A 1907 photograph of Winston S. Churchill on the grounds of the Grandmaster's Palace in Valetta, Malta, accompanied by his traveling companions Edward "Eddie" Marsh and Colonel Gordon Wilson with whom he would soon embark on an extended tour of British East Africa.
Malta: The Daily Telegraph. Photograph. This press photograph captures Winston S. Churchill in Malta in 1907, en route to his extended tour of British East Africa and accompanied by his traveling companions, Eddie Marsh and Colonel Gordon Wilson.
The gelatin silver print on glossy photo paper measures 10.125 x 7.25 inches (25.72 x 18.42 cm) Condition approaches very good, mild wear substantially confined to the extremities. The image features Churchill seated among six men. Eddie Marsh is immediately to Churchill’s right. Colonel Wilson is second from the right. A handwritten note on the verso titled “Winston at Malta” reads “On the left of him is Mr. Marsh, his private secretary & on the right is Major General H. [not definitively decipherable], C of C Malta taken at the Governor’s House, Valetta,” The verso also features two ink stamps. One is presumably the supplier of the image – “William Gordon Davis” of London. The other is the oval “RECEIVED” ink stamp of “The Daily Telegraph PICTURE LIBRARY” with a hand-written stock number “A37400”.
The brilliant, Cambridge-educated Sir Edward Howard “Eddie” Marsh (1872-1953) became Churchill's close friend and long-time assistant. At the end of 1905, when Churchill chose Marsh as his Private Secretary, Marsh was "an obscure clerk in the West African Department" and Winston Churchill the newly appointed Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies. At the time, Marsh recalled in his memoirs "I had still not imagined that we could ever have anything in common." (Gilbert, Vol. II, pp.110-11) Nonetheless, Marsh’s appointment became the basis of a lifelong friendship. Marsh "remained at his side in every Cabinet post he held for the next twenty-five years." (Gilbert, VIII, p.794) Marsh retired from the civil service in 1937, but his friendship with Churchill endured. Marsh eventually would assist Churchill in editing Churchill’s Second World War memoirs – nearly half a century after they first met. Undoubtedly, the trip they made to Africa together following their rendezvous in Malta afforded significant opportunity to strengthen their enduring association
Fate would cut short Churchill’s association with Wilson only seven years after this image was captured. Colonel Gordon Chesney Wilson (1865-1914) was married to Churchill’s Aunt Sarah, the youngest daughter of the 7th Duke of Marlborough. Wilson came along “as a last-minute substitute for Freddie Guest.” Like Churchill, Wilson was a veteran of the Boer War. He would die at age 49 during the First World War. On the outbreak of war, Gordon left for France as Lt. Colonel in the Royal Horse Guards. He died from wounds received in action, on 6 November 1914, during Winston’s wartime tenure as First Lord of the Admiralty.
Churchill was in Malta en route to Africa and it was there that he rendezvoused with Marsh and Wilson. In the summer of 1907, Churchill left England for five months, making his way after working stops in southern Europe to Africa for "a tour of the east African domains." In Malta, Churchill and his companions “were ‘installed in much state’ in the wonderful old palace of the Grand Masters of the Knights of Malta” (R. Churchill, Vol. II, p.226) on whose grounds this image was captured. After a week’s stay in Malta, Churchill, Marsh, and Wilson traveled next to Cyprus and then, via the Suez Canal, on to Aden. In Africa, Churchill and his companions enjoyed a proper 19th Century bwana experience, traveling by special train provided by the Uganda Railway, receiving tribute from various chiefs, and shooting all manner of things. The trip would form the basis for Churchill’s eventual book, My African Journey (1908). Item #008981
Price: $275.00