July 2016

Winston Churchill’s First Election

Published on July 24, 2016July 24, 2016 by The Churchill Geek

This political leaflet is from the 1899 Oldham by-election. It was here that a young man named Winston Churchill stood as a candidate for the first time and began an astonishing political career. Churchill and his fellow Conservative candidate lost this by-election but a year later Winston returned from his adventures as a war correspondent in South Africa to win the Oldham seat at a general election dominated by the issue of the Boer War.

A blue plaque outside Oldham Town Hall now marks the spot where Churchill made his first speech as an MP in 1900. However his subsequent defection to the Liberal Party caused much ill-feeling in the town and ensured that he did not attempt to defend his seat at the next general election.

Source: BBC – A History of the World – Object : Winston Churchill’s first election

MYTH: Churchill’s Speech Impediment Was Stuttering

Published on July 24, 2016July 24, 2016 by The Churchill Geek

Churchill-age-24-cc-photo

by John Mather, M.D.

The Baltimore Sun Sunday November 17,2002, raises the issue as to whether Churchill was a stutterer or simply had a lisp. The American Stuttering Foundation claims that he was a stutterer and continues to use him as their “pin-up boy” in its advertisements in medical journals, claiming that this is documented in several books.

Fiona Reynoldson’s book Winston Churchill, which seeks to capture the imagination and attention of younger readers comments that, “Churchill came home on leave in 1897 and went to see a doctor in London about his lisp. He pronounced “s” as “sh”. Nothing was found to be wrong, but the lisp never went away. Despite this, he made his first political speech during his leave and later became a great orator in the House of Commons.

”So what is the correct diagnosis: “stuttering” or a “lisp”?

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Source: Churchill’s Speech Impediment Was Stuttering

Churchill Conference 2016

Published on July 22, 2016July 23, 2016 by The Churchill Geek

Candice Millard to Speak on Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape and the Making of Winston Churchill New York Times best-selling author Candice Millard will discuss her new book about Winston Churchill’s exploits in the Boer War during a lunchtime session at the Thirty-second International Churchill Conference, which takes place at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D. C. from 27–29 October. Millard’s first two books covered Theodore Roosevelt’s post-presidential adventures in the Amazon and the assassination of President James A. Garfield. Her talk promises to be a highlight of a busy conference that marks the opening of the National Churchill Library and Center at George Washington University.