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Biography

Birth and Parentage

Thomas Cecil, later 1st Earl of Exeter was born on 5 May 1542,^[1] in the Parish of St Mary the Great, Cambridge,^[2] the only child ofWilliam Cecil, later 1st Lord Burghley, and his first wifeMary Cheke.^[1][2]

Earlier Life

Thomas was educated at home before entering Trinity College, Cambridge in 1558.^[3] He was admitted to Gray's Inn on 20 January 1559-60.^[4][2][5]

In 1561 Thomas's father sent him to France to round out his preparation for later life, under the oversight ofThomas Windebanke, a senior member of his father's entourage. His father issued stern instructions about regular saying of prayers, Bible-reading and confessing sins.^[6] Correspondence shows that William Cecil was concerned that his son was making poor use of the opportunity: writing to Thomas Windebanke, William Cecil expressed fears that "my son's being there shall serve him to little purpose, for that he spendeth his time in idleness and not in profiting himself in learning." He showed concern about his son's extravagance in Paris, and told Thomas Windebanke to speak bluntly to his son about his faults, as this was the only way "to teach him to amend."^[7] Thomas Windebanke responded that he was unable to control Thomas Cecil, who did not rise from his bed till late, and was "negligent and rash in expenses, careless in his apparel, an immoderate lover of dice and cards, in study soon weary, in game never."^[8] Nonetheless Thomas Cecil appears to have made himself acceptable at the French court.^[8]

In 1562 Thomas appears to have seduced a young French woman,^[8] causing his father in exasperation to wonder about sending him "secretly to some sharp prison" before he caused further trouble.^[6] This seduction may have precipitated Thomas's move first to Antwerp and then to Germany. He returned to England in January 1563.^[8]

Member of Parliament

Thomas Cecil was elected a Member of Parliament seven times, to represent:

• Stamford in 1563, 1571 and 1572^[8]
• Lincolnshire in 1584 and 1586^[8]
• Northamptonshire in 1593 and 1597^[8]

Thomas's interests were not primarily in parliamentary business^[6] and only in the last of these Parliaments was he seriously active, moving Bills and taking part in Committees, at times in ways that were inimical to his father and his half-brotherRobert.^[8]

Military Activity

Thomas Cecil was probably more a military man than a politician. In 1569 he helped to suppress theRising of the North,^[6] in charge of a troop of 300 horse.^[8] In 1573 he helped James Douglas, Earl of Morton, in the siege of Edinburgh Castle.^[6]

Thomas was knighted in 1575.^[6][9]

In 1585 he went with the Earl of Leicester to the Low Countries, where he was briefly a Captain of Horse and governor of Brill, a port under English control.^[6] He returned fairly soon to England because of ill-health.^[6][8] His father complained to the Earl of Essex that Thomas had had to draw heavily on his own funds, "so much, as he came home with £5."^[8] In 1587, a Committee of the House of Commons found that "it cost Sir Thomas Cecil £5,000 in service in the Low Countries."^[8]

In July 1588, during the threat of the Armada, he was appointed an army Colonel with responsibility for defending Elizabeth I herself.^[6]

His final military role came in 1601, when he was a Colonel-General of the London Foot and helped his half-brotherRobert suppress the rising of the Earl of Essex.^[6]

Wimbledon Residence

Thomas was Lord of the Manor of Wimbledon from 1590. He built a substantial residence there, with a garden and vineyard, and hosted both Elizabeth I^[6] and James I^[8] several times.

Titles and Offices in Later Life

Thomas Cecil succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Burghley in 1598.^[6]

From 1599 to 1603 Thomas was Lord President of the Council of the North, under instructions to root out Catholics.^[6] He seems to have gone about this with some energy. At one Northumberland Assizes, in 1601, more than 150 Catholics were condemned.^[8]

Thomas was made a Knight of the Garter on 23 April 1601 for his help in putting down Essex's rebellion.^[6][10]

On James I's accession, Thomas was immediately in royal favour. He was appointed a Privy Councillor and Lord Almoner for the Coronation in 1603, and was Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire from 1603 to his death.^[2]

On 4 May 1605 he was made Earl of Exeter; his half-brother Robert Cecil was made Earl of Salisbury at the same time.

His name appears onThe Second Charter of Virginia; May 23, 1609.

Marriages and Children

Thomas married twice. His first wife wasDorothy Neville, daughter of John Neville, 4th Lord Latymer and Lady Lucy Somerset. They married in Yorkshire on 27 November 1564.^[2] They had five sons and eight daughters:

• William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter, K.G.; baptised on 13 January 1566,^[11] died 6 July 1640^[12]
• Catherine Cecil, born at Burghley 15 April 1567, died 27 June 1567^[1]
• Lucy Cecil, born on 7 March 1568,^[13] died October 1614
• Richard Cecil, born 7 December 1570,^[14] died August 1633^[15]
• Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon, born 29 February 1571/72, died 16 November 1638^[16]
• Mildred Cecil, baptised 27 July 1573^[17]
• Mary Cecil, born 15 July 1573,^[1] died 18 March 1638^[18]
• Susanna Cecil, born at Burghley 22 September 1574, died 9 August 1575^[1]
• Elizabeth Cecil, born 22 September 1574, died in 1646^[19]
• Christopher Cecil, baptised 17 May 1576^[20][21]
• Dorothy Cecil, baptised 11 August 1577^[20][21]
• Thomas Cecil, born 30 December 1578^[1], buried on 3 December 1662^[22]
• Frances Cecil, baptised 28 February 1580/81,^[23] died 12 or 25 June 1653^[24]

Dorothy (Neville) Cecil died on 23 March 1608/9 (1609 in modern reckoning) and was buried in Westminster Abbey.^[2]

In late 1610 Thomas Cecil marriedFrances Brydges, daughter of William Brydges, 4th Baron Chandos of Sudeley and Mary Hopton. She was 38 years younger than him.^[2] He was said to be "gouty and diseased" and there was criticism of the match.^[8] They had one child:

• Georgiana Cecil, born on 13 July 1616 and baptised on 30 July 1616.^[25] She died young.^[26]

Scandal

In June 1517 Thomas's second wife was the subject of lurid allegations of seeking to poison Ann Lake, the wife of Thomas's grandsonWilliam Cecil, Lord de Ros. Stories of adultery and incest were thrown in. King James I became personally involved in the case. In February 1619 Frances was finally cleared^[6] and Ann Lake and her family were found to have invented the original accusations.^[27]

Death and Burial

Thomas died on 7 or 8 February 1622/3 (1623 in modern reckoning).^[2][6][8] He was buried in the Chapel of St John the Baptist, Westminster Abbey, London.^[28] His memorial has effigies of himself and his first wife Dorothy Neville. Room was left for an effigy of his second wife Frances Brydges but this was never added: she did not die until 1663 and was buried in Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire. The Latin inscription on the tomb is worded in a way which assumes that she would be buried with Thomas and Dorothy. It can be translated: "Thomas Cecil, Earl of Exeter, Baron of Burleigh, Knight of the Garter, Privy Counsellor to King James, with his two dearly beloved wives, Dorothy Neville, daughter and co-heir to the noble Lord Latimer, his first wife, and Frances Brydges of the noble Chandos family, his second wife. They rest under this monument in sure hope of resurrection."^[29]

Research Notes

Birth Date of Daughter Elizabeth

Burghley'sMemoriæ nativitatum et aliarum rerum gestarum gives 22 September 1574 as the birth date of a daughter Elizabeth - the same date as Susanna who died in infancy.^[1] TheOxford Dictionary of National Biography entry for Edward Coke gives the birth date of his wifeElizabeth Cecil, daughter of the Thomas of this profile, as 1578.^[19] It is conceivable that there were two daughters called Elizabeth, the first of whom died in infancy, but if so, it is curious that Burghley does not seem to have mentioned the birth of the second. He does not, though, appear to have recorded the birth of all Thomas’s children, so this is not conclusive.

It is a tight but not impossible fit to squeeze the birth of a daughter Elizabeth in 1578 between Dorothy baptised in August 1577 (with a birth date which may have been some months earlier) and Thomas born on the penultimate day of 1578: the tightness makes one wonder if the ODNB has the year wrong. Another possible explanation is that Elizabeth was a twin of Thomas - but, if so, one wonders why her grandfather Lord Burghley recorded Thomas’s birth but not hers.

The likelihood is that there was just one daughter Elizabeth, born, as her grandfather recalled, in 1574.

Birth Dates of Daughters Mildred and Mary

The closeness in the sources found so far of Mildred’s baptism date to Mary’s birth date raises obvious questions. Was Mildred born some time before her baptism? Were they twins, and if so, why wasn’t Mary baptised on the same date as Mildred? Is there a mistake in the parish register record of Mildred’s baptism?

Mildred married on 28 February 1586/7.^[30] If she was born in 1573, that would make her about 13 at the time of marriage: that is quite possible for this period.

Death Date

Cokayne gives his death date as 8 February 1622/3.^[2] TheOxford Dictionary of National Biography says it was 7 February,^[6] as does the History of Parliament Online.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑^{1.01.11.21.31.41.51.6} Cecil, William, Lord Burghley. "Memoriæ nativitatum et aliarum rerum gestarum" c. 1594, inCalendar of the manuscripts of the most Hon. the Marquis of Salisbury, K.G., preserved at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, vol. 5, pp. 69-71, London: HIstorical manuscripts commission, 1894. Digital image, Internet Archive,https://archive.org/details/calendarofmanusc05grea_0/page/n99 : accessed 9 October 2019.
2. ↑^{2.02.12.22.32.42.52.62.72.8} Cokayne, George Edward,The Complete Peerage of England Scotland Ireland Great Britain and the United Kingdom extant extinct or dormant, 2nd ed., vol. 5, edited by Hon. Vicary Gibbs & H.A. Doubleday; London: St Catherine Press, 1926. pp. 216-218,Internet Archive, accessed 9 October 2019.
3. ↑ J A Venn.Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge University Press, 1922-1954,Ancestry.co.uk
4. ↑ Joseph Foster.The Register of Admissions to Gray's Inn, privately printed by the Hansard Publishing Company, London, 1889, column 28,Internet Archive
5. ↑Alumni Cantabrigienses wrongly gives the year he entered Gray's Inn as 1558.
6. ↑^{6.006.016.026.036.046.056.066.076.086.096.106.116.126.136.146.156.16}Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for ’ Cecil, Thomas, first earl of Exeter', 2004, revised online 2008, available online via some libraries
7. ↑ Stephen Alford.Burghley. William Cecil at the Court of Elizabeth I, Yale University Press, 2011, pp. 113, 116 and 117
8. ↑^{8.008.018.028.038.048.058.068.078.088.098.108.118.128.138.148.158.16} History of Parliament Online, entry for’CECIL, Thomas (1542-1623), of Burghley House, Lincs. and Wimbledon, Surr.’
9. ↑ W A Shaw.The Knights of England, Vol. II, Sherratt and Hughes, 1906, p. 76
10. ↑ W A Shaw.The Knights of England, Vol. I, Sherratt and Hughes, 1906, p. 29
11. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NGF8-1YB : 11 February 2018, Thomas Cecil in entry for William Cecil, 13 Jan 1566); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 496,806, 496,807.
12. ↑ G E Cokayne,Complete Peerage, new edition, Vol. V, St Catherine Press, 1926, p. 218
13. ↑ Memoranda of occurrences in Lord Burghley's handwriting, entitled, “Memorìæ nativitatum et aliarum rerum gestarum.” Calendar of the Cecil papers at Hatfield House 1594https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-cecil-papers/vol5/pp48-77
14. ↑ History of Parliament Online, entry forCECIL, Richard (1570-1633), of Wakerley, Northants
15. ↑ Find A Grave:Memorial #153459729
16. ↑ G E Cokayne,Complete Peerage, Vol. XIIB, St Catherine Press, 1959, pp. 740-743
17. ↑ Baptism record in 'Northamptonshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1532-1812',Ancestry.co.uk and accompanying image
18. ↑ G E Cokayne,Complete Peerage, Vol. IX, St Catherine Press, 1936, p. 769
19. ↑^19.019.1Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Coke, Sir Edward (1552–1634), 2004, revised online 2009, available online via some libraries
20. ↑^20.020.1 Parish register of St Martin's, Stamford,The Reliquary, Vol.12, 1871-1872, pp.51-52
21. ↑^21.021.1 Parish register image onAncestry.com
22. ↑ St Martin’s Church (Stamford Baron, Northamptonshire, England), "[Register of Baptisms, Marriages and Burials 1660-1729]," unnumbered p. 3,Image (subscription required), Sir Thomas Cecill (knight), buried 3 December 1662; "Northamptonshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1532-1812," database with images,Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 June 2019), Stamford Baron 296P/10, image 5/93; Northamptonshire Record Office, Northampton.
23. ↑ England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NYBB-YYX
24. ↑ History of Parliament Online, entry for'TUFTON, Sir Nicholas (1578-1631)'
25. ↑ W H Charlton,Burghley: The Life of William Cecil, Lord Burghley, Lord High Treasurer of England, pub. W Langley, Stamford, Lincolnshire, 1847, pp. 122 and 126,Google Books
26. ↑Dictionary of National Biography, Smith, Elder and Co, 1885-1900, entry for 'Cecil, Thomas (1542-1622)',Wikisource
27. ↑ Samuel Rawson Gardiner.Prince Charles and the Spanish Marriage: 1617-1623, Vol. I, Hurst and Blackett, London, 1869, pp. 159-164,Internet Archive
28. ↑ Find A Grave:Memorial #20617
29. ↑ Westminster Abbey website, webpage for'Thomas Cecil, Earl of Exeter', accessed 15 October 2019
30. ↑ Thomas Mason (ed.).A Register of Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials in the Parish of St. Martin in the Fields, in the County of Middlesex from 1550 to 1619, Harleian Society, 1898, p. 74,Internet Archive

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for ’ Cecil, Thomas, first earl of Exeter', 2004, revised online 2008, available online via some libraries
• Dictionary of National Biography, Smith, Elder and Co, 1885-1900, entry for 'Cecil, Thomas (1542-1622)',Wikisource
• Alford, Stephen.Burghley. William Cecil at the Court of Elizabeth I, Yale University Press, 2011
• History of Parliament Online, entry for’CECIL, Thomas (1542-1623), of Burghley House, Lincs. and Wimbledon, Surr.’
• Wikipedia: Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter
• http://thepeerage.com/p394.htm#i3935
• The Reliquary, Vol.12, pp.51-52
• Charlton, W H.Burghley: The Life of William Cecil, Lord Burghley, Lord High Treasurer of England, pub. W Langley, Stamford, Lincolnshire, 1847,Google Books
• Venn, J.A., comp.Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge University Press, 1922-1954,Ancestry.co.uk

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