February 4, 2015

The highlight of young Winston’s year was the visit of his nanny, Mrs. Everest (Woom), and his brother Jack, to his school at Brighton. Despite many pleadings Lord and Lady Randolph had declined to visit their son at school, but when the young boy’s life was seriously threatened by pneumonia the parents rushed to his bedside. The constant attention of Dr. Robson Roose, the family physician who came down from London, may have been the critical factor in saving Winston’s life. Both Lord Salisbury, the Prime Minister, and the Prince of Wales enquired about the boy’s health.

In April Lord Randolph made an infrequent visit to his recovering son and presented the delighted boy with a toy steam locomotive. Lord Randolph’s political life was as anxious as his personal affairs. Joseph Chamberlain and other Liberals split with Gladstone over Home Rule for Ireland.

Throughout the spring, feverish activity dominated the Houses of Parliament as the dissident Liberals negotiated with both the Prime Minister and the Tories. Gladstone pleaded for support for his Bill for the Better Government of Ireland: “Think, I beseech you, think well, think wisely, think not for a moment but for the years that are to come …… But Home Rule was defeated. Lord Randolph’s contribution to the defeat was private and behind the scenes. He was the emissary with Chamberlain. But before a crowd in Manchester he coined the phrase “Unionist Party” to cover the divergent groups opposed to Home Rule, principally the Tories and the dissident Liberals under Joseph Chamberlain.

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