Unseen photos of Churchill's 'spy' cousin discovered

A previously unknown photo album belonging to Winston Churchill's "spy" cousin, Clare Sheridan, is set to sell for thousands.

The album contains more than 80 photographs from her secret trip to Soviet Russia in 1920, which led to the British government thinking she was a Russian spy.

Auctioneer Andrew Stowe, who discovered the album during a routine valuation, described the moment as a "eureka" find.

"I was full of enthusiasm," he said. "It's quite a special moment - things like that don't happen every day."

The Russian Revolution, which began in 1917, caused global unrest.

After an affair with Soviet diplomat Lev Kamenev in London, Miss Sheridan was invited to Russia in 1920.

Mr Stowe noted that while Ms Sheridan travelled under the pretence of sculpting revolutionary leaders such as Lenin and Trotsky, "her activities went a little bit further than just sculpting them."

He added: "It was quite a promiscuous trip, and she was quite a character… a strong, independent, and powerful young woman who knew exactly what she wanted in life."

The album includes rare, annotated photographs of key figures, including the first known image of Bolshevik revolutionary Mikhail Borodin.

The pictures document Ms Sheridan's journey from the Isle of Wight with Kamenev, through Norway, and into the Kremlin.

Mr Stowe noted that many of the photos appear to be "very generic tourist pictures", yet they capture a unique and personal side of history.

"One of the pictures early in the book shows Clare Sheridan with Lev Kamenev. They're sat on the grass on the Isle of Wight as any young couple would," he said.

Expected to fetch more than £10,000 at auction, the album also includes a signed photograph of Churchill dedicated to Sheridan's daughter.

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