The Postcard
A postally unused postcard bearing no studio name. The card was posted in Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire on Thursday the 28th. January 1915 to:
Mrs. S. E. Lloyd,
37, Hill Street,
Lodge,
Brymbo,
Wrexham,
N. Wales.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"How are you keeping
always? I've been expecting
to hear some news of you -
but nothing has come yet.
I had our Jenny up here for
a fortnight and we had a
jolly time together.
I was glad to hear you are
keeping fit.
Jenny told me you were
getting quite 'Bonny.'
I'm also enjoying life, and
having a rare good time.
The hubby is a 'gem', and
never bothers me.
Harrie".
Jock Colville
So what else happened on the day that Harrie posted the card?
Well, the 28th. January 1916 marked the birth of Jock Colville.
Sir John Rupert Colville, CB, CVO was a British civil servant. He is best known for his diaries, which provide an intimate view of number 10 Downing Street during the wartime Premiership of Winston Churchill.
Jock Colville - The Early Years
Jock Colville came from a politically active and well-connected family, although, as he stated in the introduction to his published diaries, he was the younger son of a younger son, and so did not inherit family wealth.
His father was the Hon. George Charles Colville, who was secretary of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the younger son of Charles Colville, 1st Viscount Colville of Culross, a Conservative politician who served as Master of the Buckhounds and Tory Chief Whip.
His mother was Lady Cynthia, a courtier and social worker. She was the daughter of Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe, by his first wife, the former Sibyl Graham, daughter of the Graham Baronets of Netherby.
Lady Cynthia, in addition to her duties as a Woman of the Bedchamber to Queen Mary, devoted her energies to alleviating the suffering of Shoreditch, one of the poorest areas of the East End of London.
Jock Colville served alongside Harry Legge-Bourke as a Page of Honour between 1927 and 1931, thanks to his mother's connections as attendant to the queen.
She also ensured that he saw the other side of life, by taking him to the infant welfare centre that she ran in Shoreditch.
Jock was educated at West Downs School, Winchester; Harrow; and Trinity College, Cambridge. In preparation for a career in the diplomatic service, he twice spent a few months in the Black Forest in order to improve his German.
Jock thus saw the very beginning of Hitler's chancellorship, and its effects once it had bedded in:
"There was increasing Strength
matched by diminishing Joy."
This was an ironic reference to the Nazi morale-building programme of Kraft Durch Freude (Strength Through Joy).
Jock Colville's Public Life
Colville was Assistant Private Secretary to three Prime Ministers:
-- Neville Chamberlain, 1939–40.
-- Winston Churchill, 1940–41 and 1943–45.
-- Clement Attlee, 1945.
Jock Colville's Diaries
Colville kept a diary from 1939 to 1957, parts of which have been published (The Fringes of Power: 10 Downing Street Diaries 1939–1955).
The original diaries are held at the Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge University and, with the exception of the final volume, are open to the public.
Churchill was, as appears from the diaries, fond of Colville, and it is evident that Colville was close to the rest of the Churchill family.
When Churchill was ill with pneumonia, it was Colville who was summoned from his brief stint of active service in the RAF to accompany Clementine Churchill on an aeroplane to Egypt to visit him, although it was clear on their arrival that Churchill's life was not in danger.
Typical of the badinage between Churchill and his private secretary was the exchange when, immediately before Colville's departure for RAF service in 1941, Churchill asked him his age. On being told, Churchill pointed out that, at 26, Napoleon was commanding the armies of Italy. Colville replied that the Younger Pitt was Prime Minister at the age of 24.
The diaries record many conversations between Churchill and his political and military colleagues, as well as his private thoughts. They illustrate the contrast between the "atmosphere of rush" about Churchill, as compared with the shorter hours and reduced energy levels associated with his predecessor Chamberlain, whom Colville had also served.
Comments in the diaries show how, even when beset by disasters in the early days of his premiership, Churchill was still able to raise the spirits of those around him, with his sense of purpose and his sense of humour.
The diaries reveal that much of Churchill's correspondence (although none of his speeches) was drafted by Colville and others in their imitations of Churchill's distinctive style, albeit subject to his approval.
The diaries also cover Churchill's peacetime premiership and his regularly deferred retirement, and note that, when Churchill finally did retire, Colville found him sitting on his bed at 10 Downing Street saying (of his successor, Eden):
"I don't think Anthony can do it!".
Jock Colville's Later Career
Jock was an Executive Director of Hill Samuel Ltd. from 1955 to 1980.
Colville was instrumental in raising funds for the establishment of Churchill College, Cambridge, as a national memorial to Winston Churchill, and was made an Honorary Fellow of the College in 1971.
He was joint honorary secretary of the Other Club for many years.
Colville was a Trustee of both Sir Winston and Lady Churchill's estates. At various times in his life, he was Company Director of the Provident Life Association, the London Committee, the Ottoman Bank, and Eucalyptus Pulp Mills Ltd.
Jock Colville's Personal Life
In 1948, Colville married Lady Margaret Egerton (1918–2004), daughter of John Egerton, 4th Earl of Ellesmere; she served as a Lady-in-Waiting to the then-Princess Elizabeth from 1946 and 1949, and later to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother from 1990 to 2002. The Colvilles had two sons and one daughter and lived in Hampshire.
Colville was knighted in 1974, having previously been appointed CB in 1955, and CVO in 1949.
The Death and Legacy of Jock Colville
Jock died on the 19th. November 1987 at the age of 72.
The Jock Colville Hall at Churchill College, Cambridge, which is adjoined to the Churchill Archives Centre, is named in his honour.
Colville is portrayed by James D'Arcy in the 2009 film 'Into the Storm' and by Nicholas Rowe in the Netflix television series 'The Crown'.