Sir William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter

Male 1565 - 1640  (~ 75 years)


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  • Name William Cecil 
    Title Sir 
    Suffix 2nd Earl of Exeter 
    Birth 0Jan 1565  Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2
    Gender Male 
    Death 6 Jul 1640  Exeter House, St. James, Clerkenwell, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [2, 3
    Person ID I50807  The Hennessee Family
    Last Modified 13 Apr 2018 

    Father Sir Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter,   b. 5 Mar 1542, St. Mary The Great, Cambridgeshire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 8 Feb 1623, Westminster Abbey, 20 Deans Yd, London SW1P 3PA, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 80 years) 
    Mother Dorothy Neville,   b. 1548, Snape Castle, Snape, North Yorkshire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 23 Mar 1608, London, Middlesex, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 60 years) 
    Marriage Y  [1, 4
    Family ID F18882  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Lady Elizabeth Stafford Drury, Countess of Exeter,   b. 4 Jan 1577, Hawsted, Suffolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Marriage Y  [5
    Children 
     1. Diana Cecil, Countess of Exeter,   b. ~1596, Exeter, Devonshire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 27 Apr 1654, Maulden, Bedfordshite, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age ~ 57 years)
    Family ID F19086  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 30 Apr 2023 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 0Jan 1565 - Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 6 Jul 1640 - Exeter House, St. James, Clerkenwell, England Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Notes 
    • William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter, KG PC (1566 – 6 July 1640), known as the third Lord Burghley from 1605 to 1623, was an English nobleman, politician, and peer.
      Life

      Exeter was the son of Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, and Dorothy Neville, daughter of John Neville, 4th Baron Latimer.[1] He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and travelled on the continent before being admitted to Gray's Inn.[2]

      In 1586, when only 20 years of age, he was returned to Parliament as MP for Stamford and was returned again in 1589.[1] In 1597 he was elected knight of the shire for Rutland.[3] He was invested as a Knight in 1603.[1] He held the office of Lord-Lieutenant of Northamptonshire between 1623 and 1640.[1] He succeeded to the title of 3rd Baron of Burghley, co. Northampton [E., 1571] on 8 February 1622/23.[1] He succeeded to the title of 2nd Earl of Exeter [E., 1605] on 8 February 1622/23.[1] He was invested as a Privy Counsellor (PC) in 1626.[1] He was invested as a Knight of the Order of the Garter (KG) in 1630.[1]

      In 1589, William married Elizabeth Manners, the only child of the 3rd Earl of Rutland, and they had one child:

      William Cecil, 17th Baron de Ros.

      William Cecil had three daughters with Elizabeth Drury, the second of whom was Elizabeth Cecil (pictured).

      Elizabeth died in 1591 and William married Elizabeth Drury, daughter of Sir William Drury and Elizabeth Stafford, and they had three children:

      Lady Anne Cecil married Henry Grey, 1st Earl of Stamford, and had issue.
      Lady Elizabeth Cecil (d. 1672), married Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire, and had issue.
      Lady Diana Cecil (d. 1658), married Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford, no issue, remarried Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin, also with no issue.[4]


      endof biography [3]

  • Sources 
    1. [S12292] "Sir Edward Cecil (1572-1638)", Biography, http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/cecil-sir-ed.

    2. [S12654] "William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter, PC, KG", Biography, Pedigree & Descendants, https://www.geni.com/people/William-Ceci.

    3. [S12660] "William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter", Biography, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cecil,_2nd_Earl_of_Exeter, abstrac.

    4. [S12656] "Dorothy Cecil (Neville)", Profile, Pedigree & Descendants, https://www.geni.com/people/Dorothy-Cecil/600000000644475309.

    5. [S12653] "Lady Diana Elgin de Vere, Countess", Profile & Biography, https://www.geni.com/people/Lady-Diana-de-Vere-Countess/60000.