John Milton Archives - Richard M. Langworth

Absent Friends: Ashley Redburn 1914-1996: “England Hath Need of Thee”

4 September 2020 Comments 0 Comments

This tribute to an extraordinary Churchillian was written twenty-three years ago in 1997. Please pardon references to contemporary events no longer in the news, though it would seem that some other Redburn thoughts are startlingly relevant.

Ashley Redburn, Anglo-American

Cynics sometimes suggest that Western Civilization needs a war every few generations to maintain its sense of values and faith in itself. Ashley Redburn was a man who believed it. “England,” he declared grimly, “needs to be conquered in war and occupied by a vengeful enemy before its spirit can be revived. Germany and France between them have ruined Europe for two centuries.…

Grace Hamblin, Total Churchillian

31 October 2015 Comments 0 Comments

Remembering Grace: 1908-2002

Beloved by all Churchills, Grace Hamblin died at her home in Westerham, Kent, aged 94. Aware she was ailing, I had just sent her some little thing in the post; Carole Kenwright at Chartwell said it arrived in time, and she was able to read from it for a few minutes.

Grace Hamblin was the longest serving and most loyally devoted of Churchill’s inner circle, arriving at Chartwell in 1932 as an assistant to then-principal private secretary Violet Pearman. She spent virtually her entire career as private secretary, first to Winston and from 1939 to Clementine. In 1966 she became the first Administrator of Chartwell, serving through 1973. In…