Thomas Cholmondeley, 1st Baron Delamere their seat at Vale Royal Abbey, Cheshire which had been in the family since 1615. Cholmondeley served as High Sheriff of Cheshire in 1792 and then in 1796 was elected to the House of Commons for his father's old seat of Cheshire, which he retained until 1812. In 1821 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Delamere of Vale Royal in the County of Chester. The current baron, the 5th Baron Delamere, paints a picture of his early-19th century ancestor with deft, harsh strokes: On 17 December 1810, Cholmondeley married Henrietta Elizabeth Williams-Wynn, daughter of Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th
Delamere Forest for killing game were blinding, mutilation or execution; although these punishments were gradually replaced by fines. The original forest was a predominantly oak-mixed woodland, but other species included elm, lime, yew, chestnut, fir, larch, beech, ash, silver birch, hazel, willow and alder. The forest area also encompassed heath and wetland, as well as pasture, arable land and even small settlements. Agriculture was, however, allowed within the forest boundaries only under severe restrictions; assarting, or enclosing and clearing new land for agriculture, was prohibited until 1215. As large areas of Mondrem were slowly cleared of woodland, the northerly Forest of Mara