27th ICSC Annual Dinner 2025

Guest Speaker: Katherine Carter, author of "Churchill’s Citadel: Chartwell & the Gatherings Before the Storm"

 International Churchill Society Canada is pleased to have as Guest Speaker for this year’s Annual Dinner, Katherine Carter, the long-time curator of Sir Winston Churchill’s much-loved home, Chartwell. 

Katherine has taken her knowledge of the home and the tumultuous period before the Second World War to produce a unique record of the 1930’s. 

In that decade, Churchill was in the political “Wilderness” with his warnings of the rising power of Nazi Germany being ignored by the governments of Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain. 

However, life at Chartwell was a hive of activity. Churchill completed his monumental, four volume life of his ancestor, the Duke of Marlborough, and he commenced his “A History of the English-Speaking Peoples”. 

Churchill welcomed many prominent people to Chartwell, including the physicist Albert Einstein, who was high on Hitler’s hit list of German Jews, and Hitler’s predecessor as Chancellor Herbert Bruning, also targeted. 

Churchill continued his warnings in Parliament and in newspaper articles of the increasing threat from Nazi Germany. The British Government denied the increasing shortfall between their expenditures and those of Germany, but Churchill’s information came direct from military personnel and civil servants who were regular visitors to Chartwell, and who, in spite of the threat to their careers, provided Churchill with accurate information. 

In the conclusion to her book Katherine writes, “It is no exaggeration to say that the meetings and the events that too place at Chartwell during these crucial years changed the course of history. They gave him the knowledge and authority to return to political power upon the outbreak of war. Without them, Churchill may not have been called to lead the British Government in May 1940, and the world could easily have been denied the courage, determination and era-defining leadership that inspired the people of Britain and led them from the brink of defeat to victory.” 

Katherine’s book, which is highly recommended, will be available for purchase and inscription. 

Click This Link to Pay for Dinner and Choose Meal Option

Cocktails (Cash Bar): 6:00 PM Dinner 7:15

Albany Club- 91 King Street East, Toronto, (416) 364 5471

$200 for Members/Subscribers/Guests

Payment can be made by Credit Card through PayPal

Alternatively, by Cheque, payable to ICS Canada. Please contact at myra.dodick@gmail.com for menu, alternative payments, and further information.

Our Guest Speaker

Our Guest Speaker Katherine Carter has worked for Britain’s National Trust as curator of Chartwell, Winston Churchill’s home in the County of Kent for the past decade. 

Katherine is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and is also a Fellow of Westminster College in Fulton Missouri, the site of Winston Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech, in 1946.

A commentator and advisory on the life and legacy of Sir Winston Churchill she lectures internationally and appears frequently in print and broadcast media. Her knowledge of the subject matter is unparalleled, as is her enthusiasm for the topic. 

Churchill's Citadel: Chartwell and the Gatherings Before the Storm 

Click Here to View the Article

We highly encourage early booking to ensure you are not disappointed.