55. 24 Mar 193
8 H. Strakosch ltr to WSC, 5C3:959. The shares which Sir Henry Strakosch took over were:
400 Otis Elevator
500 Worthington Pumps & Co.
1000 Consolidated Paper
400 Abitibi Paper Preference shares
200 Abitibi Paper Common shares
200 New York Central
56. 10 Oct 1938 H. Strakosch schedule, CHAR 1/328/6. The portfolio rose in value from £5,692 to £9,000.
57. 3 Apr 1938 WSC ltr to NM, CHAR 1/327/10. There is no sign that the loan was quickly repaid: on its first renewal date in March 1939, Churchill sent Nicholl Manisty a cheque for £1,630, almost certainly representing a £1,500 repayment plus a year’s interest on the £5,000 loan.
58. 9 May 1938 NM account, LlBk statement CHAR 1/327/24, CHAR 1/321/160.
59. 1, 2 Apr 1938 RSC ltr to WSC, extract The Times, 5C3:970–2, The Times 2 April 1938.
60. Sir Henry Strakosch’s membership of The Other Club was proposed by Brendan Bracken, to whom Sir Henry left £2,500 in his will. He also marked out Bracken to succeed him as chairman of Union Corporation.
19. Struggling with History, 1938-9
1. 24 Mar 1938 R. Thompson ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/600/17. Beaverbrook had been giving Sir Samuel Hoare £2,000 a year, in the hope that he would succeed Neville Chamberlain and allow Beaverbrook to resume the influence which he had enjoyed while Bonar Law was prime minister: see R. Cockett (ed.), My Dear Max: The Letters of Brendan Bracken to Lord Beaverbrook, 1925–1958, p. 22.
2. 29 Mar 1938 Secretary ltr to R. Thompson, CHAR 8/600/20.
3. 4 Apr 1938 WSC ltr to Ld Camrose, CHAR 8/601/1–2.
4. 6 April 1938 Ld Camrose ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/601/3.
5. 11, 8 Apr 1938 WSC ltrs to R. Thompson, ER, CHAR 8/600/22–3, 8/607/29–30.
