William Cecil KG (abt. 1520 - 1598)

Born about 13 Sep 1520 in Bourne, Lincolnshire, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 4 Aug 1598 at about age 77 in Cecil House, Strand, London, England

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Biography

William Cecil was a member of the aristocracy in England.

William Cecil KG is Notable.

Birth and Parentage

William Cecil was born on 13 or 18 September 1520 or 1521 (see Research Notes)^[1] at Bourne, Lincolnshire.^[2][3][4] He was the son of Richard Cecil and Jane Heckington.^[1][5][6]

Earlier Life

William was educated in grammar schools at Grantham and Stamford in Lincolnshire.^[1][5][3][7] He entered St John's College, Cambridge in May 1535^[5][8], where he stayed for six years.^[1][2][3]

He entered Gray's Inn of 6 May 1541,^[2][5][9] not having taken a degree at Cambridge.^[2]

First Marriage

William's move from Cambridge to Gray's Inn seems to have been instigated by his father who disapproved of the connection William was forming with Mary Cheke,^[8] daughter of Peter Cheke and Agnes Duffield. Peter Cheke had been an innkeeper^[5] and a relatively minor official of Cambridge University and had died in 1530.^[10] Mary's brother John Cheke was one of William Cecil's tutors at Cambridge.^[10] Even though his father wished for a more advantageous marriage, William married Mary on 8 August 1541.^[1][5][8]

They had one son:

• Thomas, born in Cambridge on 5 May 1542, who was made Earl of Exeter in 1605.^[11][12]

Mary died in Cambridge on 22 February 1543/4^[1] and was buried at St Mary the Great, Cambridge.^[5][13]

Second Marriage

On 21 December 1546, William Cecil married Mildred Cooke, daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke of Gidea Hall, Romford, Essex, and Anne FitzWilliam.^[5] They had five children, of whom only one, Robert, survived her:^[14]

• Francisca, who died in infancy^[15]
• Anne, baptised in December 1556 at St Margaret's, Westminster,^[16] who married Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford^[14][15]
• William, who was born in 1559 and died in infancy^[15]
• Robert, born in 1563, statesman and Earl of Salisbury^[15][17]
• Elizabeth, born in 1564^[15]

Early Career

In 1545 William became Recorder of Boston, Lincolnshire.^[8] His first major advancement came in 1547 when Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector appointed him as one of his senior staff, and Master of Requests, handling petitions.^[18] That same year he was made Judge of the Marshalsea Court, which dealt with cases involving the royal household:^[19] In that capacity he accompanied the English army in Scotland at the Battle of Pinkie during the 'rough wooing', a war waged by England to try and prevent France using Scotland as a springboard for attacking England.^[1]

He was closely associated with Catherine Parr, and in November 1547 he wrote a preface to her The Lamentation of a Sinner.^[20]

In 1549 he moved to Wimbledon, Surrey to be closer to Lord Protector Seymour who had a palace across the Thames at Syon, Middlesex.^[21]

The fall of Edward Seymour led to William Cecil being arrested and held in the Tower of London,^[1] but he fairly quickly obtained his release on payment of a substantial fine.^[22] William Cecil quickly manoeuvred himself into the good graces of John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, and made himself useful again to the government, among other things helping to prepare indictments against Bishop Stephen Gardiner.^[22] By September 1549 he was made a Privy Councillor and the third Secretary of State.^[1] He moved to Cannon Row, Westminster.^[23] He was knighted on 11 October 1551 when John Dudley was made Duke of Northumberland.^[1] In 1553 he became Chancellor of the Order of the Garter.^[8]

Side by side with his official duties he was involved in religious matters, and in November 1551 he hosted a discussion of reform-minded clerics and lay people on the nature of the sacrament.^[1]

Member of Parliament

William Cecil himself stated that he was first elected to Parliament in 1543^[24] but the incomplete surviving parliamentary records do not confirm this. He is known to have been elected five times:

• 1547, for Stamford, Lincolnshire^[8]
• 1553, probably for Lincolnshire^[8]
• 1555 and 1559, for Lincolnshire^[8]
• 1563, for Northamptonshire^[8]

Reign of Mary I

In 1553, at the end of Edward VI's reign, William Cecil was under intense pressure to sign the royal instrument which made Lady Jane Grey his successor.^[1] He subsequently became a member of her Council, but managed to make his peace with Mary I when he was sent by the Council to Mary.^[1] He did not hold high office under Mary, but sought to keep in with her government.^[1] In 1554 he was part of the official mission which escorted Cardinal Pole from Brussels to England^[1][25] and he was involved in other diplomatic work.^[1] Cardinal Pole later made him Steward of his manor of Wimbledon, and at one point William Cecil received Mass in a formal demonstration of his conformity to Catholicism.^[26] He did not, though, always support the Marian regime: for instance, he was one of the Members of Parliament who successfully opposed a Bill to confiscate the property of religious exiles.^[1][27]

During Mary's reign he appears to have maintained links with the future Elizabeth I, who had appointed him her Surveyor in 1550. By the time Mary I died on 17 November 1558, he was already acting unofficially as Elizabeth's secretary.^[28]

Reign of Elizabeth I

William's appointment as Elizabeth's Secretary of State was made official immediately on her accession to the throne.^[1] He held the post until 1572 when he was appointed Lord High Treasurer, a position he held till his death.^[1][5] He held other posts too, including the stewardship of various manors^[8] and being Master of the Court of Wards which looked after the orphans of men who owed service to the Queen.^[8][29]

In 1560/1 William Cecil bought a house in the Strand, London, to be near the centre of government. In July 1561 he gave a banquet for Elizabeth I there. He had the mansion substantially remodelled as Cecil House.^[30][31] Outside London, his main residences were at Burghley House, Lincolnshire, and Theobalds House, which he had built in Hertfordshire with elaborate gardens, and which Elizabeth I visited eight times.^[1][32]

William was ennobled as Lord Burghley on 25 February 1571^[1] and made a Knight of the Garter in April 1572,^[33] being formally installed at Windsor on 17 June 1572.^[34]

William's official activities during Elizabeth's reign are almost inseparable from the general politics and governance of England. He was at the heart of Elizabeth’s government for almost the whole reign and she placed great trust in him even if she did not always follow his advice. William was closely involved in discussions and decisions about almost every facet of government, including possible marriages for the Queen, what to do about Mary Queen of Scots, foreign and economic policy, Elizabeth’s relations with her Parliaments, religious matters, and the handling of court rivalries.^[1]

He also found time to be Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 1559 to his death.^[5][35]

Death of Second Wife Mildred

Mildred died at her husband's London residence, Burghley House in the Strand, on 5 April 1589.^[14][5][36] She was buried on 21 April in Westminster Abbey,^[5][37] where her daughter Anne was also buried. Her husband arranged for 315 mourners at the funeral, and had a large monument erected in the Abbey for her and her daughter Anne.^[14][38] Dean Alexander Nowell preached at her funeral.^[39]

Death and Burial

William died at age 76 on 4 August 1598 at Cecil House, the Strand, London. A funeral followed at Westminster Abbey with a procession of 500 accompanying his remains from Cecil House. His body was then taken in stage to Stamford, Lincolnshire, in a coach draped in black, for burial in St Martin's Church, stopping in churches overnight along the way, with a cortege of 12.^[40] He was buried on 29 August 1598.^[5][40][41]

Will

William wrote an extensive and detailed will which was revised many times. A transcript is available on the Oxford-Shakespeare website.^[42] The main provisions were:^[4][42][43]

• burial in St Martin's, Stamford, with the cost not to exceed £1000
• his son Robert to inherit his houses in in Hertfordshire (including Theobalds) and Middlesex and his political archive and the manor in Rutland which Richard Cecil had given to his parents before their marriage
• his son Thomas to inherit Burghley House and nearby lands
• his sister Anne White to have lands in Rutland plus a small annuity
• his sons Robert and Thomas to share his Garter chains, and his collars and badges of St George
• his de Vere granddaughters Bridget and Susan to have some furniture and a coach with two coach horses each; William Cecil's gold and silver plate was to serve as a guarantee of the money for their dowries, the amount of which was to depend on the rank of their husbands -
  • £4000 for an earl or his heir
  • £3000 for a baron or his heir
  • £2000 for a husband of any other rank

Research Notes

Birth Date

There is no primary record for William Cecil's birth date. Secondary sources differ:

• The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography has 18 September 1520 or 1521.^[1]
• The History of Parliament Online has 13 September 1520/21.^[8]
• Cokayne's Complete Peerage has 13 September 1521^[5]
• Stephen Alford's biography states that he was 14 when he entered Cambridge University in 1535.^[44], and Venn gives the month as May that year.^[3] This would point to birth in 1520, but "14" may mean "in his fourteenth year" which would allow for birth in 1521.
• William Cecil himself at one point gave his birth date as 13 September 1521.^[45]
• William Cecil's will says he was baptised at Bourne, Lincolnshire in September 1520.^[4]
• Venn's Alumni Cantabrigienses has 13 September 1520.^[3]
• Chalmer's General Biographical Dictionary has 13 September 1520.^[46]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Cecil, William, first Baron Burghley (1520/21–1598), royal minister', print and online 2004, available online via some libraries
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, entry for 'Cecil, William, Lord Burghley', Wikisource
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} J A Venn. Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge University Press, 1922-1954, Ancestry.co.uk
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} PCC Wills, The National Archives, ref. PROB 1, FindMyPast and acompanying images of the original will
5. ↑ ^{5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13} G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, new edition, Vol. 2, St Catherine Press, 1912, pp. 428-429
6. ↑ Stephen Alford. Burghley. William Cecil at the Court of Elizabeth I, Yale University Press, 2011, genealogical table 1
7. ↑ Stephen Alford, Burghley, pp. 9-10
8. ↑ ^{8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11} History of Parliament Online, entry for 'William Cecil (1520/21-1598)
9. ↑ J Foster. The Register of Admissions to Gray's Inn, 1521-1889, London: The Hansard Publishing Union, Ltd, 1889 p. 13 (folio 453) Internet Archive - this gives the entry date under 1540, meaning 1540/1
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} Stephen Alford, Burghley, pp. 20-22
11. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Cecil, Thomas, first earl of Exeter', print and online 2004, available online via some libraries
12. ↑ G E Cokayne, Complete Peerage, Vol. 2, p. 430
13. ↑ Stephen Alford, Burghley, p. 30
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Cecil [née Cooke], Mildred, Lady Burghley', 2004, revised online 2014, available online via some libraries
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4} 'Cecil Papers: December 1594, 26-31', in Calendar of the Cecil Papers in Hatfield House, Volume 5, 1594-1595, ed. R A Roberts (London, 1894), pp. 48-77, British History Online, accessed 5 October 2019
16. ↑ England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N5WF-XW1
17. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Cecil, Robert, first earl of Salisbury', 2004, revised online 2008
18. ↑ Stephen Alford, Burghley, p. 32
19. ↑ Stephen Alford, Burghley, p. 32
20. ↑ Stephen Alford, Burghley, p. 34
21. ↑ Stephen Alford, Burghley, p. 38
22. ↑ ^{22.0 22.1} Stephen Alford, Burghley, pp. 40-42
23. ↑ Stephen Alford, Burghley, pp. 42-43
24. ↑ Wikipedia: William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
25. ↑ Stephen Alford, Burghley, p. 70
26. ↑ Stephen Alford, Burghley, p. 74
27. ↑ Stephen Alford, Burghley, p.73
28. ↑ Stephen Alford, Burghley, p. 81
29. ↑ Stephen Alford, Burghley, p. 112
30. ↑ Stephen Alford, Burghley, pp. 113 and 140-141
31. ↑ Wikipedia: Cecil House
32. ↑ Theobalds House
33. ↑ W A Shaw, The Knights of England, Vol. I, Sherratt and Hughes, 1906, p. 27
34. ↑ Stephen Alford, Burghley, pp. 192 and 196-197
35. ↑ Wikipedia: List of Chancellors of the University of Cambridge
36. ↑ Stephen Alford, Burghley, p. 308
37. ↑ Stephen Alford, Burghley, p. 310
38. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #71478465
39. ↑ Stephen Alford, Burghley, p. 309
40. ↑ ^{40.0 40.1} Stephen Alford, Burghley, pp. 333-334
41. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #16587869
42. ↑ ^{42.0 42.1} Green, Nina, trans. “Transcript of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury Copy of the Last Will and Testament, Dated 1 March 1598 of William Cecil, Lord Burghley”, Oxford Shakespeare website, accessed 5 October 2019
43. ↑ Stephen Alford, Burghley, pp. 328-329
44. ↑ Stephen Alford, Burghley, p. 11
45. ↑ Luminarium Encyclopedia (online), entry for 'William Cecil, Baron Burghley (1521-1598)', accessed 2 October 2019
46. ↑ A Chalmers. The General Biographical Dictionary, vol. IX, London, 1813, pp. 3-20, Archive.org

• BHO-British History Online. Collection 'Cecil Papers in Hatfield House'. british-history.ac.uk. Accessed 6 July 2021.
• Klein, Arthur Jay, 1884-. Intolerance In the Reign of Elizabeth, Queen of England. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1917. babel.hathitrust.org Accessed 7 Dec 2020.
• Maginn, Christopher. "'BEHIND EVERY GREAT WOMAN...': WILLIAM CECIL AND THE ELIZABETHAN CONQUEST OF IRELAND." History Ireland 20, no. 6 (2012): 14-17. Accessed November 21, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23290987.
• Alford, Stephen. Burghley. William Cecil at the Court of Elizabeth I, Yale University Press, 2011
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by Wallace T MacCaffrey for 'Cecil, William, first Baron Burghley (1520/21–1598), royal minister', print and online 2004, available online via some libraries. ODNB website. Accessed online 1 October 2019
• Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, entry for 'Cecil, William, Lord Burghley', Wikisource, accessed 1 October 2019
• Cokayne, G E. Complete Peerage, new edition, Vol. 2, St Catherine Press, 1912, pp. 428-429
• History of Parliament Online, entry for 'William Cecil (1520/21-1598)
• "Queen Elizabeth - Volume 103: June 1575," in Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth, 1547-80, ed. Robert Lemon (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1856), 498-499. British History Online, accessed July 6, 2021, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/domestic/edw-eliz/1547-80/pp498-499.
• ThePeerage.com entry for 'William Cecil, 1st Baron of Burghley'

• Wikipedia: William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley

• Wikidata: Item Q354309, en:Wikipedia

• Marshall, G.W. (1871). The Visitations of the County of Nottingham in the Years 1569 and 1614, Harleian Society, 1871, p. 96, White Pedigree, Internet Archive.
• Venn, J.A. (1922). Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge University Press, 1922-1954, Ancestry.co.uk, accessed 1 October 2019
• Chalmers, A. The General Biographical Dictionary, vol. IX, London, 1813, pp. 3-20, Archive.org
• 'Cecil Papers: December 1594, 26-31', in Calendar of the Cecil Papers in Hatfield House, Volume 5, 1594-1595, ed. R A Roberts (London, 1894), pp. 48-77, British History Online, accessed 1 October 2019
• Naunton, Sir Robert. Fragmentia Regalia, 1653 (reprinted Southgate, London, 1870), pp. 30-34, Internet Archive

See also:

• Records of the Family of Deacon, of Kettering and London, with notices of allied families