Evelyn Cecil, 1st Baron Rockley

The Right Honourable
The Lord Rockley
GBE PC
Sir Evelyn Cecil (in about 1922).
Member of Parliament
for Hertford
In office
1898–1900
Preceded byAbel Smith
Succeeded byAbel Henry Smith
Member of Parliament
for Aston Manor
In office
1900–1918
Preceded byGeorge Grice-Hutchinson
Succeeded byConstituency renamed
Member of Parliament
for Birmingham Aston
In office
1918–1929
Preceded byNew constituency
Succeeded byJohn Strachey
Personal details
Born30 May 1865
London, England
Died1 April 1941(1941-04-01) (aged 75)
Poole, Dorset, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
​
(m. 1898⁠–⁠1941)​
Children3;
Robert William Evelyn
Margaret Gertrude Cecil
Maud Katharine Alicia Cecil
Parent
RelativesJames Gascoyne-Cecil (grandfather)
William Tyssen-Amherst (father-in-law)
Sir Robert Cecil (cousin)
Arthur Balfour (cousin)
EducationEton College
Alma materNew College, Oxford

Evelyn Cecil, 1st Baron Rockley (30 May 1865 – 1 April 1941), was a British Conservative Party politician.

Evelyn Cecil was born in the parish of St George's, Hanover Square in the heart of London's Mayfair, the eldest son of Lord Eustace Cecil, grandson of James Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury, and cousin of both Sir Robert Cecil and Arthur Balfour.

He was educated at Eton before going up to New College, Oxford. Cecil was Private Secretary from 1891 to 1892, to the Prime Minister, his uncle, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, during the latter's second term and during his third term from 1895 to 1902.

On 16 February 1898, Cecil married the Hon. Alicia Amherst (a garden historian and daughter of William Tyssen-Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney), having three children: Robert William Evelyn, later 2nd Baron Rockley (28 February 1901 – 26 January 1976),[1] Margaret Gertrude (27 November 1898 – 26 August 1962) and Maud Katharine Alicia (21 November 1904 - 12 June 1981).[2][3]

Cecil was a director of the London and South Western Railway company. He was the chairman of various investment trust companies and deputy chairman of the Clerical, Medical and General Life Assurance Society.[4]

Cecil served as a Member of Parliament from 1898 to 1929 and was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in the 1922 New Year Honours.[5] He was raised to the Peerage on 11 January 1934 as Baron Rockley, of Lytchett Heath, in the County of Dorset.[6]

Lord Rockley died in 1941 in Poole in Dorset, aged 75.

Arms

Coat of arms of Evelyn Cecil, 1st Baron Rockley
Crest
Six arrows in saltire Or barbed and flighted Argent girt together with a belt Gules buckled and garnished Gold over the arrows a morion cap Proper.
Escutcheon
Barry of ten Argent and Azure over all six escutcheons Sable three two and one each charged with a lion rampant of the first and for difference a crescent Gules charged with another crescent Or.
Supporters
On either side a lion Ermine gorged with a collar Or pendent therefrom an escutcheon the dexter Sable a lion rampant Argnet and the sinister Gules three tilting spears erect Or headed Argent.
Motto
Sero Sed Serio[7]

References

  1. ^ Westminster, London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1919
  2. ^ Westminster, London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1919
  3. ^ England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995
  4. ^ Notable Londoners, an Illustrated Who's Who of Professional and Business Men (1922), London: London Publishing Agency, page 39; accessed 8 August 2024.
  5. ^ "No. 32563". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1921. p. 10716.
  6. ^ "No. 34015". The London Gazette. 16 January 1934. p. 386.
  7. ^ Burke's Peerage. 1956.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Hertford
1898–1900 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Aston Manor
1900–1918 		constituency renamed
New constituency Member of Parliament for Birmingham Aston
1918–1929 		Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Rockley
1934–1941 		Succeeded by