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Arabella Churchill (charity founder)
Encyclopedia
Arabella Spencer-Churchill (30 October 1949 – 20 December 2007) was an English charity founder, festival co-founder, and fundraiser.
In 1971, Churchill played a major role in the development of the Glastonbury Festival
. In 1979, she set up the Children's Area of the Festival and also the Theatre
Area. Until her death, she ran the Theatre and Circus
Fields. Her duties in the 2007 festival involved the booking and management of some 1500 separate acts. She also founded and was the director of the Children's World charity.
(son of Sir Winston Churchill
) and his second wife June Osborne, and was half sister to Winston Churchill
. She appeared, at the age of two, in the portrait of Winston Churchill and his family which hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.
She went to Fritham School for Girls, where she was Head Girl, and then Ladymede school, near Aylesbury
, Buckinghamshire
. She worked at Lepra
, the charity for leprosy
sufferers, and then briefly at London Weekend Television
.
In 1954 she had appeared on the cover of Life
as part of a feature on possible future spouses of Prince Charles. In 1967 she was 'Debutante
of the Year,' met the Kennedys
and Martin Luther King in America, and was romantically linked with Crown Prince (now King) Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
in 1970. In 1971 she was invited to represent Britain at the Norfolk International Azalea Festival in Virginia
, established in 1953 after NATO's Allied command was established there. Each year a NATO country is honoured, and invited to send a beautiful “Azalea Queen" as its ambassador.
Churchill refused to go, indicating in a letter she believed in the goals of the peace movement, and was horrified by the Vietnam War
. Chased through London by a surprised press, she left instead for rural Somerset, where she helped lead the first full-scale incarnation of the Glastonbury Festival
with Andrew Kerr
, Thomas Crimble, Michael Eavis
and many others.
During the 1970s she embraced the alternative culture of the time, which included living for a time in a squat
but later worked and lived on a farm. She granted a rare interview to Rolling Stone
magazine. In 1979 Churchill and Kerr were again in charge of the festival, and from then on her administration continued alongside Eavis and Kerr, along with the founding and leading of the charity Children's World and work as a fundraiser.
In 1972 she married Jim Barton, and in 1973 had a son, Nicholas Jake. In 1987 she met her second husband, a juggler, Haggis McLeod
, and in 1988 they had a daughter, Jessica.
She embraced Tibet
an Buddhism
through the teachings of Sogyal Rinpoche
, author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
.
, Somerset
, aged 58. She had suffered a short illness due to pancreatic cancer
, for which she had refused chemotherapy
and radiotherapy. Arrangements following her death respected her buddhist faith, and included a parade and simple farewell on the final evening of the Glastonbury Festival in June 2008. Festival organiser Michael Eavis
, paying tribute to Churchill after her death, said "Her energy, vitality and great sense of morality and social responsibility have given her a place in our festival history second to none."
On the eve of her death, Churchill's son, Nicholas Jake Barton, had been jailed in Sydney
for three years after pleading guilty to being involved in a large-scale ecstasy
plot.
In 2010 Michael Eavis received a donation from British Waterways
of timber from the old gates
at Caen Hill Locks
in Wiltshire
. This was used to construct a new bridge, dedicated to Churchill's memory, at the Glastonbury Festival site.
In 1971, Churchill played a major role in the development of the Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
. In 1979, she set up the Children's Area of the Festival and also the Theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
Area. Until her death, she ran the Theatre and Circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
Fields. Her duties in the 2007 festival involved the booking and management of some 1500 separate acts. She also founded and was the director of the Children's World charity.
Life
She was born in London to Randolph ChurchillRandolph Churchill
Major Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer-Churchill, MBE was the son of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine. He was a Conservative Member of Parliament for Preston from 1940 to 1945....
(son of Sir Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
) and his second wife June Osborne, and was half sister to Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill (grandson)
Winston Spencer-Churchill , generally known as Winston Churchill, was a British Conservative Party politician and a grandson of former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.-Early life:...
. She appeared, at the age of two, in the portrait of Winston Churchill and his family which hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.
She went to Fritham School for Girls, where she was Head Girl, and then Ladymede school, near Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
. She worked at Lepra
LEPRA
LEPRA Health in Action is a health and medical development charity fighting diseases of poverty and working towards a world without leprosy...
, the charity for leprosy
Leprosy
Leprosy or Hansen's disease is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Named after physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions...
sufferers, and then briefly at London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
.
In 1954 she had appeared on the cover of Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
as part of a feature on possible future spouses of Prince Charles. In 1967 she was 'Debutante
Debutante
A débutante is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal "début" presentation. It should not be confused with a Debs...
of the Year,' met the Kennedys
Kennedy family
In the United States, the phrase Kennedy family commonly refers to the family descending from the marriage of the Irish-Americans Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald that was prominent in American politics and government. Their political involvement has revolved around the...
and Martin Luther King in America, and was romantically linked with Crown Prince (now King) Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Carl XVI Gustaf is the reigning King of Sweden since 15 September 1973, succeeding his grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf because his father had predeceased him...
in 1970. In 1971 she was invited to represent Britain at the Norfolk International Azalea Festival in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, established in 1953 after NATO's Allied command was established there. Each year a NATO country is honoured, and invited to send a beautiful “Azalea Queen" as its ambassador.
Churchill refused to go, indicating in a letter she believed in the goals of the peace movement, and was horrified by the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Chased through London by a surprised press, she left instead for rural Somerset, where she helped lead the first full-scale incarnation of the Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
with Andrew Kerr
Andrew Kerr (festival co-founder)
Andrew Kerr has unbridled contempt for the Working Class of Britain and was born 29 November 1933. Kerr's childhood during the war years was spent in south Oxfordshire, but was evacuated to Ilfracombe for a period, and immediately afterwards the family was farming in the area. He was at school at...
, Thomas Crimble, Michael Eavis
Michael Eavis
Athelstan Joseph Michael Eavis, CBE , is an English dairy farmer and the founder of the Glastonbury Festival, which takes place on his farm.-Personal life:...
and many others.
During the 1970s she embraced the alternative culture of the time, which included living for a time in a squat
Squatting
Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....
but later worked and lived on a farm. She granted a rare interview to Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine. In 1979 Churchill and Kerr were again in charge of the festival, and from then on her administration continued alongside Eavis and Kerr, along with the founding and leading of the charity Children's World and work as a fundraiser.
In 1972 she married Jim Barton, and in 1973 had a son, Nicholas Jake. In 1987 she met her second husband, a juggler, Haggis McLeod
Haggis McLeod
Haggis McLeod is a juggler who has performed for years as half of the comedy street show duo Haggis and Charlie.He was born Ian McLeod, son of Harold Leonard Hodges. He specialises in solo club juggling, club passing and hat juggling...
, and in 1988 they had a daughter, Jessica.
She embraced Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
an Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
through the teachings of Sogyal Rinpoche
Sogyal Rinpoche
Sogyal Rinpoche is a Tibetan Dzogchen Lama of the Nyingma tradition. He has been teaching for over 30 years and continues to travel widely in Europe, America, Australia and Asia...
, author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, written by Sogyal Rinpoche, gives a comprehensive presentation of the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism, exploring: the message of impermanence; evolution, karma and rebirth; the nature of mind and how to train the mind through meditation; how to follow a spiritual...
.
Death
On Thursday 20 December 2007, Churchill died at St Edmund's Cottages, Bove Town, GlastonburyGlastonbury
Glastonbury is a small town in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,784 in the 2001 census...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, aged 58. She had suffered a short illness due to pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
, for which she had refused chemotherapy
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
and radiotherapy. Arrangements following her death respected her buddhist faith, and included a parade and simple farewell on the final evening of the Glastonbury Festival in June 2008. Festival organiser Michael Eavis
Michael Eavis
Athelstan Joseph Michael Eavis, CBE , is an English dairy farmer and the founder of the Glastonbury Festival, which takes place on his farm.-Personal life:...
, paying tribute to Churchill after her death, said "Her energy, vitality and great sense of morality and social responsibility have given her a place in our festival history second to none."
On the eve of her death, Churchill's son, Nicholas Jake Barton, had been jailed in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
for three years after pleading guilty to being involved in a large-scale ecstasy
Methylenedioxymethamphetamine
MDMA is an entactogenic drug of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of drugs. In popular culture, MDMA has become widely known as "ecstasy" , usually referring to its street pill form, although this term may also include the presence of possible adulterants...
plot.
In 2010 Michael Eavis received a donation from British Waterways
British Waterways
British Waterways is a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom, serving as the navigation authority in England, Scotland and Wales for the vast majority of the canals as well as a number of rivers and docks...
of timber from the old gates
Lock (water transport)
A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
at Caen Hill Locks
Caen Hill Locks
Caen Hill Locks are a flight of locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal, between Rowde and Devizes in Wiltshire England.The 29 locks have a rise of 237 feet in 2 miles or a 1 in 44 gradient. The locks come in three groups. The lower seven locks, Foxhangers Wharf Lock to Foxhangers Bridge Lock, are...
in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
. This was used to construct a new bridge, dedicated to Churchill's memory, at the Glastonbury Festival site.
Further reading
- Arabella Churchill: The first lady of Glastonbury", The Independent
- "Not the Churchills' finest hour", Daily Mail
- See: Glastonbury FestivalGlastonbury FestivalThe Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...