Baron Churchill (1815 creation)

Baron Churchill
Creation date	11 August 1815
Creation	First
Created by	The Prince Regent (acting on behalf of his father King George III)
Peerage	Peerage of the United Kingdom
First holder	Lord Francis Spencer
Present holder	Michael Spencer, 7th Baron Churchill
Heir presumptive	Hon. David Spencer
Status	Extant
Motto	DIEU DEFEND LE DROIT (English: God defend my right)
The Barony of Churchill was held by the Viscounts Churchill from 1902 to 2017

Baron Churchill, of Wychwood in the County of Oxford, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and held by a branch of the Spencer family. It was created in 1815 for Lord Francis Spencer,^[1][2][3] younger son of the 4th Duke of Marlborough (see Duke of Marlborough for earlier history of the family). He had previously represented Oxfordshire in Parliament.

From 1902 to 2017, the barony was subsidiary title of the viscountcy of Churchill. The title of Viscount Churchill, of Rolleston in the County of Leicester, was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom on 15 July 1902 for the first baron's grandson Conservative politician Victor Spencer, 3rd Baron Churchill.^[4] The viscountcy became extinct in 2017 on the death of the first Viscount's youngest son, the third Viscount, who had succeeded his half-brother, the second Viscount, in 1973.^{[citation needed]}

The barony was inherited by the last Viscount's second cousin once removed,^[5] the great-grandson of General Sir Augustus Almeric Spencer, the third son of the 1st Baron Churchill.

• Francis Almeric Spencer, 1st Baron Churchill (1779–1845)
• Francis George Spencer, 2nd Baron Churchill (1802–1886)
• Victor Albert Francis Charles Spencer, 3rd Baron Churchill (1864–1934, created Viscount Churchill in 1902)

• Victor Albert Francis Charles Spencer, 1st Viscount Churchill (1864–1934)
• Victor Alexander Spencer, 2nd Viscount Churchill (1890–1973)
• Victor George Spencer, 3rd Viscount Churchill (1934–2017)^[6]

• Richard Harry Ramsay Spencer, 6th Baron Churchill (1926–2020)^[5]
• Michael Richard de Charrière Spencer, 7th Baron Churchill (born 1960)

The heir presumptive is the present holder's brother, the Hon. David Anthony de Charrière Spencer (born 1970).

Coat of arms of Baron Churchill^[7]

Crest Out of a ducal Coronet or, a griffin’s head between two Wings expanded argent, gorged with a bar gemel gules, armed gold. Escutcheon Quarterly: 1st & 4th, quarterly argent and gules, in the second and third quarters charged with a fret or, over all on a bend sable with three escallops argent (Spencer); 2nd & 3rd, Sable, a lion rampant argent, on a canton of the last, a cross gules (Churchill). Supporters Dexter: A griffin wings erect per fess argent and or gorged with a collar of the last, thereon three escallops sable, line reflexed over the back also or. Sinister: A wyvern the wings erect gules, collared as the dexter. Motto Dieu defend le droit (God defend the right).

• Kidd, Charles (1903). Debrett's peerage, baronetage, knightage, and companionage. London: Dean & Son. p. 228. Archived from the original on 20 June 2016. John Debrett Alt URL
• Hesilrige, Arthur G. M. (1921). Debrett's Peerage and Titles of courtesy. London: Dean & Son. p. 204.
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages ^{[self-published source] [better source needed]}

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Francis George Spencer, 2nd Baron Churchill
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Victor Alexander Spencer, 2nd Viscount Churchill
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Victor George Spencer, 3rd Viscount Churchill

• Duke of Marlborough
• Earl Spencer