Winston Churchill’s American-born mother, Jennie, had the maiden surname Jerome.
She was born Jeanette Jerome in Brooklyn, New York, on 9 January 1854. Her father, Leonard Jerome, was an American financier, sportsman and speculator. Jennie was raised partly in the United States and partly in Europe, moving in wealthy social circles before her marriage.
Jennie met Lord Randolph Churchill at the Isle of Wight’s Cowes Regatta in 1873. They married at the British Embassy in Paris on 15 April 1874, and she became Lady Randolph Churchill. Their first son, Winston, was born later that year at Blenheim Palace; their second son was John Strange Spencer-Churchill.
A common mix-up is to treat “Jennie Churchill” as her birth name. “Jennie” was her familiar name, while Jerome was her birth surname. After Lord Randolph’s death, she remarried twice but remained best known as Lady Randolph Churchill, Winston’s mother.