Family and Education

b. c.1683, 3rd s. of John Cecil†, 5th Earl of Exeter, by Lady Anne Cavendish, da. of William, 3rd Earl of Devonshire, and wid. of Charles, Ld. Rich (o. s. d.v.p. of Charles Rich†, 4th Earl of Warwick); bro. of John Cecil*, Ld. Burghley, and Hon. William Cecil*.  educ. privately (Matthew Prior*); travelled abroad (France, Italy), 1699–1700; St. John’s, Camb. adm. 20 Oct. 1696, aged 13; I. Temple 1701. unm.  ?suc. bro. William at Snape Hall, Yorks. 1715.1

Offices Held

Biography

Cecil had accompanied his family to the papal jubilee in Rome in 1699, and may have visited the exiled James II on both the outward and the return journey. Shortly after coming of age, Cecil succeeded his brother William at Stamford on the family interest. He voted on 25 Oct. 1705 against the Court candidate for Speaker and was classified as a Tory in a list of early 1708. He was returned again in 1708, but the presence in the House of Hon. Robert Cecil at the same time makes it difficult to distinguish his parliamentary record. Cecil was recorded as having opposed the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell, and the ‘Hanover list’ of 1710 classed him as a Tory. In 1711 he was listed as both a ‘Tory patriot’ voting for peace and a ‘worthy patriot’ exposing the mismanagements of the previous administration. The compiler of the Worsley list also marked him as a Tory tout court. Appointed as a deputy-lieutenant for Rutland in 1713, it seems likely that he was living at one of the Cecil properties in the locality, although by the time of his appointment as deputy-lieutenant for the North Riding, Yorks., in 1722, he was resident at Snape Hall. He continued to represent Stamford as a Tory under the Hanoverians. Dying on 14 Mar. 1726 he was buried in the parish church of Well, near Snape.2

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Authors: Eveline Cruickshanks / Sonya Wynne

Notes

• 1. VCH Northants. Fams. 34–35.
• 2. Travel diary of Maj. Richard Creed (ex inf. Prof. J. M. Black); CSP Dom. 1699–1700, p. 259; Luttrell, Brief Relation, iv. 564, 569; NRA Rep. 6666, Exeter mss 52/30, deputation 1713; 49/24, deputation 1722; VCH Northants. Fams. 35; W. D. Whitaker, Richmondshire, ii. 81.