George Horatio Charles Cholmondeley, 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley ( ; 19 May 1883 – 16 September 1968), styled Earl of Rocksavage from birth until 1923, was a British peer. He was the

Lord Great Chamberlain The Lord Great Chamberlain of England is the sixth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Privy Seal but above the Lord High Constable of England, Lord High Constable. The office of Lo ...

of England in 1936 and also between 1952 and 1966.

Personal life

Cholmondeley was a direct descendant of

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 ...

, the first

Prime Minister of Great Britain The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. Modern pr ...

. He was born in Cholmondeley Castle, near

Malpas, Cheshire Malpas ( ) is a market town and a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies near the borders with Shropshire and Wales, and had a population of 1,673 at the 2011 U ...

, 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. 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. In 1950, he established the Cholmondeley Prize, a handwriting contest between the students of Eton and Harrow.

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

joined in 1952 and the schools have continued the annual competition since.

Military career

Cholmondeley fought in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

(1899–1901), serving as a "Railway Staff Officer", first with the

Royal Sussex Regiment The Royal Sussex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1966. The regiment was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foo ...

and from October 1901 as Second Lieutenant of the 9th Lancers. In 1905, he attained the rank of Lieutenant in the 9th Lancers. He was Aide-de-Camp to the

Viceroy of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...

, and he fought in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, during which he gained the rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the 9th Lancers. 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 The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

Lands and estates

The family seats are Houghton Hall, Norfolk, and Cholmondeley Castle, which is surrounded by a estate near

. The Cholmondeleys bought Wenbans near

Wadhurst Wadhurst is a market town in East Sussex, England. It is the centre of the civil parish of Wadhurst, which also includes the hamlets of Cousley Wood and Tidebrook. Wadhurst is twinned with Aubers in France. Geography Wadhurst is situated o ...

in Sussex in the mid-1890s. After major restoration work in the 1920s and 1930s, the rustic farm only from London was reported to have been used as a romantic getaway by the then Prince of Wales, who later became

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from 20 January ...

. The property was sold around the time of the abdication crisis of 1936 and the accession of

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952 ...

Lord Great Chamberlain

The ancient office of

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, 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 General Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven (171412 August 1778), styled Lord Willoughby de Eresby from 1715 to 1723 and Marquess of Lindsey from 1735 to 1742, was an English peer. Early life Bertie was born in 1714 and, begi ...

. 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

, which proved to be short. He bore the

Royal Standard In heraldry and vexillology, a heraldic flag is a flag containing coat of arms, coats of arms, heraldic badges, or other devices used for personal identification. Heraldic flags include banners, standards, pennons and their variants, gonfalons, ...

at the Coronation of King George VI in 1937. He was again appointed at the beginning of the reign of

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

in 1952.

Family

The wealth of the Cholmondeley family was greatly enhanced by Cholmondeley's marriage to

Sybil Sassoon Sybil Rachel Betty Cecile Cholmondeley, Marchioness of Cholmondeley ( , born Sybil Rachel Betty Cecile Sassoon; 30 January 1894 – 26 December 1989), styled Countess of Rocksavage from 1913 to 1923, was a British socialite, patron of the arts ...

(1894–1989), a member of the

Sassoon family The Sassoon family were a wealthy Baghdadi Jews, Baghdadi Jews, Jewish family dynasty, associated with finance, banking, capital markets, the exploration of oil and gas, Judaism, British Conservative Party, Conservative politics, opium trade wit ...

and the

Rothschild family The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish noble banking family originally from Frankfurt. The family's documented history starts in 16th-century Frankfurt; its name is derived from the family house, Rothschild, ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

banking families, with origins in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, 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: * Lady Aline Caroline Cholmondeley (5 October 1916 – 30 June 2015) * George Henry Hugh, 6th Marquess of Cholmondeley (24 April 1919 – 1990) * Lord John George Cholmondeley (15 November 1920 – October 1986) Cholmondeley died in 1968 and is buried in the Church of St Martin on the Houghton Hall estate. His great-grandson is actor Jack Huston.

References

* John Debrett, Charles Kidd, David Williamson. (1990)
''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage.''
New York: Macmillan. * Stansky, Peter. (2003)
''Sassoon: the worlds of Philip and Sybil.''
x:. *

External links

*

Cholmondeley Castle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cholmondeley, George Cholmondeley, 5th Marquess Of 1883 births 1968 deaths Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Lord Great Chamberlains People educated at Eton College George English polo players 5 Sportspeople from Cheshire People from Houghton, Norfolk