Cecil family, Marquesses of Exeter

This page summarises records created by this Family

The summary includes a brief description of the collection(s) (usually including the covering dates of the collection), the name of the archive where they are held, and reference information to help you find the collection.

Date:	1000-2000
History:	The Cecil family was established at Bourne and Stamford (Lincolnshire) by the early 16th century. Extensive estates in Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire (including the Soke of Peterborough) and Rutland were acquired by Richard Cecil (d. 1553), Groom of the Stole to Henry VIII, and his son William Cecil, Baron Burghley (d. 1598), Secretary of State to Edward VI and Elizabeth and Lord Treasurer, 1572-98. On the latter's death almost all these properties passed to his son by his first wife, Thomas Cecil, created Earl of Exeter in 1605; other Cecil estates, however, in Hertfordshire and elsewhere, passed to Robert Cecil, Thomas' half-brother, who was created Earl of Salisbury (see Gascoyne-Cecil). Thomas Cecil also acquired property in the North Riding of Yorkshire (Snape and Well) and Bedfordshire (the barony of Bedford, etc.) through his marriage in 1564 to Dorothy, daughter and co-heir of John Nevill, Lord Latimer (d. 1577). On the death of the 2nd Earl of Exeter without male issue in 1640, some Lincolnshire property (Stamford etc.) passed to his youngest daughter Anne, wife of the 2nd Baron Grey of Groby, who was created Earl of Stamford in 1628. But the estates centred on Burghley House were consolidated by later Earls of Exeter and the Earl of Stamford's estate at Stamford was reacquired in the mid 18th century. The 10th Earl of Exeter was created Marquess of Exeter in 1801. A large estate near Crowland (Lincolnshire) was purchased by the 2nd Marquess of Exeter c.1829 but sold after his death in 1867. The Yorkshire and Bedfordshire estates were sold in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and the London property (in the Strand) c.1850. Estates in 1883: 15,625 acres in Northamptonshire; 8,998 acres in Rutland; 3,095 acres in Lincolnshire; and 553 acres in Leicestershire; worth a total of £49,044 a year.
Places:	Bedford, Bedfordshire Bourne, Lincolnshire Brinkhill, Lincolnshire Burghley House, Northamptonshire Crowland, Lincolnshire Peterborough, Northamptonshire Revesby, Lincolnshire Snape, Yorkshire Stamford, Lincolnshire Well, Yorkshire Westminster, Middlesex Wrangdike, Rutland
Sources of authority:	Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996, pp. 29-30.
Name authority reference:	GB/NNAF/F88591 (Former ISAAR ref: GB/NNAF/F5905 )

Collections
Number	Description	Held by	Reference	Further information
1	11th cent-20th cent: Lincs, Northants and Rutland, Beds, London and Yorks deeds and estate papers 11th-20th cent, incl Crowland estate papers c1829-68	Burghley House		NRA 6666 Cecil See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [19a]
2	15th cent-17th cent: Lincs and Rutland manorial and estate papers 15th-17th cent, incl estate accounts 1618-19	North Yorkshire County Record Office	ZJX	NRA 33897 See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [12c]
3	12th cent-16th cent: Lincs (Revesby Abbey) deeds and papers	Lincolnshire Archives	RA1-4	NRA 6329 See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [19a]
4	14th cent-17th cent: Lincs (Brinkhill, etc) manorial records	West Yorkshire Archive Service, Leeds	WYL230	NRA 11614 Ingilby See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [56a]
5	1934-1942: Burghley household papers	Northamptonshire Archives Service	Acc 1950/75	NRA 4039 Northants RO misc See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [19b]
6	1555: Burghley estate accounts	Hatfield House Library and Archives	HMC	NRA 32925 See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [41a]
7	c15th cent-early 19th cent: Beds (Bedford barony) deeds, legal and estate papers	Burghley House		NRA 6666 Cecil See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [19a]
8	c15th cent-19th cent: London (Strand, Westminster) deeds and estate papers	Burghley House		NRA 6666 Cecil See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [19a]
9	c15th cent-18th cent: Yorks (Snape and Well) deeds and estate papers	Burghley House		NRA 6666 Cecil See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [19a]
10	14th cent-19th cent: Yorks (Snape and Well) deeds and papers	North Yorkshire County Record Office	ZAL	NRA 13275
11	1861-1965: papers of the 5th Marchioness of Exeter	Northamptonshire Archives Service	Acc 1975/95	NRA 23653 Cecil See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [19b]
12	1920-1956: papers of the 5th Marquess of Exeter	Northamptonshire Archives Service	ZB 411; Acc 1984/46	NRA 26759 See HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [19b]