Biographical footnotes: biographical footnotes are given in the main text only if the person continues to play a role in Churchill’s financial life. Notes on those people who feature in Churchill’s public life are on page 432, before the Reference Notes.
‘Conservative and Unionist’ Party: the Tory group in British politics became known officially as the Conservative Party after 1845, although many people still used the term ‘Tories’ as a form of shorthand. Between 1895 and 1905 the Conservative Party formed governments with the help of Liberal Unionists; from 1909 it changed its name to the Conservative and Unionist Party. Until after 1922, when the Irish Free State came into existence, party members were most often known as Unionists. For simplicity, they are called Conservatives in this book – or Tories for short.
Monetary values: all amounts are quoted in the currency and the value of their day, as Churchill encountered them. A simple formula appears at the beginning of each chapter (and abbreviated at the top of each page) to help convert these amounts to an approximate value today.
This value can only be very approximate. Statistical techniques have changed over the period concerned, which exceeds 150 years. The conversion factors given in this book are also ‘rounded’ so as to help with quick mental arithmetic (rounded to the nearest 10 down to x50, to the nearest 5 down to x25, then to the nearest whole figure). Moreover no single multiple can cover the different rates at which different items of spending inflate in price: generally, manufactured goods have risen in price by less than the inflation multiple given, while the value of land, housing and wages has risen by more than the inflation multiple shown. Nevertheless, the conversion factors will give the reader a framework within which to appreciate the size of the sums Churchill earned, inherited, lost or spent.
Thus, in chapter 11, an American reader who wishes to convert Churchill’s gambling losses in 1923 – £2,000 - should use the chapter’s exchange rate ($5 = £1) to convert the sum to $10,000; then multiply by the chapter’s US inflation factor (x 15) to reach $150,000 as today’s approximate equivalent.
Likewise, in chapter 13, a British reader who wishes to convert Churchill’s losses in the Wall Street Crash of 1929 – $75,000 – should use the chapter’s exchange rate (also $5 = £1) to convert the sum to £15,000: then multiply by the chapter’s UK inflation factor (x 50) to reach £750,000 as the modern equivalent.*1
*1 The conversion factors are derived from statistics published by the United Kingdom Office of National Statistics (Composite Price Index, 1750-2003, Economic Trends 604; 2004); by the Bank of England (Three Centuries of Data, 2010); and by the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics (Historical Statistics of the United States, volume 3, Consumer Price Indexes 1774-2003, Bilateral Exchange Rates in Europe 1913-99; 2006).