WINSTON S. CHURCHILL (1874-1965)

THE PROPERTY OF A LADY

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WINSTON S. CHURCHILL (1874-1965)
A previously unpublished three-page autograph letter, or possibly part letter, signed, from 105 Mount Street, undated [but almost certainly 1904], and written to Muriel Wilson, although she is not named, with the abrupt beginning: "This is what I wanted to say on the way back ...." From the contents, it appears that Churchill has just seen Muriel in order to propose marriage, and that he has been stung by her refusal. He writes in great agitation, evidently very soon after the event. "Don't slam the door," he appeals. "I can wait -- perhaps I shall improve with waiting. Why shouldn't you care about me someday? I have great faith in my instinct which was so very strong. Time and circumstance will work for me." He seeks to see her again "before Monday," promising to "try to talk banalities." But then declares, "I feel quite sick," and implies he will be unable to see her until such time as he can write saying he has "rearranged" his mind.

She is quite right not to care about him, he declares next paragraph. "But it is a sad pity & a scattering of treasure. I love you because you are good & beautiful, & you may be perfectly certain that I am not going to change or try to change." The more he is "opposed," the stronger his feelings will be. In a remarkable declaration, he continues: "I am not going to be thrust back into my grey world of politics without a struggle." But because he is a politician, able to conceal his deeper feelings, he can eventually be trusted to see her and not "be such a fool as to bore you."

"I shall tell Sunny," he says in conclusion, "it would not be honourable in me not to -- being as we are such friends -- what I feel and intend." After signing the letter "Yours alway, Winston S.C.," he adds as a postscript, "Send me one line back."

Lot Essay

It is well-known that Churchill unsuccessfully proposed marriage to the actress Ethel Barrymore and the society beauty, Muriel Wilson (portraits of both women after Sargent are reproduced in Randolph Churchill's Winston S. Chuchill: Young Statesman, 1901-1914. opp. p. 114). Muriel was one of three daughters of Arthur Wilson (1836-1909), a wealthy shipping magnate from Hull. The family home, "Tranby Croft," had become celebrated as a result of the infamous "Baccarat Affair" which occurred in September 1890. Muriel eventually married an army officer, Michael Ward, and ended her days at Cannon Hall, Hampstead, dying in 1964. She had another great admirer in "Sunny," Charles, Duke of Marlborough (1871-1934), Churchill's cousin.

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