“ In the same year he married Arabella, daughter of Henry Cavendish, 2nd duke of Newcastle; she died in 1698 and in 1700 he married Anne Churchill, daughter of the famous duke of Marlborough. This was an important alliance for Sunderland and for his descendants; through it he was introduced to political life and later the dukedom of Marlborough came to the Spencers. Having succeeded to the peerage in 1702, the earl was one of the commissioners for the union between England and Scotland, and in 1705 he was sent to Vienna as envoy extraordinary. ”

“ The earl's second wife having died in April 1716, after a career of considerable influence on the political life of her time, in 1717 he married an Irish lady of fortune, Judith Tichborne (d. 1749) . By Lady Anne Churchill he had three sons and two daughters. ”