Lord Randolph Churchill

Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill (13 February 1849 – 24 January 1895) was Winston Churchill's father. He was a son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough. 

He was a leading British Tory politician. Churchill was a Tory radical who coined the term One-nation conservatism. 

He inspired a generation of party managers and created the National Union of the Conservative Party. He broke new ground in modern budgetary presentations. He got admiration and criticism from across the political spectrum. His disloyalty to Lord Salisbury was the beginning of the end of what might have been a glittering career.  His elder son, Winston, wrote a biography of him in 1906.Churchill, Winston C. 1906. Lord Randolph Churchill. 2 vols, Macmillan, London.

 Medical condition and early death 
Churchill died early, suffering from a disease.Quinault, Roland. "Churchill, Lord Randolph Henry Spencer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5404. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) That disease was either syphilis or a brain tumour or even multiple sclerosis. 

It is definitely the case that he was treated for syphilis, and it has been suggested that he was suffering from symptoms of the mercury-based medication. The Churchills' family doctor in the 1880s had written about syphilis. He referred Randolph to the specialist Thomas Buzzard, and continued to prescribe potassium iodide and mercury.

 Sources 
Churchill, Winston C. 1906. Lord Randolph Churchill. 2 vols, Macmillan, London.
Rosebery, Lord 1906. Lord Randolph Churchill.
Cornwallis-West, Mrs 1908. The reminiscences of Lady Randolph Churchill.
Jennings, Louis J. 1889. Speeches of Lord Randolph Churchill 1880–88. 2 vols.

 References 

Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs
Category:1849 births
Category:1895 deaths