| Life sketch | | William Cecil, 1st Baron of Burghley(sometimes spelled Burleigh) Cecil, KG (13 September 1520 – 4 August 1598) was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and Lord High Treasurer from 1572. He was the founder of the Cecil dynasty which has produced many politicians including two Prime Ministers.
11 October 2017 by Patsy Putnam
William was married two times, the first was to Mary Cheko and they had one son, Thomas Cecil. William had six children by his second wife. William served as Prime Minister of England under Queen Elizabeth the First for forty years and was made Lord Burghley in 1571.Less
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30 April 2015 by dstorie2740741
William Cecil (Lord Burghley) had three wives, Mary Cheke, Mildred Coole and Miss Chandos. This information may be found in encyclopedias. Margret Bedell was not his wife. True, William was a womanizer but he had no other marriages.
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10 May 2011byCecroe
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William CECIL Lord Burghley was born 18
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William CECIL Lord Burghley was born 18 Sep 1520 in Bourne, near Grantham. He died 4 Aug 1598. William married Mildred COOKE on 1546. (Other marriages: CHEKE, Mary) Mildred COOKE married William CECIL Lord Burghley on 1546. They had the following children: Mi Robert CECIL 1st Earl was born 1 Jun 1563 and died 24 May 1612. *****1st Baron Burghley Sources yet to be consulted: The Great Lord Burghley, Martin Hume, London, 1906. Mr. Secretary Cecil and Queen Elizabeth, Conyers Read, 1955, 1962 (Jonathan Cape, London, Bedford Historical Series). Burghley: Tudor Statesman, B.W. Beckingsale, London, 1967. Cecil papers , Hatfield House William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (see here ), born 18th Sept 1520, for 40 years chief secretary of state to Elizabeth I and the "chief architect of Elizabethan greatness", supposed to be satirized as Polonius in the play Hamlet, *educ St.John's College, Cambridge,*mar 1stly to Mary Cheke and had issue: Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter , born 1542, *inherited Burghley House, ancestor of Marquess of Exeter. mar 2ndly to Mildred Cooke [born 1526] and had issue: Anne Cecil, born 5th Dec 1556, * mar Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford and had issue. Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury , born 1563, *succ to his father's job as Elizabeth 's chief minister,in later years of Elizabeth's reign, he developed contacts with James VI, King of Scotland , which led to James succeeding Elizabeth in 1603, *built Hatfield House, Hatfield, Hertfordshire from 1608, died 1612, ancestor of Marquess of Salisbury. Chancellor of Cambridge 1560, cr 1571, *built Burghley House, nr Stamford, Lincolnshire 1587, *died 4th Aug 1598, age 77 yrs. See biographies here and here . Hatfield House, 1955. *Scan 1999. Original photo has been destroye d. **The Old Hall, Hatfield House, 1955. *Scan 1999. Original photo has been destroyed. *****MORE NOTES: William Cecil saw the light at Bourne in the County of Lincoln on 13 Sep, 1520, and he was baptised at the same place. His father was Richard Cyssell of Burleigh, near Stamford, sometime one of the pages of Henry VIII <../aboutHenryVIII.htm>, and Groom of the Wardrobe. He was present with the King at the "Field of he Cloth of Gold" and on the dissolution of the monasteries came into much of the plunder. He married Jane, daughter and heiress of William Heckington of Bourne, Lincs. He died 2 Mar 1553-54. His widow died 10 Mar, 1587. This marriage brought him the splendid estate of Burleigh. William Cecil's grandfather was David Syssell (so spelt, says his grandson, though he signed his will 'Cyssell'), of Stamford, a burgess of that town and senior Alderman, or Mayor, in 1503, 1515, and 1525, and High Sheriff 23 and 24 Henry VIII <../aboutHenryVIII.htm>, and a small landowner. He died at Stamford in 1541 (or 14 Sep 1535), being then over eighty years old, so he was born before 1455. He married Alice, the daughter of John Dicksons of Stamford, sometimes said to be Sir John Dicksons, Knight, and had three children, Richard, mentioned above, and David, and John. The Family is supposed to have a Welsh origin, and certainly there were two families with a similar name living in Herefordshire who claimed relationship with Cyssells or Syssells of Stamford; these two families were the Sitsylts of Altyrennes and the Cyssells of Maysemore. 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. As has been said, Richard's wife brought him the estate of Burleigh, which adjoined the Cecil property in Rutland; thus the Cecils became large landowners. William Cecil was carefully educated, and in May 1535 he was entered at St. John's College, Cambridge, then under the Mastership of Dr. Nicholas Metcalf. Young Cecil already possessed a good knowledge of Greek. St. John's was at that time the most important College in England and it was the resort or earnest students who came up to the University to work. <../images/Cecil,William(1BBurghley)01.jpg> <../images/Cecil,William(1BBurghley)01.jpg> In an attempt by his father, Richard Cecil, to prevent what he regarded as an improvident marriage to Mary, the daughter of Peter Cheke, a young William Cecil was removed from the University and admitted to Grays Inn. The father failed, and the marriage took place, probably secretly, at Cambridge. Mary Cheke's father had been Esquire Bedel in the University, but was of slender means and his daughter had a fortune of only 40pounds: this slender endowment did not suit the views of William's ambitious father. A son, Thomas, was born a year after Cecil's admission to Gray's Inn, but his wife died 22 Feb 1544. This son became later, in the reign of James I, Earl of Exeter, and he is the ancestor of the Exeter branch of the House of Cecil. William Cecil maried secondly Mildred, daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke of Gidea Hall, Essex. Sir Anthony was tutor to the heir of Henry VIII <../aboutHenryVIII.htm>, afterwards Edward VI <../aboutEdward.htm>. Anne, the second daughter of Sir Anthony, married Sir Nicholas Bacon, who was to become Lord Keeper of the Great Seal under Queen Elizabeth <../aboutElizabeth.htm> and father of and Francis Bacon . Cecil's second marriage was celebrated 21 Mar 1545. 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 <../aboutEdward.htm>. 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 <../aboutEdward.htm>. <../images/Cooke,Mildred(BBurghley)01.jpg> <../images/Cooke,Mildred(BBurghley)01.jpg> Mildred, daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke of Gidea Hall He was present withis master 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. 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 <../aboutEdward.htm>, Mary <../aboutMary.htm> and Elizabeth <../aboutElizabeth.htm>. 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 <../aboutJaneGrey.htm> to his son, Lord Guildford Dudley . When Edward VI <../aboutEdward.htm> died Cecil was out of office. His father, Richard Cecil died, four months before on the 19 Mar 1553, the Burleigh estate was settled on his mother for life, but he was left estates in Rutland, Lincoln, and Northamptonshire. In 1550 he acquired the Manor of Wimbledon, and he had a house at Canon Row, Westminster. During the reign of Mary <../aboutMary.htm> he conformed to the ritual established by Law. On the death of Queen Mary <../aboutMary.htm> on 17th Nov, 1558, Cecil,who had kept in touch with t he Princess Elizabeth <../aboutElizabeth.htm>, was one of her earliest visitors, and when the Lords of the Privy Council presented themselves at Hatfield they found that Cecil had forestalled them and that some important appointments had already been made. Cecil was the first of the new Council to take the oath and was made Secretary of State. Before Queen Mary <../aboutMary.htm>'s death the far-sighted subject of our sketch had drawn up a state paper providing for the universal proclamation of the new Queen <../aboutElizabeth.htm> and thus providing for the accession of Elizabeth <../aboutElizabeth.htm> without disturbance. (Hatfield MSS., pt. 1, p.117) | | | |
