James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury

The Most Honourable The Marquess of Salisbury KG GCVO CB PC
Leader of the House of Lords
In office 27 April 1925 – 4 June 1929
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Stanley Baldwin
Preceded by	The Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
Succeeded by	The Lord Parmoor
Lord Privy Seal
In office 6 November 1924 – 4 June 1929
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Stanley Baldwin
Preceded by	John Robert Clynes
Succeeded by	James Henry Thomas
In office 17 October 1903 – 4 December 1905
Monarch	Edward VII
Prime Minister	The Marquess of Salisbury Arthur Balfour
Preceded by	Arthur Balfour
Succeeded by	The Marquess of Ripon
Lord President of the Council
In office 24 October 1922 – 22 January 1924
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Andrew Bonar Law Stanley Baldwin
Preceded by	Arthur Balfour
Succeeded by	The Lord Parmoor
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office 24 October 1922 – 25 May 1923
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Andrew Bonar Law Stanley Baldwin
Preceded by	Sir William Sutherland
Succeeded by	J. C. C. Davidson
Personal details
Born	(1861-10-23)23 October 1861 London, United Kingdom
Died	4 April 1947(1947-04-04) (aged 85) London, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Lady Cicely Gore (1867–1955)
Alma mater	University College, Oxford

James Edward Hubert Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, CB, PC (23 October 1861 – 4 April 1947), known as Viscount Cranborne from 1868 to 1903, was a British statesman.

Background and education

Born in London, Salisbury was the eldest son of Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, by his wife Georgina (née Alderson). The Right Reverend Lord William Cecil, Lord Cecil of Chelwood and Lord Quickswood were his younger brothers and Prime Minister Arthur Balfour his first cousin. He was educated at Eton and University College, Oxford.

Political career

Lord Salisbury sat as Conservative Member of Parliament for Darwen from 1885 to 1892 and for Rochester from 1893 to 1903, when he succeeded his father and entered the House of Lords. He served under his father and then his cousin Arthur Balfour as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 1900 to 1903 and under Balfour as Lord Privy Seal from 1903 to 1905 and as President of the Board of Trade in 1905. In 1903 he was sworn of the Privy Council. In December 1908, he was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Hertfordshire.

Salisbury played a leading role in opposing David Lloyd George's People's Budget and the Parliament Bill of 1911. In 1917 he was made a Knight of the Garter. He returned to the government in the 1920s and served under Andrew Bonar Law and Stanley Baldwin as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1922 to 1923, as Lord President of the Council from 1922 to 1924, as Lord Privy Seal from 1924 to 1929 and as Leader of the House of Lords from 1925 to 1929. He resigned as leader of the Conservative peers in June 1931 and became one of the most prominent opponents of Indian Home Rule in the Lords, supporting the campaign against the legislation waged in the House of Commons by Winston Churchill.

Salisbury was part of two parliamentary deputations which called on the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Neville Chamberlain, in the autumn of 1936 to remonstrate with them about the slow pace of British rearmament in the face of the growing threat from Nazi Germany. The delegation was led by Sir Austen Chamberlain, a former Foreign Secretary and its most prominent speakers included Winston Churchill, Leo Amery and Roger Keyes.

He was also Lord High Steward at the coronation of George VI in 1937.

Family

Lord Salisbury married Lady Cicely Gore, second daughter of Arthur Gore, 5th Earl of Arran, in 1887. They had four children:

• Lady Beatrice Edith Mildred (1891–1980). She married William Ormsby-Gore, 4th Baron Harlech.
• Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury (1893–1972)
• Lady Mary Alice (1895–1988)
• Lord (Edward Christian) David (1902–1986)

Lord Salisbury died in April 1947, aged 85, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Robert. The Marchioness of Salisbury died in February 1955.

He was the grandfather of actor Jonathan Cecil, via his youngest son, David.

References

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Marquess of Salisbury
• Portraits of James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury at the National Portrait Gallery, London
• Archival material relating to James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury listed at the UK National Archives

Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Darwen 1885 – 1892	Succeeded by Charles Philip Huntington
Preceded by Horatio Davies	Member of Parliament for Rochester 1893 – 1903	Succeeded by Charles Tuff
Political offices
Preceded by Hon. St John Brodrick	Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 1900–1903	Succeeded by Earl Percy
Preceded by Arthur Balfour	Lord Privy Seal 1903–1905	Succeeded by The Marquess of Ripon
Preceded by Gerald Balfour	President of the Board of Trade 1905	Succeeded by David Lloyd George
Preceded by Sir William Sutherland	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1922–1923	Succeeded by J. C. C. Davidson
Preceded by Arthur Balfour	Lord President of the Council 1922–1924	Succeeded by The Lord Parmoor
Preceded by John Robert Clynes	Lord Privy Seal 1924–1929	Succeeded by James Henry Thomas
Preceded by The Marquess Curzon of Kedleston	Leader of the House of Lords 1925–1929	Succeeded by The Lord Parmoor
Party political offices
Preceded by The Marquess Curzon of Kedleston	Leader of the Conservative Party in the House of Lords 1925–1931	Succeeded by The Viscount Hailsham
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by Robert Gascoyne-Cecil	Marquess of Salisbury 1903–1947	Succeeded by Robert Gascoyne-Cecil
Peerage of England
Preceded by Robert Gascoyne-Cecil	Baron Cecil (descended by acceleration) 1903–1941	Succeeded by Robert Gascoyne-Cecil