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William Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Exeter
William Alleyne Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Exeter PC (30 April 1825 – 14 July 1895), styled Lord Burghley between 1825 and 1867, was a British peer and Conservative politician. He served as Treasurer of the Household between 1866 and 1867 and as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms between 1867 and 1868. Early lifeExeter was the eldest son of Brownlow Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Exeter, and his wife Isabella, daughter of William Stephen Poyntz, MP.[1] He was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he was president of the University Pitt Club.[2] Exeter played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club and Cambridge University between 1847 and 1851.[3] CareerExeter was elected to the House of Commons for South Lincolnshire in 1847, a seat he held until 1857,[1][4] and then represented North Northamptonshire from 1857 to 1867.[1][5] He served under the Earl of Derby as Treasurer of the Household from 1866 to 1867,[6] when he succeeded his father in the marquessate and entered the House of Lords.[6] In March 1867 Derby appointed him Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms, a post he held until December 1868,[6] the last nine months under the premiership of Benjamin Disraeli. In 1866 he was admitted to the Privy Council.[7] Personal life Lord Exeter married Lady Georgina Sophia Pakenham, daughter of Thomas Pakenham, 2nd Earl of Longford, on 17 October 1848. They had at least nine children:
Lord Exeter died in July 1895, aged 70, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son Brownlow, who also became a government minister. The Marchioness of Exeter died in March 1909.[1] Lady Angela Forbes wrote in her 1919 memoir, Memories and Base Details, of how she "[stood] in wholesome dread, in company, I may say, with her own family" of the formidable Marchioness. "Not to speak until you were spoken to, was a doctrine I did not at all appreciate, but one rigidly enforced at Burleigh! Prayers were read daily by Lady Exeter in the beautiful old chapel adjoining the house ... [on] one fatal occasion I giggled – and Lady Exeter stopped dead in the middle of a sentence, looking straight at me. 'When the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness' – and then there was a horrid pause. No notice was taken as we went out, but a little later a message came that 'her ladyship would like to see me.' My outward bravado was not in the least indicative of my feelings as I stood in front of her listening to a severe lecture couched in the most satirical language, whilst her two daughters stood, dragon-like, on either side of her."[8] He held 28,000 acres across England[9] References
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