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English Family Name

Spencer

“occupational, from despensier, the steward of a great household's provisions”
“Dieu défend le droit” · God defends the right
House colours from the family arms — this name has no clan tartan tradition
Historic titleEarl Spencer; the related Spencer-Churchill line holds the Dukedom of Marlborough
HeartlandNorthamptonshire & Oxfordshire
RegionEast Midlands

Sheep farmers who bought Althorp in 1508 and rose to an earldom. The family produced both Diana, Princess of Wales, and, through the Spencer-Churchill branch at Blenheim, Sir Winston Churchill.

Ancestral seats

  • Althorp, Northamptonshire
  • Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
  • Spencer House, London

Where to walk in their footsteps

Access, opening hours and admission change. We confirm every site before it goes into an itinerary.

Althorp, Northamptonshire

Diana's family home and burial place, open for a short summer season by advance ticket.

Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire

Seat of the Spencer-Churchill Dukes of Marlborough and Churchill's birthplace.

Also recorded as

Spencer-ChurchillSpenser

Travelling to Spencer country

Cashel Travel has arranged clan gatherings and heritage tours across Scotland and Ireland since the 1990s, including full gatherings for Clan Gordon, Hay, Keith, Lindsay, Hunter, Dunbar, Graham, Sutherland and MacLaren. We research the family history, build the itinerary around it, and arrange access to places that are not normally open to the public.

Plan a heritage tour