John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough
The 7th Duke brought stability to the Palace. He was an upright Victorian gentleman. He and his wife Frances (daughter of the Marquis of Londonderry) had 11 children. His Duchess continued with the tradition of helping others and had the school built at Bladon. At Blenheim she revived the Palace as a centre for high society to meet. Blenheim once again resounded to the sound of weekend parties and high society balls. When the Duke went to Ireland as Viceroy, the Duchess worked tirelessly to raise money to alleviate the effects of the second Irish potato famine. She was admired the length and breadth of Ireland. Working as Viceroy in Ireland ruined the Duke's finances and on returning to Blenheim he had to sell the books from the Long Library. This began the process which enabled the 8th Duke to dispose of other major parts of the Blenheim collection.
