As with his predecessors, Rev Cholmondeley was closely related to Lord Leigh, his maternal grandfather being the late Chandos, 1st Baron Leigh of Stoneleigh and he was baptised at Stoneleigh Abbey in 1850. His paternal grandfather was Lord Delamere and his father was the Rector of Adlestrop in Gloucestershire, another of Lord Leigh’s estates.
He studied at Christchurch, Oxford and was ordained in 1877 in Lichfield. Prior to coming to Leek Wootton, he was Curate of Leigh (1875-78) and Stoke-on-Trent (1878-80), both in Staffordshire.
Rev Cholmondeley was one of nine children, five boys and four girls, all remembered by a cousin as, “a number of little boys and girls all much the same in length, breadth and thickness” (The Warwickshire Scandal by Elizabeth Hamilton, Michael Russell Publishing Ltd, 1999 (ISBN: 978-0859552448)). His sister, Mary Louisa, known affectionately as Maimée, was the second wife of Charles Mordaunt of Walton Hall, who’s first wife, Harriet Moncrieffe, was part of the Prince of Wales’ infamous set and when she had a baby there were several contenders for fatherhood. The ensuing trial, involving the Prince himself, became a scandal. Maimée, being a parson’s daughter, was deemed a more suitable match for the divorced Charles Mourdant and they went on to have six children. His brother, Rev Lionel Cholmondeley, served for 30 years as a minister in Japan and was Honorary Chaplain to the British Embassy in Tokyo.
When his father died in 1905, Rev Cholmondeley resigned from Leek Wootton after 25 years to become Rector of Adlestrop himself.
Rev Cholmondeley did not marry. He served Broadwell-cum-Adlestrop for over 30 years and died in July 1937, aged 87, having only retired the January before. He is buried in the churchyard of St Mary Magdalene, Adlestrop, with his sister, Rose Evelyn, and alongside his parents.
The Cholmondeley Family at Adlestrop, 1884 (image courtesy of adlestropfamilyhistory.co.uk)
Vicars of Leek Wootton
Predecessor: Frederick Leigh Colvile | Successor: Edward Riley