George Cholmondeley, 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley ( ; 2 January 1703 – 10 June 1770), styled as Viscount Malpas from 1725 to 1733, was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Whig politician and nobleman who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1724 to 1733.

Life

Cholmondeley was the son of

George Cholmondeley, 2nd Earl of Cholmondeley George Cholmondeley, 2nd Earl of Cholmondeley, PC, FRS (1666 – 7 May 1733), styled The Honourable from birth until 1715 and then known as Lord Newborough to 1725, was an English soldier. Cholmondeley was the second son of Robert Cholmondele ...

, and Elizabeth van Ruyterburgh (or Ruttenburg). He was elected to the

for East Looe in 1724, a seat he held until 1727, and then represented Windsor between 1727 and 1733, when he succeeded his father as third Earl of Cholmondeley and entered the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. He held office under his father-in-law

Sir Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the ''de facto'' first Prime Minister of Great Britain, ser ...

as a

Lord of the Admiralty This is a list of lords commissioners of the Admiralty (incomplete before the Restoration, 1660). The lords commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of the Board of Admiralty, which exercised the office of Lord High Admiral when it was ...

from 1727 to 1729, as a

Lord of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords (or Ladies) Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second L ...

from 1735 to 1736 and as

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. Excluding the prime minister, the chancellor is the highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the prime minister ...

from 1736 to 1743 (from 1742 to 1743 under the premiership of The Earl of Wilmington). From 1743 to 1744 he also served as

Lord Privy Seal The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and abov ...

under

Henry Pelham Henry Pelham (25 September 1694 – 6 March 1754) was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1743 until his death in 1754. He was the younger brother of Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, who serv ...

and was Joint Vice-Treasurer of Ireland between 1744 and 1757. In 1736, he was admitted to the Privy Council.

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...

described him as "a vain and empty man, shoved up so high by his father-in-law, Sir Robert Walpole, and fallen into contempt and obscurity by his own extravagance and insufficiency." Apart from his political career, Lord Cholmondeley was also

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ov ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

and

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

(less

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

) from 1733 to 1760. He was promoted to colonel in 1745, major-general in 1755, and lieutenant-general in 1759. He was also involved in the charitable effort to create a home for foundlings in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, which was hoped would alleviate the problem of

child abandonment A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

. The home became known as the

Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital (formally the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children) was a children's home in London, England, founded in 1739 by the philanthropy, philanthropic Captain (nautical), sea captain ...

and Cholmondeley sat on its board as a founding Governor.

Private life

Lord Cholmondeley married Lady Mary Walpole, daughter of Prime Minister Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, in 1723. He died on 10 June 1770, aged 67. His eldest son

George Cholmondeley, Viscount Malpas George Cholmondeley, Viscount Malpas ( ; 17 October 1724 – 15 March 1764) was a British soldier and Member of Parliament. Cholmondeley was the eldest son of George Cholmondeley, 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley, and Lady Mary Walpole, daughter of Prim ...

, predeceased him and he was succeeded in his titles by his grandson George, who was created

Marquess of Cholmondeley Marquess of Cholmondeley ( ) is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1815 for George Cholmondeley, 4th Earl of Cholmondeley. History The Cholmondeley family descends from William le Belward (or de Belward), the ...

in 1815. His second son Robert (1727–1804) began his career as a lieutenant in the 3rd Foot Guards but resigned after the

Battle of Lauffeld The Battle of Lauffeld took place on 2 July 1747, during the War of the Austrian Succession. Fought between the towns of Tongeren in modern Belgium, and the Dutch city of Maastricht, a French army of 80,000 under Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragma ...

in July 1747 and became a minister. Robert was married to the socialite Mary Woffington. The actress Maria Nossiter was the daughter of Lord Cholmondeley's "favourite" housekeeper. Maria was educated, had money and enjoyed a successful, but brief, career. It is supposed that she was his daughter.

References

, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cholmondeley, George Cholmondeley, 3rd Earl of 1703 births 1770 deaths British Army lieutenant generals British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath Lord-lieutenants of Anglesey Lord-lieutenants of Caernarvonshire Lord-lieutenants of Cheshire Lord-lieutenants of Flintshire Lord-lieutenants of Merionethshire Lord-lieutenants of Montgomeryshire Malpas, George Cholmondeley, Viscount Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies Malpas, George Cholmondeley, Viscount George 3 Lords of the Admiralty