John Jennings (St Albans MP)

He is now chiefly remembered as the grandfather of Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, and of her nemesis Abigail Masham.

John Jennings was married to Alice, daughter of Sir Richard Spencer of Offley and Helen Brocket, and they had 22 children, many of whom survived infancy.

[2] His wife's will names four more children: Ralph, George, Elizabeth (who married Francis Hill), and Grace.

She was in time supplanted in the Queen's affections by her cousin Abigail Masham, who was another of John Jennings's grandchildren through her mother Elizabeth Hill.

On learning of Abigail's relationship with her and of her poverty-stricken state as a servant, Sarah took her (and her sister Alice) into her own household, ultimately with disastrous political results for herself and her husband.