Hugh Cholmondeley, 6th Marquess of Cholmondeley

George Hugh Cholmondeley, 6th Marquess of Cholmondeley GCVO, MC, DL (/ˈtʃʌmli/ CHUM-lee; 24 April 1919 – 13 March 1990), styled Earl of Rocksavage from 1923 until 1968, was a British peer who served as Lord Great Chamberlain of England between 1968 and 1990.

The Most Honourable The Marquess of Cholmondeley GCVO MC DL
Lord Great Chamberlain
In office 1968–1990
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	George Cholmondeley, 5th Marquess
Succeeded by	David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess
Personal details
Born	George Hugh Cholmondeley (1919-04-24)24 April 1919 St George Hanover Square, London[1]
Died	13 March 1990(1990-03-13) (aged 70)[2] Cholmondeley Castle, Cheshire
Nationality	English
Spouse	Lavinia Margaret Leslie
Children	4, including David
Parent(s)	George Cholmondeley, 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley Sybil Sassoon
Residence(s)	Houghton Hall Cholmondeley Castle
Alma mater	Magdalene College, Cambridge

Lord Cholmondeley's coat of arms

Houghton Hall in Norfolk, ancestral home of the Marquess of Cholmondeley since the establishment of the title in 1815, has now opened some of its rooms to the public.

Life and work

Cholmondeley was born in 1919 in St George Hanover Square, London, a descendant of Sir Robert Walpole, the first Prime Minister of Great Britain. He was the son of George Cholmondeley, 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley and Sybil Sassoon, of the Jewish Sassoon and Rothschild families. His mother was Jewish (from a family from Iraq, India, Germany, and France). Like his great-great-grandfather, his great-granduncle, his great-grandfather, his grandfather, his father and his son, Cholmondeley was educated at Eton. He studied at Magdalene College, University of Cambridge.

Cholmondeley served in the British army, initially in the Grenadier 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 Military Cross (MC).^[3] When Cholmondeley retired from the military in 1949, he had attained the rank of Major.^[4]

Cholmondeley succeeded to his father's land, estates and title in 1968. He died at Cholmondeley Castle in Cheshire in 1990.^[5]

Marriage and children

Cholmondeley married Lavinia Margaret Leslie (9 September 1921 – 7 November 2015), daughter of Colonel John Leslie, on 14 June 1947.^[6] The children of that marriage were:

• Lady Rose Aline Cholmondeley (born 20 March 1948); concert pianist, President of the Chopin Society UK, awarded the Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis by the Polish government^[7]
• Lady Margot Lavinia Cholmondeley (born 27 January 1950); married Walter Anthony Huston (divorced), has issue, including actor Jack Huston^[8]
• Lady Caroline Mary Cholmondeley (born 10 April 1952); married Rodolphe Frederic d'Erlanger (son of banker Leo Frédéric Alfred Baron d’Erlanger), has issue^[9]
• David George Philip Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley (born 27 June 1960)

Lavinia, Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley lived at Cholmondeley Castle.^[10]

Lands and estates

The family seats are Houghton Hall, Norfolk, and Cholmondeley Castle, which is surrounded by a 7,500-acre (30 km²) estate near Malpas, Cheshire.^[11]

Position at court

One moiety part of the ancient office of Lord Great Chamberlain is a Cholmondeley inheritance.^[12] 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.^[13] 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