John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough, was born at Ashe in
Devonshire, the seat of his maternal grandfather, Sir John Drake, June
24, 1650. His father, Sir Winston Churchill, was a man of some literary
repute, a zealous royalist, and in good esteem at the court of Charles
II., to which John Churchill was introduced at the early age of twelve.
He soon became one of the Duke of York’s pages; gained that prince’s
favour, and was presented with a commission in the guards. In 1672, he
held the rank of Captain in the English troops which served as
auxiliaries to France under the Duke of Monmouth; and he was so
fortunate as to gain the good opinion of Turenne, and to be honoured
with the public thanks of Louis XIV. for his gallant conduct at the
siege of Maestricht. On his return to England, he was again attached to
the Duke of York’s household. He married Miss Sarah Jennings in 1681;
and was created a peer of Scotland in 1682, and a peer of England soon
after the Duke’s accession to the throne, by the title of Baron
Churchill of Sandridge in Hertfordshire. In this early part of his life
he prudently abstained from active interference in politics. Gratitude
and present interest combined to render him averse to thwart the wishes
or policy of his master: political foresight and attachment to the
established church warned him not to co-operate in the King’s imprudent
measures. He does not appear to have been embarrassed by an
over-generous and enthusiastic temper; and therefore, whether or no he
was of those who invited William of Orange to England, he had the less
difficulty, on the landing of that prince, in making up his mind to the
painful task of abandoning a kind master and a falling cause. But, in
doing so, he was guilty of no treachery. Entrusted with the command of
6000 men, he carried over no troops, and betrayed no post; but quietly
withdrew with a few fellow-officers from King James’s camp.
[Illustration:
_Engraved by J. Posselwhite._