Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough
Sarah Churchill (St Albans, May 29, 1660 - Westminster, October 18, 1744), Duke of Marlborough, was court lady and a friend of Queen Anna of Great Britain, through whom she had a major influence on England's politics. biography
Sarah was born in Hertfordshire, as the daughter of Richard Jennings and Frances Thornhurst. In 1673, Sarah and her sister Frances became court ladies in the wake of the Duke of York (later King Jacobus II), where Sarah was serving daughter Anna. Sarah married in 1677 with John Churchill. He had supported Catholic Jacobus as a successor to Charles II in 1685, but helped the Protestant Dutch cityholder William III on the English throne four years later, for which he was rewarded with a county.
After Anna's coronation in 1702, Sarah Churchill was named Mistress of the Robes, one of the highest positions a woman could meet at the court. After Sarah's cousin Abigail Masham also joined the court order, the relationship between Churchill and the queen deteriorated, and from 1711, Sarah and her husband were no longer welcome to the royal palace. The queen died in 1714, after which the ties between Churchills and the court were restored. John Churchill died eight years later when the country house Blenheim Palace - which he built for himself and his wife was still unfinished: Sarah had to look at the remaining building, often encountering architect John Vanbrugh.
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