Grace Hamblin

Hamblin was born in Kent in 1908, the daughter of the head gardener at an estate adjacent to Chartwell.

In 1965, she was one of the very few non-family members invited to attend Churchill's interment at St Martin's Church, Bladon.

[4] Robin Fedden, Deputy Director-General of the Trust and author of the first guidebook to Chartwell, recorded her 33 years service to the Churchill family and to the house.

[5] Famously discreet throughout her life,[6] Hamblin achieved some notoriety in 2015 when her leading role in the destruction of Graham Sutherland's portrait of Churchill was revealed.

[6] Hamblin died in 2002 at her home at Westerham, Kent, which she had bought with funds from the sale of one of Churchill's own paintings.