The Most Honourable
The Marquess of Cholmondeley
GCVO
Earl of Rocksavage, c. 1913
Lord Great Chamberlain of England
In office
1952–1966
MonarchElizabeth II
Preceded byJames Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 3rd Earl of Ancaster
Succeeded byHugh Cholmondeley, Earl of Rocksavage (as deputy)
In office
1936
MonarchEdward VIII
Preceded byWilliam Legge, Viscount Lewisham (as deputy)
Succeeded byGilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 2nd Earl of Ancaster
Personal details
Born
George Horatio Charles Cholmondeley

(1883-05-19)19 May 1883
Cholmondeley Castle, Malpas, Cheshire, England
Died6 September 1968(1968-09-06) (aged 85)
London, England
Spouse
​
(m. 1913)​
Children3
Parent(s)George Cholmondeley, 4th Marquess of Cholmondeley
Winifred Ida Kingscote
Residence(s)Houghton Hall
Cholmondeley Castle

George Horatio Charles Cholmondeley, 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley GCVO (/ˈtʃʌmli/; 19 May 1883 – 16 September 1968), styled Earl of Rocksavage from birth until 1923, was a British peer.[1] He was the Lord Great Chamberlain of England in 1936 and also between 1952 and 1966.[2][3][4]

Personal life

Cholmondeley was a direct descendant of Sir Robert Walpole, the first Prime Minister of Great Britain. He was born in Cholmondeley Castle, near Malpas, Cheshire, the son of George Cholmondeley, 4th Marquess of Cholmondeley and Winifred Ida Kingscote. In the years before he succeeded to his father's title, he was a well-known tennis and polo player.[5]

He was also an authority on penmanship, championing a script which became known as the "Cholmondeley Italic", and was the first president of the Society for Italic Handwriting.[1] In 1950, he established the Cholmondeley Prize, a handwriting contest between the students of Eton and Harrow. Winchester joined in 1952 and the schools have continued the annual competition since.[6]

Military career

Cholmondeley fought in the Second Boer War (1899–1901), serving as a "Railway Staff Officer", first with the Royal Sussex Regiment and from October 1901 as Second Lieutenant of the 9th Lancers.[7] In 1905, he attained the rank of Lieutenant in the 9th Lancers.[8] He was Aide-de-Camp to the Viceroy of India, and he fought in the First World War, during which he gained the rank of Captain in the 9th Lancers.[9]

In 1923 Cholmondeley succeeded to his father's estates and peerages, becoming known by the highest of those titles, Marquess of Cholmondeley. In the 1953 Coronation Honours he was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.[10]

Lands and estates

Houghton Hall, Norfolk, seat of the Marquesses of Cholmondeley since the title was created

The family seats are Houghton Hall, Norfolk, and Cholmondeley Castle, which is surrounded by a 7,500 acres (30 km2) estate near Malpas, Cheshire.[11]

The Cholmondeleys bought Wenbans near Wadhurst in Sussex in the mid-1890s. After major restoration work in the 1920s and 1930s, the rustic farm only 50 miles (80 km) from London was reported to have been used as a romantic getaway by the then Prince of Wales, who later became Edward VIII. The property was sold around the time of the abdication crisis of 1936 and the accession of George VI.[12]

Lord Great Chamberlain

The ancient office of Lord Great Chamberlain changes at the beginning of each monarch’s reign, as the right to it is divided between three families; one moiety of that right belongs to the Marquesses of Cholmondeley,[13] having come to them as a result of the marriage of the first Marquess to Lady Georgiana Charlotte Bertie, daughter of Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven.[14] The second, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh holders of the marquessate have all held this office.

The 5th Marquess succeeded to the office in 1936, at the beginning of the reign of Edward VIII, which proved to be short. He bore the Royal Standard at the Coronation of King George VI in 1937. He was again appointed at the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth II in 1952.[15][16]

Family

Visit to Alfa Romeo by the marquess (third from left), Italo Balbo (fourth), Lady Cholmondeley (fifth), Prospero Gianferrari (sixth), c. 1930

The wealth of the Cholmondeley family was greatly enhanced by Cholmondeley's marriage to Sybil Sassoon (1894–1989), a member of the Sassoon family and the Rothschild family, Jewish banking families, with origins in Baghdad, India, Germany, and France. She was heiress to her brother Sir Philip Sassoon. The couple were married on 6 August 1913, and they had two sons and one daughter:

Cholmondeley died in 1968 and is buried in the Church of St Martin on the Houghton Hall estate.[19]

His great-grandson is actor Jack Huston.

Further reading

  • 1953 – A Handlist of the Cholmondeley (Houghton) MSS.: Sir Robert Walpole's archive (with Gilbert Allen Chinnery). Cambridge: Cambridge University Library. OCLC 3372466
  • 1959 – The Houghton Pictures: by kind permission of The Marquess and Marchioness of Cholmondeley, [Exhibition] in aid of King George's Fund for Sailors, 6 May – 6 June 1959. London: Thomas Agnew & Sons. OCLC 222289892

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Obituary: Lord Cholmondeley, Former Lord Great Chamberlain". The Times: 10. 18 September 1968.
  2. ↑ "No. 34308". The London Gazette. 24 July 1936. p. 4741.
  3. ↑ "No. 39571". The London Gazette. 13 June 1952. p. 3233.
  4. ↑ Art in Parliament, "George Horatio Charles Cholmondeley, 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley," oil painting by Henry Carr. Catalogue number:WOA 1707, description excerpt, "... Chamberlain in 1936 and from 1952–66."
  5. ↑ "Lord Cholmondeley Dies; Fourth Marquess Was Father of Earl of Rocksavage, Polo Player". New York Times. 17 March 1923.
  6. ↑ Robin Treffgarne (17 July 2009). "A Tribute to Lord Cholmondeley". Society for Italic Handwriting. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  7. ↑ "No. 27366". The London Gazette. 18 October 1901. p. 6783.
  8. ↑ "No. 27831". The London Gazette. 29 August 1905. p. 5908.
  9. ↑ "No. 28985". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 November 1914. p. 9963.
  10. ↑ "No. 39863". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 1953. p. 2946.
  11. ↑ Caroline Donald. "The new garden at Houghton Hall, King’s Lynn, Norfolk," The Times (UK). 11 May 2008.
  12. ↑ Ramsden, H. F. S. (1924). "Wenbans, Wadhurst" (PDF). Sussex Archaeological Collections. 65: 259. Open access icon
  13. ↑ Notes and Queries (1883 January–June), p. 42.
  14. ↑ Portcullis Archived 20 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine: 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). Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ↑ "No. 34453". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 November 1937. p. 7048.
  16. ↑ Hereditary Titles Archived 22 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine: Marquess of Cholmondeley Archived 6 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ↑ Peter Stansky (2003). Sassoon: The Worlds of Philip and Sybil. Yale University Press. p. xiv. ISBN 0-300-09547-3.
  18. ↑ England and Wales, Death Registration Index 1837–2007; General Register Office, Southport, England
  19. ↑ "Houghton Hall - St Martin's Church". Houghton Hall Estate. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
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