James Cholmondeley

James Cholmondeley
General James Cholmondeley by Sir Joshua Reynolds
Born	18 April 1708
Died	13 October 1775
Allegiance	Kingdom of Great Britain
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	General
Battles/wars	War of the Austrian Succession

General James Cholmondeley (18 April 1708 – 13 October 1775) was a British Army officer who also sat in Parliament.

He was the second son of George Cholmondeley, 2nd Earl of Cholmondeley and brother of George Cholmondeley, Viscount Malpas, later 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley.

In 1720, he married Lady Penelope Barry, the only child of her father, James Barry, 4th Earl of Barrymore, and heiress of her maternal grandfather, Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers.

Cholmondeley received a commission as guidon and major in the 3rd Troop of Horse Guards, of which his father was captain and colonel, on 12 April 1725. He entered Parliament for Bossiney, on the government interest which controlled that borough, on 25 March 1731. On 6 April, he became second lieutenant-colonel of the 3rd Troop, and was also appointed lieutenant-governor of Chester Castle that year. Cholmondeley was a steady supporter of Walpole's government; Walpole was also the father-in-law of his brother, Lord Malpas. In 1734, he was returned for Camelford, another government borough, which he represented until 1741. His wife left him in 1736, for a surgeon named Patrick Anderson, and he divorced her the following year.

Cholmondeley was named colonel of a newly raised regiment of foot on 17 January 1740/1. He steadfastly supported Walpole through the collapse of the latter's administration, but continued to support government under the ministries of Carteret and Pelham. In 1741, he was returned for Montgomery, a Welsh borough controlled by Henry Arthur Herbert in Walpole's interest. Under Carteret's ministry, he received, on 18 December 1742, the colonelcy of the 34th Regiment of Foot. He led them to the Flemish campaign of 1744, and at Fontenoy in May 1745, where the regiment formed part of the rearguard that covered the allied retreat. He was promoted to brigadier-general in July of that year.