My wife's ancestors - Cecil - Contents

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley

Sources yet to be consulted:
- Cecil Papers in Hatfield House.
  - Scans of published volumes at archive.org.
  - Transcripts at british-history.ac.uk.
- The Great Lord Burghley, Martin Hume, London, 1906.
- Mr. Secretary Cecil and Queen Elizabeth, Conyers Read, 1955, 1962 (Jonathan Cape, London, Bedford Historical Series).
- Burghley: Tudor Statesman, B.W. Beckingsale, London, 1967.

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley.
Portrait by unknown artist. He wears his robes of a Knight of the Garter.
This is a picture from the NPG used at Wikimedia Commons. NPG has said low-resolution images can be used.

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley,
born 18 Sept 1520.
See Wikipedia and thepeerage.
For 40 years (1558-1598) he was a chief advisor (Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer) to Elizabeth I.
He has been described as the "chief architect of Elizabethan greatness".
He was educ St.John's College, Cambridge.
He mar 1stly to Mary Cheke and had issue:

Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter,
born 1542.
Inherited Burghley House, Lincolnshire.
He died 1623.
Ancestor of Marquess of Exeter.

He mar 2ndly, 1546, to Mildred Cooke [born 1526, descendant of King John].
He was Secretary of State 1550-1553 and 1558-1572.
K.G. 1551.
Chancellor of University of Cambridge Feb 1560 (new style year).
He built London town house, Cecil House, The Strand (later called Burghley House) 1560.
He was cr Baron Burghley 1571.
He was Lord Privy Seal 1571-1572.
Lord High Treasurer from 1572 to death 1598.
He built country seat, Burghley House, Lincolnshire 1587.

Mildred died 4 Apr 1589, at their townhouse, Burghley House, The Strand, London, age 63 yrs.
She was bur with her dau Anne in Cecil tomb at Westminster Abbey.

Burghley was Lord Privy Seal from 1590 to death 1598.
He died 4 Aug 1598, age 77 yrs, at Burghley House, The Strand.
Most sources say he was buried at St. Martin's church, Stamford, Lincolnshire, where there is a monument.
Though [Brayley, vol.2, 1823] says he was buried in the Cecil tomb at Westminster Abbey.
See Portraits of 1st Baron Burghley.
He had issue by 2nd wife:

Anne Cecil,
born 5 Dec 1556.
She mar Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford and had issue.
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury,
born 1563.
He mar 1589 to Elizabeth Brooke.
He succ to his father's job as Elizabeth's chief minister.
In later years of Elizabeth's reign, he developed contacts with James VI, King of Scotland, which led to James succeeding Elizabeth in 1603.
[Aubrey's "Brief Lives"] says he was a lover of Lady Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke. His niece Susan de Vere would marry her son the 4th Earl of Pembroke in 1604.
He was cr Viscount Cranborne (NOT Cranbourne) 1604.
He was cr Earl of Salisbury 1605.
He built Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, from 1608.
He died 1612.
Ancestor of Marquess of Salisbury.

Tomb of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, Stamford, Lincolnshire.
Picture credit Tudor Place.

Mildred Cooke

Mildred Cooke, c.1565.
See full size. From Tudor Place.

Effigy of Mildred Cooke (foreground).
Cecil tomb at Westminster Abbey.
Effigy of her daughter Anne Cecil in background.
Photo 2012. See full size and wider shot.

Death of Mildred in 1589 at Burghley House, Westminster, London.
On Cecil tomb at Westminster Abbey.

Children

Birth of Anne Cecil in 1556, on Cecil tomb at Westminster Abbey.

Baptism of Robert Cecil, 6 June 1563, Westminster, London.
From here.

Cecil House, The Strand (later Burghley House, Exeter House)

Sources yet to be consulted:
- Survey of London: Volume 18, St Martin-in-The-Fields II, The Strand (1937).
  - The north side of the Strand
- The Buildings of England. London 6: Westminster. Simon Bradley and Nikolaus Pevsner. 2005 edn.
- "Plan of London from St. Giles in the Fields to Lincoln Inn". By Wenceslaus Hollar c.1658.
  [BL] Cartographic Items Print Room. Hollar, vol. VIII, p.38. Maps 3480.(376.)
  This is a 3-dimensional view. "Exeter House" appears on the Strand section.

Cecil House (later called Burghley House and then Exeter House), N side of The Strand, London.
London town house of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley.
Built as "Cecil House" 1560.
Became known as "Burghley House" after he was created Baron Burghley 1571.
His wife Mildred Cooke died there 1589.
Burghley died there 1598.
It became residence of his son the Earl of Exeter. Became known as "Exeter House".
It was replaced 1676 by Exeter Exchange.
See "Exeter Change", Exeter St and Burleigh St on 1792-99 map.
Exeter Exchange was demolished 1829.
The site is now Strand Palace Hotel.

The Strand, London, on Norden's map of Westminster, 1593.
Note "Burleigh House" on N side of The Strand.
See full size.
From London Maps and Panoramas.

Portraits of 1st Baron Burghley

Movies

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, appears in various movies:
- Elizabeth (1998). Cecil is played by Richard Attenborough.
- The ludicrous Anonymous (2011).

Exeter

Earls and Marquesses of Exeter
Henry Cecil, 1st Marquess of Exeter is immortalised in The Lord of Burleigh by Tennyson.
Lord Andrew Lindsay, the aristocratic hurdler in the movie Chariots of Fire (1981), is partially based on David Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter, Olympic gold medallist.

Salisbury

Earls and Marquesses of Salisbury
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury.
Prime Minister 1885-86, 1886-92 and 1895-1902.
Leading British Empire builder.
Opponent of Home Rule for Ireland (in the time of Parnell).
Named after him:
- Salisbury (now Harare), capital of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
- Hatfield, a suburb of SC Salisbury.
- Cranborne, a suburb of SC Salisbury.
- The phrase "Bob's your uncle".
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, born 1946.
Descendant of Charles II. See descent from Beauclerk, Duke of St.Albans.
See full descent by Ed Mann.
Tory leader of the House of Lords 1994-1998 (as Viscount Cranborne).
Prominent English supporter of Ulster unionism.
Has Irish blood through his mother from Wyndham-Quin.
He succ as Marquess 2003.