Salisbury, James Edward Hubert Gascoyne-Cecil, Marquess of, 1861-1947

Person

Salisbury, James Edward Hubert Gascoyne-Cecil, Marquess of, 1861-1947

1861-1947

James Edward Hubert Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury, was born on October 23, 1861, in London, England, son of Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, Viscount Cranborne and 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (1830-1903), British Prime Minister (1895-1902).

He was a British Conservative politician. He was educated at Eton and University College, Oxford (B.A., 1885). He accompanied his father to the 1876–1877 Constantinople Conference and the 1888 Congress of Berlin. He had a reputation as a zealous defender of the established church. Salisbury sat as Conservative Member of Parliament for Darwen (1885-1892) and Rochester (1893-1903). As Lieutenant-Colonel, he commanded the 4th (Militia) Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, in South Africa during the Second Boer War (1899-1902). In 1903, he succeeded his father, Lord Cranborne, as a Member of the House of Lords, a post he held until 1947. Salisbury served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1922-1923), as Lord President of the Council (1922-1924), as Lord Privy Seal (1924-1929), and as Leader of the House of Lords (1925-1929). He resigned as Leader of the Conservative peers in 1931 and became one of the most prominent opponents of Indian Home Rule in the House of Lords, supporting the campaign of the House of Commons led by Winston Churchill against the Home Rule legislation. Together with Winston Churchill, he tried to organize British defences against Nazi Germany. From 1942 to 1945, he was president of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations.

In 1887, he married Lady Cicely Alicia Gore Salisbury, Marchioness of Salisbury (1867-1955). He died on April 4, 1947, in London, England.