[1] In January 1776, Cholmondeley began an affair with the noted beauty Grace Dalrymple Elliot, allegedly taking her up during a Pantheon masquerade ball.

In April 1783, Cholmondeley was admitted to the Privy Council and appointed Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard in the government of the Duke of Portland, a post he held until December the same year.

He inherited Houghton Hall in Norfolk from his great-uncle Horace Walpole in 1797 but preferred to live at Cholmondeley Castle in Cheshire, which had been rebuilt in 1801–04 to his design.

[10] Lord Cholmondeley died at age 77 in April 1827, and he was succeeded in his lands, estates and titles by his eldest son George.

Eighteenth-century English Studies professor and Guggenheim Fellow Arthur Sherbo nominated Lord Cholmondeley as the likely real-life inspiration for the character of Rawdon Crawley in William Makepeace Thackeray's satirical novel Vanity Fair.