After a burglary of all her most valued and treasured possessions, Winston Churchill's aging mother wrote: That burglar relieved me of an obsession. For years, I've had to take houses big enough to hold all these bibelots. I am almost grateful to him.

When Jennie, mother of Winston Churchill invited playwright George Bernard Shaw to lunch, he telegraphed: Certainly not. What have I done to provoke such an attack on my well-known habits? She replied, Know nothing of your habits hope they are better than your manners.

Although still viewed as lovely and alluring by many, Winston Churchill's mother shocked society when at 46 she married a man 20 years her junior. Most malicious of the many jibes launched at her was that of one lady who went about peering into perambulators. When asked her reason, she replied, I am searching for my future husband.