Churchill’s daughter unveils plaque
exhibition of former prime minister’s life highlights his Dundee links
Published:
A MEMORIAL plaque to wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill was unveiled at Dundee University yesterday by his daughter, Lady Mary Soames.
The ceremony began a week-long series of events to celebrate the centenary of Churchill's election as an MP in Dundee.
The programme, organised by the university, included a major lecture delivered last night by leading Churchill historian Andrew Roberts and an exhibition called Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat, which includes details of Churchill's life in Dundee.
Churchill came to the city in 1908 after he lost his previous Parliamentary seat in Manchester.
He regarded Dundee as a safe seat and after winning by a landslide victory Churchill remained MP there until he was beaten in 1922 by Labour prohibitionist Edwin “Neddy” Scrymgeour. Offered the Freedom of the City by Dundee Council after a close run vote, he refused the honour, ending his uneasy relationship with the city.
The exhibition was also opened yesterday, in the university’s New Teaching Block, exactly a 100 years to the day since the great war leader was elected as MP. It includes personal letters, other contemporary documents, speeches, photographs and cartoons of Churchill's time in Dundee – including some by Dundee poet and journalist Joseph Johnston Lee – as well as his life before and after his term in the city.
Also included are more humorous details from Churchill's life in Dundee. In one letter to his wife, he describes light heartedly a breakfast kipper he was served at a city hotel, describing a maggot which “crawled out and waved at him.” Many of the items on display were provided by Churchill College, Cambridge.
The exhibition will run until July and will be open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
