View source for George Cholmondeley, 1st Marquess of Cholmondeley

{{Short description|British peer and politician}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Most Honourable]]
| name = The Marquess of Cholmondeley
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KG|GCH|PC}}
| image = Portrait of George James, 1st Marquess of Cholmondeley by Batoni, Pompeo Girolamo.jpg
| imagesize = 
| caption = The Marquess of Cholmondeley by [[Pompeo Batoni]], 1772, [[Houghton Hall]], Norfolk.
| order1 = [[Lord Steward of the Household]]
| term_start1 = 19 February 1812
| term_end1 = 11 December 1821
| monarch1 = {{Plainlist|
* [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]]
* [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]]}}
| primeminister1 = [[Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool|The Earl of Liverpool]]
| predecessor1 = [[Heneage Finch, 4th Earl of Aylesford|The Earl of Aylesford]]
| successor1 = [[Henry Conyngham, 1st Marquess Conyngham|The Marquess Conyngham]]
| birth_name = George James Cholmondeley
| birth_date = {{birth-date|11 May 1749}}
| birth_place = 
| death_date = {{death-date and age|10 April 1827|11 May 1749}} 
| death_place = 
| nationality = British
| party = 
| alma_mater = 
| spouse = {{Marriage |[[Georgiana Cholmondeley, Marchioness of Cholmondeley|Lady Georgiana Charlotte Bertie]] |1791}}
| children = {{Plainlist|
* [[George Cholmondeley, 2nd Marquess of Cholmondeley]]
* [[William Cholmondeley, 3rd Marquess of Cholmondeley]]
*Lady Charlotte Georgiana Seymour
}}
| parents = {{Plainlist|
* [[George Cholmondeley, Viscount Malpas]]
* Hester Edwardes}}
}}
[[File:St Martin of Tours, Houghton - Hatchment (geograph 4137982).jpg|thumb|Hatchment in St Martin's Church, Houghton, showing 
Cholmondeley with inescutcheon of Bertie, all circumscribed by the Garter]]

'''George James Cholmondeley, 1st Marquess of Cholmondeley''', ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|tʃ|ʌ|m|l|i}} {{Respell|CHUM|lee}}; 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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last1=Cokayne|first1=George E. |url=http://archive.org/details/completepeerageo03coka|title=The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom: Extant, Extinct, or Dormant. Volume III, Canonteign to Cutts.|
last2=Howard de Walden|first2=Thomas Evelyn Scott-Ellis|last3=Warrand|first3=Duncan|last4=Gibbs|first4=Vicary|last5=Doubleday|first5=H. Arthur|last6=White|first6=Geoffrey H.|year=1910|publisher=London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd.|page=204}}</ref>

==Background and education==
Cholmondeley was the son of [[George Cholmondeley, Viscount Malpas]], and Hester Edwardes. [[George Cholmondeley, 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley]], was his grandfather.<ref name=":0" /> He was a direct descendant of [[Robert Walpole|Sir Robert Walpole]], the first [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister of Great Britain]]. He was educated at [[Eton College|Eton]].<ref name=":0" /> In January 1776, Cholmondeley began an affair with the noted beauty [[Grace Elliott|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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Manning|first= Jo|year=2005|title=My Lady Scandalous: The Amazing Life and Outrageous Times of Grace Dalrymple Elliott, Royal Courtesan|location=New York|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-7432-6262-0}}</ref>

==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 of Great Britain|Privy Council]] and appointed [[Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard]] in the government of the [[William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland|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 Government 1809–1812|Tory administration]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=16580 |date=3 March 1812 |page=425 }}</ref> He continued in the post after [[Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool|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'''.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=17066 |date=30 September 1815 |page=1997 }}</ref> He was further honoured when he was made a Knight Grand Cross of the [[Royal Guelphic Order]] (Hanoverian Order) in 1819<ref name=":0" /> and a [[Order of the Garter|Knight of the Garter]] in 1822.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=17842 |date=10 August 1822 |page=1315 }}</ref> 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.

[[Cholmondeley Sound]], in [[southeast Alaska]], was named for him in 1793 by [[George Vancouver]].<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|1421044|Cholmondeley Sound}}</ref>

==Personal life==
[[Image:Charles Turner - Portrait of Charlotte Cholmondeley and son Henry.jpg|thumb|left|Lady Cholmondeley and her son [[William Cholmondeley, 3rd Marquess of Cholmondeley|William Henry Hugh Cholmondeley, 3rd Marquess of Cholmondeley]] (1805), by [[Charles Turner (engraver)|Charles Turner]].]]
Lord Cholmondeley married [[Georgiana Charlotte Cholmondeley, Marchioness Cholmondeley|Lady Georgiana Charlotte Bertie]],<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=p_zVNY6OFP0C&dq=Debrett%27s+Peerage+and+Baronetage&pg=PA42  ''Notes and Queries'' (1883 Jan–Jun), p. 42.]</ref><ref>[http://www.parliament.uk/index.cfm Portcullis] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220094515/http://www.parliament.uk/index.cfm |date=20 December 2008 }}: [http://www.portcullis.parliament.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo==%22LGC/5/5/7%22) 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).] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924080118/http://www.portcullis.parliament.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=%28RefNo%3D%3D%22LGC%2F5%2F5%2F7%22%29 |date=24 September 2015 }}</ref>
They had three children:
*[[George Horatio Cholmondeley, 2nd Marquess of Cholmondeley]] (16 Jan 1792 – 8 May 1870)
*[[William Henry Hugh Cholmondeley, 3rd Marquess of Cholmondeley]] (31 Mar 1800 – 16 Dec 1884)
*Lady Charlotte Georgiana (d. 24 June 1828) married [[Hugh Henry John Seymour|Lt.-Col. Hugh Henry Seymour]], son of [[Lord Hugh Seymour|Adm. Lord Hugh Seymour]], on 18 May 1818.

Before his marriage to Georgiana, Lord Cholmondeley had had a mistress, Madame St-Albin, and with her had one daughter, [[Harriet Cholmondeley]].

[[File:Cholmondeley Castle.jpg|thumb|Cholmondeley Castle]]
He inherited [[Houghton Hall]] in Norfolk from his great-uncle [[Horace Walpole]] in 1797 but preferred to live at [[Cholmondeley Castle]] in Cheshire, which had been rebuilt in 1801–04 to his design.

He was friends with the disreputable courtesans [[Gertrude Mahon]], [[Grace Elliott]] and [[Kitty Frederick]].<ref>{{Cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-64354|title=Mahon [née Tilson], Gertrude (b. 1752, d. in or after 1808), courtesan and actress {{!}} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|year=2004|language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/64354|access-date=2020-03-11}}</ref> According to the betting book for [[Brooks's]], a London [[gentlemen's club]], Cholmondeley once wagered two guineas to [[Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby|Lord Derby]], to receive 500 guineas upon having sexual intercourse with a woman "in a balloon one thousand yards from the Earth." It is unknown whether the bet was ever finalised.<ref>L. G. Mitchell's biography of Charles James Fox. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uariyzldrJwC&pg=PA98 Quoted in Google Books]</ref>

[[File:Cholmondeley family interred in Malpas Vault.jpg|thumb|Cholmondeley's listing in the family vault at [[St Oswald's Church, Malpas]] ]]

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.

Eighteenth-century English Studies professor and [[List of Guggenheim Fellowships awarded in 1956|Guggenheim Fellow]] Arthur Sherbo nominated Lord Cholmondeley as the likely real-life inspiration for the character of Rawdon Crawley in [[William Makepeace Thackeray|William Makepeace Thackeray's]] satirical novel [[Vanity Fair (novel)|''Vanity Fair'']].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sherbo|first=Arthur|date=1955-12-01|title=A Suggestion for the Original of Thackeray's Rawdon Crawley|url=https://online.ucpress.edu/ncl/article-abstract/10/3/211/63876/A-Suggestion-for-the-Original-of-Thackeray-s?redirectedFrom=PDF|journal=Nineteenth-Century Fiction|language=en|volume=10|issue=3|pages=211–216|doi=10.2307/3044401|jstor=3044401|issn=0029-0564|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== References ==
* Debrett, John, Charles Kidd, David Williamson. (1990). [https://books.google.com/books?id=8hDxGAAACAAJ&q=Debrett%27s+Peerage+and+Baronetage  ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage.'']{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} New York: [[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]]. {{ISBN|978-0-333-38847-1}}
* Lodge, Edmund. (1877). [https://books.google.com/books?id=gLEKAAAAYAAJ  ''The Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire as at Present Existing.''] London: Hurst and Blackett. [http://www.worldcat.org/wcpa/oclc/17221260 OCLC 17221260]

==External links==
*{{Hansard-contribs | mr-george-cholmondeley-3 | the Marquess of Cholmondeley }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090124111437/http://houghtonhall.com/htmlfiles/1024index.htm Houghton Hall]
* [http://www.cholmondeleycastle.com/  Cholmondeley Castle]
* [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]][http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/HD/bpor/ho_20.155.1.htm Oil painting of ''Mrs. Grace Dalrymple Elliott'' by Thomas Gainsborough (British, 1727–1788), which was "apparently commissioned by her lover, the first Marquess of Cholmondeley, and was exhibited at the Academy in 1778."]

{{s-start}}
{{s-dip}}
{{succession box | title=[[List of diplomats from the United Kingdom to Prussia|British Minister to Prussia]] | before=[[Hugh Elliot]] | after=[[Sir John Stepney, 8th Baronet|Sir John Stepney, Bt]] | years=1782}}

{{s-off}}
{{succession box | title=[[Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard]] | before=[[John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset|The Duke of Dorset]] | after=[[Heneage Finch, 4th Earl of Aylesford|The Earl of Aylesford]] | years=1783}}
{{succession box | title=[[Lord Steward of the Household]] | before=[[Heneage Finch, 4th Earl of Aylesford|The Earl of Aylesford]] | after=[[Henry Conyngham, 1st Marquess Conyngham|The Marquess Conyngham]] | years=1812–1821}}

{{s-hon}}
{{s-bef | rows=2 | before=[[George Cholmondeley, 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley|The Earl of Cholmondeley]]}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire]] | years=1770–1783}}
{{s-aft | after=[[George Grey, 5th Earl of Stamford|The 5th Earl of Stamford]]}}
|-
{{s-ttl | title=[[Vice-Admiral of Cheshire]] | years=1770–1827}}
{{s-aft | after=[[George Grey, 6th Earl of Stamford|The 6th Earl of Stamford]]}}

{{s-reg|uk}}
{{s-new|creation}}
{{s-ttl| title  = [[Marquess of Cholmondeley]]
       | years  = 1815–1827 }}
{{s-aft| after  = [[George Cholmondeley, 2nd Marquess of Cholmondeley|George Cholmondeley]] }}
{{s-reg|gb}}
{{s-bef| before = [[George Cholmondeley, 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley|George Cholmondeley]]}}
{{s-ttl| title = [[Baron Newburgh]]<br /><small>(descended by [[writ of acceleration|acceleration]])</small> | years=1770–1822}}
{{s-aft| after = [[George Cholmondeley, 2nd Marquess of Cholmondeley|George Cholmondeley]]}}
{{s-reg|en}}
{{succession box | title=[[Earl of Cholmondeley]] | before=[[George Cholmondeley, 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley|George Cholmondeley]] | after=[[George Cholmondeley, 2nd Marquess of Cholmondeley|George Cholmondeley]] | years=1770–1827 }}
{{s-end}}

{{Marquesses of Cholmondeley}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cholmondeley, George Cholmondeley, 1st Marquess Of}}
[[Category:1749 births]]
[[Category:1827 deaths]]
[[Category:Knights of the Garter]]
[[Category:Lord-lieutenants of Cheshire]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain]]
[[Category:Cholmondeley family|George]]
[[Category:Marquesses of Cholmondeley|1]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]