Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 6th Marquess of Salisbury

Robert Edward Peter Gascoyne-Cecil, 6th Marquess of Salisbury (* 24. October 1916 in Hatfield House ; † 11. July 2003 ) was a British politician of the Conservative Party and landowners . Until 1972 he was known by his then courtesy title Viscount Cranborne .

Coat of arms of the Marquess of Salisbury

Live and act

Salisbury was the eldest and only surviving son of Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury , and his wife, Elizabeth Cavendish Vere. In Eton educated, he went after the Grenadier Guards , bringing with them the Second World War participate. In 1942 he was seriously wounded in the lungs during a maneuver and, while still receiving treatment, took part in the invasion of Normandy . He was a member of the first British unit in the liberation of Brussels , became Harold Macmillan's adjutant, and served in North Africa.

After the war he studied land and property management and ran unsuccessfully for the constituency of Ince in the British general election in 1945 . In February 1950 he won the general election for the Conservative Party by a clear margin in the Bournemouth West constituency ; he held this seat until January 1954. After his inaugural address at the House of Commons , critics noted that he had two positive talents: an appealing voice and his father's disarming charm. Ill during a visit to Yugoslavia , he was forced to end his political career in the House of Commons after four years with his resignation. Winston Churchill , who was also sick several times during his last term in office, said: "The Cecils were always sick or resigned."

After his resignation he spent some time in Rhodesia , whose capital Harare was formerly named Salisbury after Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury and Prime Minister of Queen Victoria . The family owned 80,000 hectares of farmland there. During and after his time in the House of Commons and on his return from Rhodesia, Cecil devoted himself to his large estates in Hatfield and Cranborne .

In 1965 he succeeded Prince Philip as President of the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmer . After his father's death in 1972, he inherited his title and became a member of the House of Lords . In his inaugural address in front of the house, he drew attention to the ineffectiveness of sanctions against the Ian Smith regime . In 1974 he became Deputy Lieutenant of Dorset and, like his father and successor to Jonathan Guinness, 3rd Baron Moyne , president of the right-wing conservative Monday Club (1974-1981). He was president of both the Anglo-Rhodesian Society and the Friends of the Union . He was also president of the Roxburghe book collectors' club , with which he published the book The Last Years of Mary Queen of Scots from the family manuscripts in Hatfield .

Marriage and children

He married on December 18, 1945 Marjorie Olein Wyndham-Quin (born July 15, 1922), a granddaughter of Windham Wyndham-Quin, 5th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl .

They had seven children:

• Michael James Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury (born September 30, 1946)
• Lord Richard Valentine Gascoyne-Cecil (born January 26, 1948, † April 20, 1978 Rhodesia ), was a freelance journalist
• Lord Charles Edward Gascoyne-Cecil Vere (born July 13, 1949)
• Lord William Valentine Gascoyne-Cecil (born May 13, 1952)
• Hon. Henry Gascoyne-Cecil (born May 3, 1955 - † May 6, 1955)
• Lady Rose Alice Elizabeth Cecil (born September 11, 1956)
• Lord Michael Hugh Cecil (born March 23, 1960)

literature

• Robert Copping: The Monday Club. Crisis and After. Monday Club, London 1975.

Web links

• www.telegraph.co.uk Obituary, accessed February 10, 2014
• Viscount Cranborne at Hansard (English)
• Robert Edward Peter Gascoyne-Cecil, 6th Marquess of Salisbury, on thepeerage.com , accessed September 11, 2016.

predecessor	Office	successor
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil	Marquess of Salisbury 1972-2003	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil