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Cecil, William (1520 - 1598)

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Born / Died

Birth Date: 1520-09-18 (possibly born 18 Sept. 1521)
Death Date: 1598-08-04

Notes

Deprived of offices and imprisoned 1549; restored 1551

Parents

Marriages/Other Unions

  1. Cheke, Mary (1520 - 1543/4)
    Type: marriage
    Union began: 1541-8-8
    Union ended: n.d.
  2. Cooke, Mildred (1526 - 1589)
    Type: marriage
    Union began: 1545-12-21
    Union ended: n.d.
    Note: Union also produced 2 sons named William and a daughter named Frances, all of whom died in infancy

Siblings

Offspring

Primary Title

  • 1st Baron Burghley

Titles

  • 1st Baron Burghley
    Assumed: 1570/1-02-25
    Vacated: 1598-08-04
  • Knight of the Garter
    Assumed: 1572-04-23 (date nominated; installed 17 June 1572)
    Vacated: 1598-08-04
  • Knight
    Assumed: 1551-10-11
    Vacated: 1598-08-04

Details of Offices

Began Ended Notes
High Steward, Hertfordshire Held office in the time of Elizabeth (17 Nov. 1558--24 March 1603)
MP, London 1542
JP, Lincolnshire 1547
MP, Lincolnshire 1547
Keeper of the Writs and Rolls of the Common Bench, England 1548 -5 -6
Commissioner of Custos Rotulorum, Lincolnshire 1549 Appointed for life, but deprived of offices in 1549
Keeper, Northamptonshire 1550 -7 -29 Held jointly with father Richard and from 3 July 1566 with son Thomas
Privy Councillor, England 1550 -9 -5 1553
Secretary of State, England 1550 -9 -5 1553 -08 Held jointly with Sir William Petre and from 2 June 1553 also with Sir John Cheke
MP, Lincolnshire 1552/3 -3
Chancellor, England 1553 -4 -12 1598 -08 -4 For life
JP, Lincolnshire 1553/4
MP, Lincolnshire 1555
Privy Councillor, England 1558 -11 -20 1598 -08 -4 held office until death
Secretary of State, England 1558 -11 -20 1572 -07 -13
Chancellor, Cambridgeshire 1559 1598 -08 -4 held office until death
MP, Lincolnshire 1559
Steward, Lincolnshire 1560
Master of the Court of Wards, England 1560/1 -1 -10 1598 -08 -4 For life
High Steward, Westminster 1561
Commissioner of Custos Rotulorum, Lincolnshire 1561/2
JP, Surrey 1561/2
JP, Northamptonshire 1561/2
JP, Middlesex 1561/2
JP, Lincolnshire 1561/2
MP, Northamptonshire 1563
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Essex 1563/4
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Sussex 1563/4
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Surrey 1563/4
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Kent 1563/4
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Hertfordshire 1563/4
JP, Lincolnshire 1564
JP, Middlesex 1564
JP, Northamptonshire 1564
JP, Surrey 1564
Verge of the Household, England 1566 -6 -12
Lord Lieut, Middlesex 1568
Keeper of the Privy Seal, England 1571 -4 1571 -06
Treasurer of England, England 1572 -9 -15 1598 -08 -4 held office until death
Commissioner of Custos Rotulorum, Northamptonshire 1573
Commissioner of Gaol Delivery, England 1575
Steward, Lincolnshire 1585 1597
Lord Lieut, Lincolnshire 1587 1598 -08 -4 held office until death
High Steward, Bristol 1588
High Steward, Norfolk 1588 -9 1597 -09
Lord Lieut, Essex 1588 -12 -31 1598 -08 -4 held office until death
Lord Lieut, Hertfordshire 1588
Earl Marshal, England 1590 Held jointly
Keeper of the Privy Seal, England 1590
High Steward, Norfolk 1592

Details of Properties

Residence

  • (city) in Middlesex
  • Theobalds, Hertfordshire
  • Burghley House, Northamptonshire
  • Wimbledon, Surrey

Lands

  • Lincolnshire
  • Northamptonshire
  • Nottinghamshire
  • Rutland
  • Shropshire
  • Staffordshire
    Acquired: 1581-06-03
    Granted
  • Wales
    Acquired: 1581-06-03
    Granted
  • Worcestershire
    Acquired: 1581-06-03
    Granted
  • (city-county) in Yorkshire

Event Naming Patron

Event Type Date Location Troupe
Performance - Ludlow (Unknown), Ludlow, Shropshire Lord Burghley's Players

Patronized Troupes

Troupe Name Patron Troupe Type # of events
Lord Burghley's Players Cecil, William (1520 - 1598) Players 1

Bibliographic Sources

View a list of abbreviations.

  • Alford, Stephen. Burghley: William Cecil at the Court of Elizabeth. London: Yale UP, 2008
  • Bindoff, S.T. The History of Parliament: The House of Commons, 1509–1558. 3 vols. London: Secker & Warburg, 1982
  • The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. 1887–98 (8 vols); 1910–59 (13 vols). 6 vols. Gloucester: Alan Sutton, 1982
  • Nelson, Alan H. Monstrous Adversary: The Life of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. Liverpool: Liverpool UP, 2003
  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.