Born the natural (illegitimate) son of Elizabeth Dodd and General Charles Churchill (1656–1714) and so the nephew of the 1st Duke of Marlborough, Churchill spent his early career in the British Army during the War of the Spanish Succession and was then Member of Parliament for Castle Rising from 1715 to 1745.

[1] He was despatched to Vienna in 1721 on a mission to secure the release of a "Mr Knight" who was being held in the Citadel of Antwerp.

[2] In 1727, he was promoted to Brigadier[3] and appointed a Groom of the Bedchamber[4] and in 1728 King George II and Queen Caroline inspected his Regiment of Dragoons.

[7] He was married to Catherine, younger daughter of Sir Henry Hobart, 4th Baronet; she died on 2 June 1725.

Harriet married Sir Everard Fawkener and, later, Thomas Pownall.