James Cecil, 4th Earl of Salisbury

James Cecil, 4th Earl of Salisbury (1666–1694), until 1683 known by the courtesy title of Viscount Cranborne, was an English nobleman, politician, and peer.

A courtier of King James II, during the Glorious Revolution of 1688 he commanded a regiment in support of the king. Afterwards, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London for some twenty-two months, eventually being charged with high treason. Although released in October 1690 following a general pardon, he died in 1694 at the age of twenty-eight.

Early life Baptised on 25 September 1666, Salisbury was one of the ten children of James Cecil, 3rd Earl of Salisbury KG, by his marriage in 1661 to Lady Margaret Manners, a daughter of John Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland. He was educated at St John's College, Cambridge, and as his father's eldest surviving son succeeded him when he died in May 1683. In 1656 Thomas Russell purchased half of Witley Park in Surrey for Cecil's father-in-law and a half share, therefore, passed on the marriage of each daughter, one of whom was Cecil's wife.

On 13 July 1683, at the age of sixteen, the new Earl of Salisbury married Frances Bennett (1670–1713), a daughter of Simon Bennett, of Buckinghamshire.

Career and imprisonment

Salisbury inherited from his father the position of Capital Steward of the borough of Hertford.

After his marriage, he travelled abroad for some years, returning to England at about the beginning of 1688. On the same day the Lords ordered the two men to be brought to the bar of that House. Salisbury was already imprisoned in the Tower of London, and the Lords ordered that "his lady, friends and servants" were to have access to him.

After his release, Salisbury pursued a case in the High Court of Chancery concerning his wife's marriage portion under her father's will, as only £10,000 of a legacy of £20,000 had been paid. The dispute was about whether the amount should be reduced because Lady Salisbury had been under the age of sixteen when she married, a circumstance which the Executors to the will had agreed to. On 1 May 1691, the Court found in Salisbury's favour and ordered that he should receive a further £10,000, by way of a charge on his wife's sisters' estates. His intention was probably to make a gesture of defiance to the new government, of which Dryden disapproved.

Child and family Salisbury's son and heir, James Cecil, 5th Earl of Salisbury (1691–1728), was born on 8 June 1691. James the 4th himself died on 24 October 1694, at the age of twenty-eight, to be succeeded by his infant son. His widow survived him until 1713.

Barely a month before Salisbury's death, his wife's mother, Mrs Bennett, had been murdered by a butcher who broke into her house.

Salisbury had five sisters, all of whom lived to marry. Lady Margaret Cecil (1672–1727) married firstly John Stawell, 2nd Baron Stawell (died 1692), and secondly Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh. Lady Catherine Cecil (died 1688) married Sir George Downing, 2nd Baronet, in 1683. Lady Frances Cecil (died 1698) married Sir William Halford, 4th Baronet (died 1695), in 1692. Lady Mary Cecil (died 1740) married Sir William Forester KB (1655–1717). Another sister, Lady Mildred Cecil (died 1727), married firstly Sir Uvedale Corbet, 3rd Baronet (1668–1701), and secondly Sir Charles Hotham, 4th Baronet (ca. 1663–1723).

Salisbury's great-grandson, another James Cecil (1748–1823), was created the first Marquess of Salisbury in 1789; and his grandson, the third Marquess, was three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, between 1885 and 1902.