George Cholmondeley, 6th Marquess of Cholmondeley
Encyclopedia
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
, MC
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
, styled Earl of Rocksavage from 1960 until 1968, was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
peer and Lord Great Chamberlain
Lord Great Chamberlain
The Lord Great Chamberlain of England is the sixth of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Privy Seal and above the Lord High Constable...
of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
between 1968 and 1990.
Biography
Cholmondeley was born in 1919, a descendant of Sir Robert WalpoleRobert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC , known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain....
, the first Prime Minister of Great Britain. He was the son of George Cholmondeley, 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley
George Cholmondeley, 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley
George Horatio Charles Cholmondeley, 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley GCVO , styled Earl of Rocksavage from birth until 1923, was a British peer. He was the Lord Great Chamberlain of England in 1936 and also between 1952 and 1966.-Personal:...
and Sybil Sassoon
Sybil Sassoon
Sybil Rachel Betty Cecile Sassoon, Marchioness of Cholmondeley, CBE was Chief Staff Officer to Director WRNS, WRNS HQ, Admiralty from 12 November 1939 until 1946. On 9 February 1945 she was appointed as Supt. of the Women's Royal Naval Service and the following year was made CBE...
, of the Sassoon
Sassoon family
The Sassoon family was an Indian family of Iraqi Jewish descent and international renown, based in Bombay, India. It was descended from the famous Ibn Shoshans, one of the richest families of medieval Spain...
and Rothschild family
Rothschild family
The Rothschild family , known as The House of Rothschild, or more simply as the Rothschilds, is a Jewish-German family that established European banking and finance houses starting in the late 18th century...
. Like his great-great-grandfather, his great-granduncle, his great-grandfather, his grandfather,, his father and his son, Cholmondeley was educated at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
. He studied at Magdalene College
Magdalene College, Cambridge
Magdalene College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary Magdalene...
, Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
.
Cholmondeley served in British army, initially in the Grenadier Guards
Grenadier Guards
The Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...
and later in the 1st Royal Dragoons. During the Second World War, he saw action in the Middle East, in Italy, in France and in Germany. In 1943, he was decorated with the award of Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
(MC
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
). When Cholmondeley retired from the military in 1949, he had attained the rank of Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
.
Cholmondeley's life and career took a turn when he acceded to his father's land, estates and title in 1968, and his inherited title became Marquess of Cholmondeley.
The 6th marquis died at Cholmondeley Castle in 1990.
Family
Cholmondeley married Lavinia Margaret Leslie, daughter of Colonel John Leslie, on 14 June 1947. The children of that marriage were:- Rose Aline (born 20 March 1948).
- Margot Lavinia (born 27 January 1950).
- Caroline Mary (born 10 April 1952).
- David George PhilipDavid Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of CholmondeleyDavid George Philip Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, KCVO, DL , was styled from birth Viscount Malpas until 1968, and subsequently Earl of Rocksavage until 1990...
, Earl of Rocksavage (born 27 June 1960).
Lavinia, the Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley, aged 92, lives in Cholmondeley Castle.
Lands and estates
The family seats are Houghton HallHoughton Hall
Houghton Hall is a country house in Norfolk, England. It was built for the de facto first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, and it is a key building in the history of Palladian architecture in England...
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, and Cholmondeley Castle
Cholmondeley Castle
Cholmondeley Castle is a country house in the civil parish of Cholmondeley, Cheshire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building. It is surrounded by a estate.-House:...
, which is surrounded by a 7500 acres (30.4 km²) estate near Malpas, Cheshire
Malpas, Cheshire
Malpas is a large village which used to be a market town, and it is also a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The parish lies on the border with Shropshire and Wales...
.
Position at court
One moietyMoiety title
Moiety title is legal term describing a portion other than a whole of ownership of property. The word derives from Old French moitié meaning "half" , from Latin medietas "middle", from medius....
part of the ancient office of Lord Great Chamberlain
Lord Great Chamberlain
The Lord Great Chamberlain of England is the sixth of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Privy Seal and above the Lord High Constable...
is a Cholmondeley inheritance. This hereditary honour came into the Cholmondeley family through the marriage of the first Marquess of Cholmondeley to Lady Georgiana Charlotte Bertie, daughter of Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven
Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven
General Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, 3rd Marquess of Lindsey, 6th Earl of Lindsey, 19th Baron Willoughby de Eresby PC was the son of Peregrine Bertie, 2nd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven....
. The second, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh holders of the marquessate have all held this office.
Further reading
- 1947 -- A day's march nearer home. Experiences with the Royals, 1939-1945. London : privately printed. OCLC 57035942