2 minute read
Meeting Churchill’s secretary Helen Jolliffe
Meeting Churchill’s secretary
Helen Jolliffe Head of History
In the autumn half term, I had the honour to meet one of Churchill’s secretaries: Jane Portal who worked for Churchill 1949-1955. A diminutive lady, with immense gusto and sparkle, was only 19 years old when she began work for him. As I headed up on the train to meet her for coffee near the V and A, I dipped into Roy Jenkins’ book ‘Churchill’ who said “ Jane Portal had the unique distinction of being both Churchill’s last favourite dictation secretary and Rab Butler’s niece.” Incidentally, she is also the mother of the Archbishop of Canterbury: Justin Welby.
One of the first areas she touched on was his eloquence; “Churchill was in love with the English language”. He would dictate his speeches to her with incredible lucidity, and crafted and edited them many times before delivery, but the kernel of what he said was always there right from the start.
Jane’s eyes sparkled when she talked about Churchill. She said ‘he had great compassion which combined with personal generosity and sympathy for those of misfortune. His magnanimity was legendary and he hated vindictiveness above all things.” She referred particularly to his view that the Germans after the Second War would not be villainised, stating “he used to say ‘ I cannot stand a witch-hunt’”. smiled when she said “patience was a virtue with which he was totally unfamiliar!” He often got cross: “his temper was like lightning- it was explosive and sometimes terrifying” but she added “the sun never went down without a gesture that all was forgiven.”
I asked her about her routine and the exhausting hours that Churchill famously kept. She said that he did work until 2 am most mornings, but always caught up with a nap in the middle of the day. Even if he went to bed later than 2 am “he would be woken by his valet at 7:30 am”. She added “he would have a light breakfast of toast and coffee, and with that out of the way, his black box would be placed at the side of his bed as well as a weak whisky and water, which he referred to as ‘mouthwash’!”
We also talked about his time as Prime Minister from October 1951. Although very old by this stage, his greatest ambition was to be a peace time Prime Minister: “His aim was an overwhelming determination to end the Cold War and to renew dialogue with Stalin.”
Jane talked a lot about Churchill’s incredible energy. She went to America many times and met Truman and later Eisenhower. But his favourite place was Chartwell, where he recuperated after a very serious stroke in 1953. She was called to Chartwell when this happened and the secrecy surrounding the gravity of this stroke was not revealed until a year later. Jane doubted that this would happen now.
I wished I had asked her so many more questions. But what I came away with was how she humanised Churchill. She remembered everything so incredibly clearly and said it was the “most wonderful experience” to work for such a truly remarkable man.
