English Folk Figure. Winston Churchill's nanny. He addressed her as "Woom", which was the nearest he could get to saying "Woman." She was born in Chatham in Kent. So far as is known, she was never married, so the "Mrs." may well have been an honorary title. Churchill wrote in his autobiography, "My Early Life" : "I loved my mother dearly - but at a distance. My nurse was my confidante. Mrs. Everest it was who looked after me and tended all my wants. It was to her I poured out all my many troubles. Before she came to us, she had brought up for twelve years a little girl called Ella, the daughter of a clergyman who lived in Cumberland." She went into service with the Churchill family in early 1875, a few months after Winston's birth, and remained with the family until 1893. When she died (at her sister's house, 15 Crouch Hill in North London), Churchill telegraphed to the clergyman, the Venerable Thompson Phillips, in Barrow-in-Furness. Churchill wrote, "He had a long memory for faithful service. We met at the graveside. He had become an Archdeacon. He did not bring little Ella with him." Churchill paid for the headstone. His son, Randolph, wrote in the first volume of the biography of his father, "For many years afterwards he paid an annual sum to the local florist for the upkeep of the grave." The same book states that the headstone bears Churchill's name along with that of his brother, Jack. This may be so, but the latter is no longer visible.

English Folk Figure. Winston Churchill's nanny. He addressed her as "Woom", which was the nearest he could get to saying "Woman." She was born in Chatham in Kent. So far as is known, she was never married, so the "Mrs." may well have been an honorary title. Churchill wrote in his autobiography, "My Early Life" : "I loved my mother dearly - but at a distance. My nurse was my confidante. Mrs. Everest it was who looked after me and tended all my wants. It was to her I poured out all my many troubles. Before she came to us, she had brought up for twelve years a little girl called Ella, the daughter of a clergyman who lived in Cumberland." She went into service with the Churchill family in early 1875, a few months after Winston's birth, and remained with the family until 1893. When she died (at her sister's house, 15 Crouch Hill in North London), Churchill telegraphed to the clergyman, the Venerable Thompson Phillips, in Barrow-in-Furness. Churchill wrote, "He had a long memory for faithful service. We met at the graveside. He had become an Archdeacon. He did not bring little Ella with him." Churchill paid for the headstone. His son, Randolph, wrote in the first volume of the biography of his father, "For many years afterwards he paid an annual sum to the local florist for the upkeep of the grave." The same book states that the headstone bears Churchill's name along with that of his brother, Jack. This may be so, but the latter is no longer visible.

Bio by: Iain MacFarlaine