His eldest brother, also named James, died young and George, Viscount Malpas (1703-1770) became heir; he had three sisters, Henrietta (1701-1769), Elizabeth (1705-1762) and Mary (1714-1783).

The marriage was not successful and when they divorced in 1737, one of the conditions was neither would remarry; this meant that after Penelope died in 1783, the Rivers possessions passed into the Cholmondeley family.

[4] His father benefitted from backing William III in 1688 and George I in 1714, being rewarded with titles and offices, including command of the 3rd Troop of Horse Guards.

In 1739, commercial tensions with Spain resulted in the War of Jenkins' Ear; the military had been allowed to decay during the long period of peace since 1715 and early setbacks damaged Walpole's popularity.

The Battle of Falkirk began late in the afternoon of 17 January in failing light and was marked by confusion and command failures on both sides.

[10] A violent snow storm broke out as the regiments deployed, making co-ordination extremely difficult; the government left was routed but Cholmondeley's brigade on the right held their ground and prevented a major Jacobite success.