Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury

The Most Honourable The Marquess of Salisbury KG PC FRS DL
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil in 1943

Lord President of the Council
In office 25 November 1952 – 29 March 1957
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Winston Churchill Anthony Eden
Preceded by	The Lord Woolton
Succeeded by	The Earl of Home
Leader of the House of Lords
In office 21 February 1942 – 26 July 1945
Monarch	George VI
Prime Minister	Winston Churchill
Preceded by	The Lord Moyne
Succeeded by	The Viscount Addison
In office 28 October 1951 – 29 March 1957
Monarch	George VI Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Winston Churchill Anthony Eden Harold Macmillan
Preceded by	The Viscount Addison
Succeeded by	The Earl of Home
Personal details
Born	27 August 1893 (1893-08-27)
Died	23 February 1972 (1972-02-24) (aged 78)
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Cavendish (1897–1982)
Children	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 6th Marquess of Salisbury Michael Charles James Cecil Richard Hugh Cecil

Robert Arthur James Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury, KG PC FRS DL^[1] (27 August 1893 – 23 February 1972), known as Viscount Cranborne from 1903 to 1947, was a British Conservative politician.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Background

Nicknamed "Bobbety", Salisbury was the eldest son of James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury, by his wife Lady Cicely, daughter of Arthur Gore, 5th Earl of Arran, and the grandson of Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, receiving an honorary Doctorate of Civil Laws 1951.

Military career

He served in the Army during the First World War. He was commissioned as a lieutenant into the Grenadier Guards (SR) from 1915 throughout the war until its end. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre and Chevalier Order of the Crown of Belgium. When the war ended, he went to work at Westminster Bank. In 1928, he was appointed a director and to the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts; he was promoted to chairman of the commission in 1957.

Political career

Salisbury was elected as a Conservative to the House of Commons as MP for South Dorset in 1929. As Parliamentary Secretary to the Lord Privy Seal in 1934 in Ramsay MacDonald's National Government, he was promoted serving as Joint Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 1935 to 1938. He was made Paymaster-General by Winston Churchill in May 1940 for the duration of the Battle of Britain but was appointed Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs from 1940 to 1942.

In 1941, he was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in one of his father's titles as Baron Cecil of Essendon. He was Secretary of State for the Colonies in February–November 1942, Lord Privy Seal between 1942 and 1943, Leader of the House of Lords between 1942 and 1945 and again Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs between 1943 and 1945. As a friend of Churchill, in 1943, he was appointed President of the English-Speaking Union to promote the universality of the language throughout the British Empire. His final wartime appointment was as President of University College South-West Exeter for a statutory ten years before it was converted to university status.

In 1947, King George VI made Salisbury a Knight of the Order of the Garter, and he succeeded his father in the marquessate shortly afterwards. He became High Steward of Hertfordshire, where he lived, in 1947, shortly before the office was abolished.

During the 1950s, when his party returned to office, successively, he served Churchill, Anthony Eden, and Harold Macmillan as Lord Privy Seal from 1951 to 1952; Leader of the House of Lords from 1951 to 1957; Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations in 1952 and Lord President of the Council from December 1952 to 1957. During the period of the coronation of Elizabeth II, he was appointed Acting Foreign Secretary, as Eden was then seriously ill after a series of botched operations on his bile duct.

In November 1951, he received an honorary doctorate of law from the University of Liverpool.^[5]

Salisbury was known as a hardline imperialist. In 1952, as Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, he tried to make permanent the exile of Seretse Khama, kgosi (leader) of the Bamangwato people in Bechuanaland, for marrying a white British woman. During the 1960s, Lord Salisbury continued to be a staunch defender of the white-dominated governments in South Africa and in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and was granted Freedom of Salisbury on a visit in 1956. He was also a fierce opponent of liberal-left attempts to reform the House of Lords, and yet he created what is known as the Salisbury Convention, under which the House of Lords will not oppose the second or third reading of any government legislation promised in its election manifesto.

In January 1957, Eden resigned as prime minister. The two candidates were Rab Butler and Harold Macmillan. The Queen took advice from senior ministers, as well as Winston Churchill (who backed Macmillan), Edward Heath (who, as Chief Whip, was aware of backbench opinion), and Salisbury, who interviewed the Cabinet one by one and with his famous speech impediment asked each one whether he was for "Wab or Hawold" (it is thought that only between one and three were for "Wab"). The advice was overwhelmingly to appoint Macmillan as Prime Minister instead of Butler.

The media were taken by surprise by this choice, but Butler himself later confessed in his memoirs that while there was a sizeable anti-Butler faction on the backbenches, there was no such anti-Macmillan faction. Nonetheless, his cultural pursuits were recognised when he was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy that year.^[6]

These artistic credentials were enhanced as a Trustee of the National Gallery from 1960 to 1966. In 1961, he became the first president of the Conservative Monday Club and held the post until his death in 1972.

Apart from his political career, Salisbury was Chancellor of the University of Liverpool from 1951 until 1971. In 1970, students at the university staged an occupation at Senate House to demand his removal over his support for apartheid and other reactionary views.

Marriage and children

Lord Salisbury married Elizabeth Vere Cavendish, daughter of Lord Richard Cavendish and his wife Lady Moyra de Vere Beauclerk (a daughter of William Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans),^[7] on 8 December 1915. They had three sons, two of whom predeceased their parents:^[8]

Robert Edward Peter Gascoyne-Cecil, 6th Marquess of Salisbury (born 24 October 1916, died 11 July 2003)
Michael Charles James Gascoyne-Cecil (born 27 October 1918, died 27 October 1934)
Richard Hugh Vere Gascoyne-Cecil (born 31 January 1924, killed in action 12 August 1944), a Sergeant Pilot in the RAF who died in the Second World War.

Lord Salisbury died in February 1972, at 78, and was succeeded by his eldest and only surviving son, Robert, who became the 6th Marquess. Lady Salisbury died on 5 June 1982.^[9]

Legacy

He is portrayed by Clive Francis in the Netflix series The Crown.

Styles of address

1893-1903: The Hon Robert Cecil
1903-1929: Viscount Cranborne
1929-1941: Viscount Cranborne MP
1941-1942: Viscount Cranborne
1942-1946: The Rt Hon Viscount Cranborne
1946-1947: The Rt Hon Viscount Cranborne KG
1947-1957: The Most Hon The Marquess of Salisbury KG PC
1957-1972: The Most Hon The Marquess of Salisbury KG PC FRS

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury.

↑ Todd, L. (1973). "Robert Arthur James Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury 1893-1972". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 19: 621. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1973.0022.
↑ Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Marquess of Salisbury
↑ Portraits of Robert Arthur James Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury at the National Portrait Gallery, London
↑ "Archival material relating to Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury". UK National Archives.
↑ Other academic honorary awards: Doctor of Law: Toronto University, 1949; Birmingham University, 1950; Cambridge, 1954; Manchester University, 1954; London, 1955. He received as well an honorary Doctorate of Literature, Exeter University, 1956; Hon LLD St Andrews, 1953.
↑ Burke's Peerage & Baronetage (106th ed.) (Salisbury)
↑ The Peerage, entry for Lady Moyra Beauclerk
↑ The Peerage, entry for 5th Marquess of Salisbury
↑ Burke's, ibid.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Robert Yerburgh	Member of Parliament for South Dorset 1929–1941	Succeeded by Viscount Hinchingbrooke
Political offices
Preceded by The Earl Stanhope	Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 1935–1938 with The Earl Stanhope 1935–1936 The Earl of Plymouth 1936–1938	Succeeded by The Earl of Plymouth Rab Butler
Vacant Title last held by The Earl Winterton	Paymaster-General 1940	Vacant Title next held by The Lord Hankey
Preceded by The Viscount Caldecote	Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs 1940–1942	Succeeded by Clement Attlee
Preceded by The Lord Moyne	Colonial Secretary 1942	Succeeded by Oliver Stanley
Preceded by Hon. Sir Stafford Cripps	Lord Privy Seal 1942–1943	Succeeded by The Lord Beaverbrook
Preceded by The Lord Moyne	Leader of the House of Lords 1942–1945	Succeeded by The Viscount Addison
Preceded by Clement Attlee	Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs 1943–1945	Succeeded by The Viscount Addison
Preceded by Richard Stokes	Lord Privy Seal 1951–1952	Succeeded by Harry Crookshank
Preceded by The Viscount Addison	Leader of the House of Lords 1951–1957	Succeeded by The Earl of Home
Preceded by The Lord Ismay	Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations 1952	Succeeded by The Viscount Swinton
Preceded by The Lord Woolton	Lord President of the Council 1952–1957	Succeeded by The Earl of Home
Party political offices
Preceded by The Lord Moyne	Leader of the Conservative Party in the House of Lords 1942–1957	Succeeded by The Earl of Home
Preceded by Club established	Chairman of the Monday Club May 1961 – 1962	Succeeded by Paul Bristol
Honorary titles
Preceded by The Earl of Halifax	Chancellor of the Order of the Garter 1960–1972	Succeeded by The Viscount Cobham
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by James Gascoyne-Cecil	Marquess of Salisbury 1947–1972	Succeeded by Robert Gascoyne-Cecil
Peerage of England
Preceded by James Gascoyne-Cecil	Baron Cecil (writ of acceleration) 1941–1972	Succeeded by Robert Gascoyne-Cecil

Leaders of the Opposition of the United Kingdom

House of Commons	Ponsonby Tierney Peel Althorp Peel Russell Peel Russell Bentinck Granby Granby/Herries/Disraeli Disraeli Russell Disraeli Palmerston Disraeli Gladstone Disraeli Gladstone Hartington Northcote Gladstone Hicks Beach Gladstone Balfour Harcourt Campbell-Bannerman Balfour Chamberlain Balfour Law Carson Asquith Maclean Asquith MacDonald Baldwin MacDonald Baldwin Henderson Lansbury Attlee Lees-Smith Pethick-Lawrence Greenwood Attlee Churchill Attlee Morrison Gaitskell Brown Wilson Douglas-Home Heath Wilson Heath Thatcher Callaghan Foot Kinnock Smith Beckett Blair Major Hague Duncan Smith Howard Cameron Harman Miliband Harman Corbyn

House of Lords	Grenville Grey 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne Wellington 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne Wellington Melbourne Wellington Melbourne 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne Stanley 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne Derby (Stanley) Granville Derby Russell Granville Malmesbury Cairns Richmond Granville Beaconsfield 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Granville 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Granville Kimberley 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Rosebery Kimberley Spencer Ripon 5th Marquess of Lansdowne Crewe Curzon of Kedleston Haldane Parmoor 4th Marquess of Salisbury Hailsham Parmoor Ponsonby of Shulbrede Snell Addison 5th Marquess of Salisbury Addison Jowitt Alexander of Hillsborough Carrington Shackleton Carrington Peart Cledwyn of Penrhos Richard Cranborne Strathclyde Royall of Blaisdon Smith of Basildon

Secretaries of State for Dominion Affairs

Leo Amery The Lord Passfield James Henry Thomas Malcolm MacDonald Lord Stanley Malcolm MacDonald Sir Thomas Inskip (later The Viscount Caldecote) Anthony Eden The Viscount Caldecote Viscount Cranborne Clement Attlee Viscount Cranborne The Viscount Addison

Paymasters General

Parnell Stanley Knatchbull Baring Macaulay Granville Stanley Colchester Stanley Pleydell-Bouverie Lowe Donoughmore Lovaine Wilson Cowper Hutt Goschen Monsell Cave Dufferin Childers Adam Cave Plunket Wolverton Beauchamp Thurlow Beauchamp Brownlow Jersey Windsor Seale-Hayne Hopetoun Marlborough Crossley Causton Ashby Strachie Newton Henderson Compton-Rickett Walters vacant Chamberlain Joynson-Hicks Boyd-Carpenter Gosling vacant Sutherland Onslow Arnold vacant Walters Rochester Hutchison Munster Winterton vacant Cranborne vacant Hankey Jowitt Cherwell vacant Greenwood Marquand Addison Macdonald Cherwell Selkirk vacant Monckton Maulding Mills Brooke Boyd-Carpenter Wigg vacant Shackleton Hart Lever Eccles Macmillan Dell Williams A. Maude Pym Parkinson Gummer Clarke Brooke Caithness Ryder Belstead Cope Heathcoat-Amory Willetts Bates Robinson Primarolo Jowell F. Maude Hancock

Caretaker Cabinet of Winston Churchill (May–July 1945)

Lord President of the Council	Lord Woolton

Lord Privy Seal	Lord Beaverbrook

Chancellor of the Exchequer	Sir John Anderson

Foreign Secretary	Anthony Eden

Home Secretary	Sir Donald Somervell

First Lord of the Admiralty	Brendan Bracken

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food	Robert Hudson

Secretary of State for Air	Harold Macmillan

Secretary of State for the Colonies	Oliver Stanley

Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs	Viscount Cranborne

Minister of Education	Richard Law

Secretary of State for India and Burma	Leo Amery

Minister of Labour and National Service	Rab Butler

Minister of Production President of the Board of Trade	Oliver Lyttelton

Secretary of State for Scotland	The Earl of Rosebery

Secretary of State for War	Sir P. J. Grigg

Cabinet of Sir Winston Churchill (1951–1955)

Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury	Sir Winston Churchill (1951–55)

Lord Chancellor	The Lord Simonds (1951–54) The Viscount Kilmuir (1954–55)

Lord President of the Council	The Lord Woolton (1951–52) The Marquess of Salisbury (1952–55)

Lord Privy Seal	The Marquess of Salisbury (1951–52) Harry Crookshank (1952–55)

Chancellor of the Exchequer	Rab Butler (1951–55)

Foreign Secretary	Sir Anthony Eden (1951–55)

Home Secretary Welsh Secretary	Sir David Maxwell Fyfe (1951–54) Gwilym Lloyd George (1954–55)

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries	Derick Heathcoat-Armory (1954–55)

Secretary of State for the Colonies	Oliver Lyttelton (1951–54) Alan Lennox-Boyd (1954–55)

Minister for Coordination of Transport, Fuel and Power	The Lord Leathers (1951–53)

Minister of Defence	Winston Churchill (1951–52) The Earl Alexander of Tunis (1952–54) Harold Macmillan (1954–55)

Minister of Education	Sir David Eccles (1954–55)

Minister of Health	Harry Crookshank (1951–52)

Ministry of Housing and Local Government	Harold Macmillan (1951–54) Duncan Sandys (1954–55)

Minister of Labour and National Service	Sir Walter Monckton (1951–55)

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	The Lord Woolton (1952–55)

Minister of Materials	The Lord Woolton (1953–55)

Paymaster General	The Lord Cherwell (1951–53)

Secretary of State for Scotland	James Stuart (1951–55)

Chancellors of the Order of the Garter

Bishops of Salisbury (1477–1550)	Richard Beauchamp Lionel Woodville Thomas Langton John Blyth Henry Deane Edmund Audley

Lay Chancellors (1551–1671)	Sir William Cecil Sir William Petre Sir Thomas Smith Sir Francis Walsingham Sir Amias Paulet Sir John Wolley Sir Edward Dyer Sir John Herbert Sir George More Sir Francis Crane Sir Thomas Roe Sir James Palmer Sir Henry de Vic

Bishops of Salisbury (1671–1837)	Seth Ward Gilbert Burnet William Talbot Richard Willis Benjamin Hoadly Thomas Sherlock John Gilbert John Thomas The Hon Robert Hay Drummond John Thomas John Hume Shute Barrington John Douglas John Fisher Thomas Burgess

Knights Companion (from 1937)	William Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham John Nevill, 5th Marquess of Abergavenny Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Abercorn

Marquesses of Salisbury

James Cecil, 1st Marquess (1748-1823) James Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess (1823–1868) Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess (1868-1903) James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess (1903-1947) Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess (1947-1972) Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 6th Marquess (1972–2003) Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess (2003—)

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 88765055 LCCN: no2002067269 ISNI: 0000 0001 1451 3489 GND: 130175714 SELIBR: 241606 SUDOC: 16553804X BNF: cb109437811 (data)

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