Lyttelton, John Cavendish, 9th Viscount Cobham (1881 -1941)

John Cavendish Lyttelton was the eldest son of Charles Lyttelton, 8th Viscount Cobham, and the Hon. Mary Susan Caroline Cavendish, daughter of William Cavendish, 2nd Baron Chesham. Educated at Eton, he was a successful cricketer, and represented Worcestershire County Cricket Club. In 1935 he became President of Marylebone Cricket Club. He served with the Rifle Brigade in the Second Boer War and from 1905 to 1908 he was aide-de-camp to the High Commissioner to South Africa. Lyttelton was elected to the House of Commons for Droitwich in the January 1910 general election, a seat he held until his resignation in 1916. During the First World War he fought at Gallipoli and in Egypt, the Sinai and Palestine, achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1922 he succeeded his father as ninth Viscount Cobham and entered the House of Lords. In 1939 he was appointed Under-Secretary of State for War in the government of Neville Chamberlain, a position he retained until May 1940. He was also Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire from 1923 to 1949. Cobham married Violet, daughter of Charles Leonard, on 30 June 1908. They had five children together: one son and four daughters. Cobham died in July 1949, aged 67, and was succeeded in his titles by his son Charles, who later served as Governor-General of New Zealand. Lord Cobham is buried in the Lyttleton family plot at St John the Baptist Church, Hagley.