George Cholmondeley, 1st Marquess of Cholmondeley

The Most Honourable
The Marquess of Cholmondeley
KG GCH PC

The Marquess of Cholmondeley by Pompeo Batoni, 1772, Houghton Hall, Norfolk.
Lord Steward of the Household
In office
19 February 1812  11 December 1821
Monarch George III
George IV
Prime Minister The Earl of Liverpool
Preceded by The Earl of Aylesford
Succeeded by The Marquess Conyngham
Personal details
Born 11 May 1749
Died 10 April 1827
Nationality British
Spouse(s) Lady Georgiana Charlotte Bertie (d. 1838)

George James Cholmondeley, 1st Marquess of Cholmondeley KG GCH PC (/ˈʌmli/; 11 May 1749 – 10 April 1827), styled Viscount Malpas between 1764 and 1770 and known as The Earl of Cholmondeley between 1770 and 1815, was a British peer and politician.[1]

Background and education

Cholmondeley was the son of George Cholmondeley, Viscount Malpas, and Hester Edwardes. George Cholmondeley, 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley, was his grandfather. He was a direct descendant of Sir Robert Walpole, the first Prime Minister of Great Britain.[1] He was educated at Eton.[1] In January 1776, Cholmondeley began an affair with the noted beauty Grace Dalrymple Elliot, allegedly taking her up during a Pantheon masquerade ball. Grace was legally separated from her husband, Dr. John Eliot, who was to divorce her several months later. This liaison lasted for three years.[2]

Career

In 1770 he succeeded his grandfather as fourth Earl of Cholmondeley and entered the House of Lords. In April 1783, Cholmondeley was admitted to the Privy Council and appointed Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard in the government of the Duke of Portland, a post he held until December the same year. He remained out of office for the next 29 years, but in 1812 he was made Lord Steward of the Household in Spencer Perceval's Tory administration.[3] He continued in the post after Lord Liverpool became Prime Minister after Perceval's assassination in May 1812, holding it until 1821.

In 1815, Cholmondeley was created Earl of Rocksavage, in the County of Chester, and Marquess of Cholmondeley.[4] He was further honoured when he was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order (Hanoverian Order) in 1819[1] and a Knight of the Garter in 1822.[5] Apart from his political career, he was also Lord-Lieutenant of Cheshire from 1770 to 1783 and Vice-Admiral of Cheshire from 1770 to 1827.

Trivia

According to the betting book for Brooks's, a London gentlemen's club, Cholmondeley once wagered two guineas to Ld. Derby, to receive 500 guineas upon having made love to a woman "in a balloon one thousand yards from the Earth." It is unknown whether the bet was ever finalized.[6]

Family

Lord Cholmondeley married Lady Georgiana Charlotte Bertie,[7] daughter of Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, on 25 April 1791. Through this marriage the ancient hereditary office of Lord Great Chamberlain came into the Cholmondeley family.[8][9] Lord Cholmondeley died at age 77 in April 1827, and he was succeeded in his lands, estates and titles by his eldest son George. Lady Cholmondeley died in 1838.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Lundy, Darryl. "1st Marquess of Cholmondeley, ID #26194". The Peerage. External link in |publisher= (help)
    • Manning, Jo. (2005). "My Lady Scandalous: The amazing life and outrageous times of Grace Dalrymple Elliott, royal courtesan." New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-6262-0
  2. The London Gazette: no. 16580. p. 425. 3 March 1812.
  3. The London Gazette: no. 17066. p. 1997. 30 September 1815.
  4. The London Gazette: no. 17842. p. 1315. 10 August 1822.
  5. L. G. Mitchell's biography of Charles James Fox. Quoted in Google Books
  6. Lundy, Darryl. "Georgiana Charlotte Bertie, ID #26196". The Peerage. External link in |publisher= (help)
  7. Notes and Queries (1883 Jan-Jun), p. 42.
  8. Portcullis: Deed of Covenant and Agreement between Lord Willoughby de Eresby, The Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley and the Marquis of Cholmondeley re the exercise of the Office of Hereditary Great Chamberlain (16 May 1829).

References

Lady Cholmondeley and her son Henry (1805), by Charles Turner.

External links

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Hugh Elliot
British Minister to Prussia
1782
Succeeded by
Sir John Stepney, Bt
Political offices
Preceded by
The Duke of Dorset
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard
1783
Succeeded by
The Earl of Aylesford
Preceded by
The Earl of Aylesford
Lord Steward of the Household
1812–1821
Succeeded by
The Marquess Conyngham
Honorary titles
Preceded by
The Earl of Cholmondeley
Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire
1770–1783
Succeeded by
The 5th Earl of Stamford
Vice-Admiral of Cheshire
1770–1827
Succeeded by
The 6th Earl of Stamford
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Marquess of Cholmondeley
1815–1827
Succeeded by
George Cholmondeley
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by
George Cholmondeley
Baron Newburgh
(descended by acceleration)

1815–1821
Succeeded by
George Cholmondeley
Peerage of England
Preceded by
George Cholmondeley
Earl of Cholmondeley
1770–1827
Succeeded by
George Cholmondeley
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