Biography
William Cecil (as he was generally known) was born at Hatfield House, the second son of Prime Minister Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, the 3rd Marquess of Salisbury. He was educated at Eton, where he was bullied and nicknamed "Fish", a name that stuck with him among family and friends throughout his life. Following Eton he was educated at University College, Oxford where he gained a third in law. After leaving university, Cecil worked for a few months in London's East End slums.
He was ordained in 1887, and married Lady Florence ("Fluffy") Mary Bootle-Wilbraham, daughter of Edward Bootle-Wilbraham, 1st Earl of Lathom on 16 August of the same year. They had four sons and three daughters. Their eldest son Randle William was born 28 November 1889 and was killed in action during the First World War on 1 December 1917. Their third and fourth sons were also killed in that war: John Arthur (28 March 1893 – 27 August 1918) and Rupert Edward (20 January 1895 – 11 July 1915). Their second son Victor Alexander (21 May 1891 – 17 January 1977) was wounded twice in the war, but survived. Their three daughters were Eve Alice (13 January 1900–1994) who married Vice-Admiral Richard Shelley, her twin sister Mary Edith (13 January 1900–1994), and Anne (8 October 1906 – 23 October 1924).
Cecil's first curacy was in Great Yarmouth, but this lasted for less than a year, because in 1888 his father had him appointed as Rector of Hatfield, which came with a fine rectory some distance from the town. However he persuaded his father to build him a smaller house nearer to the town so he could be closer to his parishioners. He remained in that post for the next 28 years, also becoming Rural Dean of Hertford from 1904; a chaplain to King Edward VII from 1909; and an honorary canon of St Alban's Cathedral from 1910. In 1908 he attended the fifth Lambeth Conference which led him to an interest in China, which country he later visited several times. He tried unsuccessfully to establish a Christian university there and in 1910, with his wife, he wrote a book: Changing China.
Read more about this topic: Lord William Cecil (bishop)
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