Shane Leslie

Sir John Randolph Leslie, 3rd Baronet (24 September 1885 – 14 August 1971), commonly known as Sir Shane Leslie, was an Anglo-Irish diplomat and writer. He was a first cousin of Sir Winston Churchill. In 1908, Leslie became a Roman Catholic and supported Irish Home Rule. Childhood and education Leslie was born in Glaslough, County Monaghan, into a wealthy Anglo-Irish landowning family (49,968 acres). His father was Sir John Leslie, 2nd Baronet, and his mother, Leonie Jerome, was the sister of Winston Churchill's mother, Jennie. Both were daughters of Leonard W. Jerome. His ancestor, the Right Reverend John Leslie, Bishop of the Isles, moved from Scotland to Ireland in 1633 when he was made Bishop of Raphoe in County Donegal and was made Bishop of Clogher in 1661. Bishop Leslie was a vocal opponent of Oliver Cromwell. Together with his brother Norman, Leslie's early education began at home where a German governess, Clara Woelke, was their first teacher. As children the brothers had more contact with servants than they had with their parents. Leslie's own daughter, Anita, said that "In my parents' view schools performed the same functions that kennels did for dogs. They were places where pets could be conveniently deposited while their owners travelled."