John Cavendish Lyttelton, 9th Viscount Cobham
KCB DL (23 October 1881 – 31 July 1949), was a
British peer, soldier and
Conservative politician.
Cobham was the eldest son of
Charles Lyttelton, 8th Viscount Cobham, and the Hon. Mary Susan Caroline Cavendish, daughter of
William Cavendish, 2nd Baron Chesham.
Alfred Lyttelton was his uncle. He was educated at
Eton. Like his father and his uncle, Cobham was a successful cricketer. He represented
Worcestershire County Cricket Club in three
first-class matches during 1924-5. He was President of
Marylebone Cricket Club in 1935, again emulating his father and uncle. 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.
Cobham was elected to the
House of Commons for
Droitwich in the
January 1910 general election, a seat he held until 1916. During the
First World War he fought at
Gallipoli and in
Egypt, the
Sinai and
Palestine, achieving the rank of
Lieutenant Colonel. He succeeded his father as ninth Viscount Cobham in 1922 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. Apart from his political and military career he was also
Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire from 1923 to 1949.
Lord Cobham married Violet, daughter of Charles Leonard, in 1908. He 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. Lady Cobham died in 1966.