Lord William CECIL^{[1, 2]}

1520 - 1598  (77 years)

• Name	William CECIL
  Prefix	Lord
  Born	13 Sep 1520	Burghley House, Stamford, Lincolnshire, England   [3]
  Gender	Male
  Baptism	18 Sep 1521	Stamford, Lincolnshire, England
  Education	1535, St. John's College, Cambridge
  Noteworthy	Lord High Treasurer to Elizabeth I
  Occupation	1st Baron of Burghley
  Military Event	Knight of the Garter
  Died	4 Aug 1598	Burghley House, Stamford, Lincolnshire, England
  Buried	St Martins Church, Stamford, England
  Person ID	I10071	Main
  Last Modified	19 Dec 2021

  
  

  Father	Richard CECIL,   b. Abt 1495, Burleigh, Gloucestershire, England ,   d. 2 Mar 1553, St Margarets Priory, Marlborough, Wiltshire, England  (Age ~ 58 years)
  Mother	Jane HECKINGTON,   b. Tickencote, Rutlandshire, England ,   d. 10 Mar 1587, St Martin Church, Stamford, Lincolnshire, England
  Married	Abt 1520	Lincolnshire, England
  Family ID	F3479	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Mary CHEKE,   b. 1522, St Mary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England ,   d. 22 Feb 1544, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England  (Age 22 years)
  Married	8 Aug 1541	Gray's Inn, London, England
  Children	+ 1. Sir Thomas CECIL,   b. 5 May 1542, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England ,   d. 7 Feb 1623, Burghley House, Stamford, Lincolnshire, England  (Age 80 years)
  Last Modified	4 Nov 2023
  Family ID	F1801	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 2	Mildred COOKE,   b. 24 Aug 1524, Gidea Hall, Essex, England ,   d. 5 Apr 1589, Burghley House, Stamford, Lincolnshire, England  (Age 64 years)
  Married	21 Dec 1546	England
  Children	1. Francisca CECIL,   b. 6 Apr 1555, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England ,   d. Abt 1556, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England  (Age 0 years)   2. Anne CECIL,   b. 5 Dec 1556, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England ,   d. 6 Jun 1588, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England  (Age 31 years)   3. William CECIL,   b. 23 Oct 1559, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England ,   d. Abt Oct 1559, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England   4. William CECIL,   b. 1561, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England ,   d. 1561, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England  (Age 0 years) + 5. Earl Robert CECIL,   b. 1 Jun 1563, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England ,   d. 24 May 1612, St Margarets Priory, Marlborough, Wiltshire, England  (Age 48 years)   6. Elizabeth CECIL,   b. 1 Jul 1564, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England
  Last Modified	19 Dec 2021
  Family ID	F3461	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Married - 21 Dec 1546 - England  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Photos		Front_of_Burghley_House_2009 By Anthony Masi from UK - Burghley House #2.jpg, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6586025
  		CECIL-William,_1st_Baron_Burghley

  
  

  Places

  Front_of_Burghley_House_2009 By Anthony Masi from UK - Burghley House #2.jpg, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6586025

  
  

• Notes

  William Cecil was interested in genealogy and there is a contemporary pedigree in existence attributing to the Cecils a descent from Sitselt, or Sitsell, who in 1091 received lands in Wales from Robert FitzHamon. This pedigree is traced through the Sitsilts (or Sitsylts) of Altyrennes, Co. Hereford. English statesman, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and Lord High Treasurer from 1572. Albert Pollard wrote, "From 1558 for forty years the biography of Cecil is almost indistinguishable from that of Elizabeth and from the history of England." —— In 1547 the office of Custos Brevium in the Court of Common Pleas, the reversion to which his father had obtained some years before, fell in, and Cecil found himself independant. About the same time he was appointed Master of Requests by Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, Uncle of Edward VI. This office entailed on Cecil the duty of private secretary and advisor to the Duke, then Protector of the Realm during the minority of the boy King. He was present at the Battle of Pinkie on 10 Sep, 1547, when the Scots suffered a severe defeat; it is said that Cecil narrowly escaped with life at this battle. Mildred, daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke of Gidea Hall On 13 Oct 1549 he was sent with Somerset to the Tower, but was released under a bond for a thousand marks. The date of his enlargement was 25 Jan 1549/50 (old style). In Oct 1551 he was knighted and in Apr 1552 he was appointed Chancellor of the Order of the Garter. After the fall of Somerset Cecil became a member of the Privy Council and he was an unwilling signatory to the instrument which sought to disinherit the sisters of Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth. He protested against the plot of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, to transfer the crown from the Tudor Dynasty to his own House, which he hoped to effect by the marriage of Lady Jane Grey to his son, Lord Guildford Dudley. [4]

  
  

• Sources

  [S67] CECIL. The Witten/Cecil Family, Randy Cecil. [S69] CECIL. The Cecil’s of Hatfield House, An English Ruling Family, Cecil, David, (Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA. 1973). [S222] Peerage, The, Lundy, Darryl, /p205.htm#i2050. [S76] Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cecil,_1st_Baron_Burghley.