Charles John Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham (8 August 1909 – 20 March 1977) was the
ninth
In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second.
Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...
Governor-General of New Zealand
The governor-general of New Zealand () is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and lives in the United Kingdom, he, on the Advice ...
and an English
cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
er from the
Lyttelton family
The Lyttelton family (sometimes spelled Littleton) is a British nobility, British aristocratic family. Over time, several members of the Lyttelton family were made knights, baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the Lyttelton family inclu ...
.
Background and education
Lyttelton was born in
Kensington
Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
,
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 ...
, the son of
John Lyttelton, 9th Viscount Cobham
John Cavendish Lyttelton, 9th Viscount Cobham, (23 October 1881 – 31 July 1949), was a British peer, soldier, and Conservative politician from the Lyttelton family.
Biography
Cobham was the eldest son of Charles Lyttelton, 8th Viscount Cobh ...
, and Violet Yolande Leonard.
He was a cousin of the musician
Humphrey Lyttelton
Humphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton (23 May 1921 – 25 April 2008), also known as Humph, was an English jazz musician and broadcaster from the Lyttelton family.
Having taught himself the trumpet at school, Lyttelton became a professional ...
. He was educated at
Eton College
Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
and
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
, graduating with a law degree in 1932.
He had a family connection with New Zealand, where he became governor-general, through his great-grandfather
George Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton
George William Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton, 4th Baron Westcote, (31 March 1817 – 19 April 1876) was an English aristocrat and Conservative politician from the Lyttelton family. He was chairman of the Canterbury Association, which encoura ...
, who was chairman of the
Canterbury Association
The Canterbury Association was formed in 1848 in England by Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), members of parliament, Peerage of the United Kingdom, peers, and Anglicanism, Anglican church leaders, to establish a colony in New Zealand. The se ...
and contributed financially to the early development of
Christchurch
Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...
.
Hagley Park is named after their family estate (
Hagley Park, Worcestershire
Hagley Park is the estate of Hagley Hall in Worcestershire, England. The grounds comprise of undulating deer park on the lower slopes of the Clent Hills. They were redeveloped and landscaped between about 1739 and 1764, with folly, follies desi ...
), and the port town of
Lyttelton bears his great-grandfather's name. He visited New Zealand in 1950 in relation to property holdings in Christchurch.
Military service
Lyttelton joined the
Territorial Army in 1933. He served in the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
with the
British Expeditionary Force in France from 1940. He was commander of the 5th Regiment from 1943.
Lyttelton was made
Honorary Colonel of
Queen's Own Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry on 1 April 1969.
Political career

After the war, Lyttelton wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and enter 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 ...
. However, his father died in 1949 and he succeeded as Viscount Cobham, precluding a career in the Commons.
Cobham became the
ninth
In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second.
Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...
Governor-General of New Zealand
The governor-general of New Zealand () is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and lives in the United Kingdom, he, on the Advice ...
on 5 September 1957. Although from an aristocratic background, he proved popular. He was seen as an outdoors man with a sporting prowess in cricket, and golf, and a competent rugby judge. He was good with a gun and an enthusiastic fly fisherman, all attributes that resonated well with New Zealanders.
Significant events during his tenure included the independence of Western
Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...
and the opening of the
Auckland Harbour Bridge
The Auckland Harbour Bridge is an eight-lane motorway bridge over Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand. It joins Saint Marys Bay, New Zealand, St Marys Bay on the Auckland city side with Northcote, Auckland, Northcote on the North Shore, ...
.
Cobham was served by three
Prime Ministers
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but rat ...
:
Sidney Holland
Sir Sidney George Holland (18 October 1893 – 5 August 1961) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 25th prime minister of New Zealand from 13 December 1949 to 20 September 1957. He was instrumental in the creation and consolidation ...
(1949–1957),
Keith Holyoake
Sir Keith Jacka Holyoake (11 February 1904 – 8 December 1983) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 26th prime minister of New Zealand, serving for a brief period in 1957 and then from 1960 to 1972, and also as the 13th governor-g ...
(1957 and 1960–1972) and
Walter Nash
Sir Walter Nash (12 February 1882 – 4 June 1968) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 27th prime minister of New Zealand in the Second Labour Government from 1957 to 1960. He is noted for his long period of political service, havi ...
(1957–1960). He was most careful to not comment on controversial matters, and had a good working relationship with all three. He was instrumental in setting up the
Outward Bound
Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of outdoor education organisations that was founded in the United Kingdom by Lawrence Holt in 1941 based on the educational principles of Kurt Hahn. Today there are organisations, called schools, i ...
outdoor education organisation in New Zealand, opening the
Outward Bound school in
Anakiwa
Anakiwa is a coastal residential village in the Marlborough region of New Zealand. It sits at the head of Queen Charlotte Sound/Tōtaranui, one of the Marlborough Sounds, west of Picton and east of Havelock. At the 2018 census, the villa ...
near
Picton in September 1962, which bears his name. He visited the school in 1966 and was pleased with the progress that had been made.
Cobham served until 13 September 1962. He was a skilled orator and a book of his speeches sold 50,000 copies; he donated the £10,000 profit to Outward Bound.
Cobham Oval
Cobham Oval is a cricket ground in Whangārei, New Zealand, next to the Okara Park rugby stadium. It stages daytime-only first-class and List A matches. It is the home ground and headquarters of the Northland cricket team and one of the hom ...
in Whangarei and Cobham Court in Porirua are named after him.
Cricket
Lyttelton enjoyed a career in
first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...
, playing more than 90 times for
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...
in the 1930s and captaining the club between 1936 and 1939.
He made his first-class debut, against
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...
, in June 1932, but made a
duck
Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...
in his only innings and did not reappear for two years. He played five times in 1934, but it was only the following season that he became established in the side, playing about 20 matches a year from then until the Second World War, with the exception of 1937 when he appeared only twice.
His highest score (and only first-class century) was the 162 he made against
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
in 1938, but he made many other useful contributions, reaching 50 on 14 further occasions. His most productive year was 1938, when he scored 741 runs at an
average
In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...
of 21.17.
With the ball, his first victim (in July 1934) was
Charlie Barnett, while in 1935 he produced his best innings' bowling, claiming 4–83 against the
South Africans
South Africans are the citizens of South Africa (officially the Republic of South Africa ''RSA.
These individuals include those residing within the borders of South Africa, as well as the South African diaspora.
History
The first modern inh ...
. After 1935 his bowling became largely occasional, and with the exception of nine wickets in 1938, he never again took more than three in a season.
He played ten games for
Marylebone Cricket Club
The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...
(MCC) pre-war: one against
Oxford University
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
in 1935, and nine on
MCC's tour of Australia and
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
during the following winter.
His cricketing career proper ended with the outbreak of war, but (now listed on the scorecard as Lord Cobham, having succeeded to the title in 1949) he played for an "MCC New Zealand Touring Team" against a strong "London New Zealand Club" side in 1954, taking two wickets including that of
Bill Merritt. Remarkably, he made a one-off return to first-class action aged 51 in February 1961, more than two decades after his previous appearance at that level, when as Governor-General he captained a New Zealand side against MCC at
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
: he showed he still had ability, with a handy first-innings 44 from number ten in the order.
A number of his relatives played first-class cricket. His great-grandfather
George
George may refer to:
Names
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
People
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE
* George, stage name of Gior ...
played for
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
in the 1830s, his grandfather (also
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...
) turned out for teams including Cambridge and MCC in the 1860s, his father
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
made a handful of appearances for Worcestershire in the 1920s, and his uncle – another
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...
– played for Worcestershire, Cambridge and MCC before the First World War.
Lyttelton was a former President of the MCC when he became embroiled in what became known as the
D’Oliveira affair. Bruce Murray writes that "On 12 March 1968
Vorster saw Lord Cobham, a former MCC President, in
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
, and told him 'quite categorically' that
D’Oliveira would not be acceptable. As Cobham later recalled in a letter to
Sir de Villiers Graaff, the leader of the
United Party, 'As I remember, he said that a Cape Coloured, alone of all races, castes and creeds, would be likely to provide a catalyst to the potentially explosive – or possibly one should say tricky – Cape Coloured situation'. In April Lord Cobham duly conveyed this information to
Billy Griffith
Stewart Cathie Griffith, (16 June 1914 – 7 April 1993), known as Billy Griffith, was an English cricketer and cricket administrator. He played in three Test matches for England in 1948 and 1949.
He played first-class cricket for Cambridg ...
when he saw him at Lord’s".
Family
Lord Cobham married Elizabeth Alison Makeig-Jones on 30 April 1942 in
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area in West London, England, due south-west of Kilometre zero#Great Britain, Charing Cross by approximately . It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the SW postcode area, south-western p ...
. They had four sons and four daughters. He died in
Marylebone
Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary.
An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...
, London, on 20 March 1977, and was survived by his wife and children.
He was cremated in London; his ashes were returned to
Hagley
Hagley is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It is on the boundary of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Worcestershire counties between the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley and Kidderminster. Its estimated populati ...
for burial in the Lyttelton plot at
Hagley parish church.
Children of Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham:
*
John William Leonard Lyttelton, 11th Viscount Cobham (1943–2006); childless
*Hon. Juliet Meriel Lyttelton (b. 1944); married, 4 children
*Hon. Elizabeth Catherine Lyttelton (b. 1946); married George Cecil Brooke Weld-Forester, 8th
Baron Forester
Baron Forester, of Willey Park in the County of Shropshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 17 July 1821 for Cecil Weld-Forester, who had previously represented Wenlock in the House of Commons. Born Cecil Fores ...
, 4 children including the 9th Baron Forester
*
Christopher Charles Lyttelton, 12th Viscount Cobham
Christopher Charles Lyttelton, 12th Viscount Cobham (born 23 October 1947) is a British nobleman and peer from the Lyttelton family in the United Kingdom.
Biography
The second son of the 10th Viscount Cobham, Lyttelton inherited the title on 1 ...
(b. 1947), married, 2 children. His heir apparent is his son Oliver.
*Hon. Richard Cavendish Lyttelton (b. 1949); married, 2 children. He is a Trustee of the EMI Music Sound Foundation and worked in the recording industry with
EMI Music
EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), c ...
for many years.
*Hon. Nicholas Makeig Lyttelton (1951–2014); married, 1 son (died 2006)
*Hon. Lucy Lyttelton (b. 1954); married, 3 sons
*Hon. Sarah Lyttelton (1954–2015); married Nicholas Bedford, 2 daughters
His
Garter banner, which hung in St. George's Chapel in Windsor during his lifetime, is now on display in the church of St John the Baptist, Hagley.
Arms
References
External links
*
Official biography(Government House, Wellington)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyttelton, Charles, 10th Viscount Cobham
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
English cricketers
Governors-general of New Zealand
Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
Knights of the Garter
Lord-lieutenants of Worcestershire
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Worcestershire cricketers
Worcestershire cricket captains
1909 births
1977 deaths
Military personnel from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
People from Kensington
British Army personnel of World War II
Royal Artillery officers
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...
Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club
Chancellors of the Order of the Garter
10
English cricketers of 1919 to 1945
People educated at Eton College
Cricketers from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea