Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon

Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon (29 February, 1572-16 November, 1638) was an English military and naval commander.

The third son of Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter and grandson of Queen Elizabeth's great minister Lord Burghley, Cecil served with the English forces in the Netherlands between 1596 and 1610, becoming a captain of foot in 1599, knighted in 1601, and taking command of the English forces there in 1610.

Later, becoming a favourite of the Duke of Buckingham, he was given command of Buckingham's military expedition to Spain in October 1625, but so mismanaged the attack on Cadiz that he entirely missed the treasure ships which were the main objective of the attack. Nevertheless in the following month, November 1625, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Cecil of Putney and Viscount Wimbledon. He returned to command the English forces in the Netherlands from 1627 (the Siege of Groenlo) until 1629 (the Siege of 's-Hertogenbosch), and was Governor of Portsmouth from 1630 to 1638.

He was also Member of Parliament for Aldborough in 1601, and Lord Lieutenant of Surrey from 1627 to 1638.

In 1601 he married Theodosia Noel (b. 1585), daughter of Sir Andrew Noel of Dalby. They had four daughters:
* Dorothy Cecil (1603-1652), who died unmarried
* Albinia Cecil (d. 1660), who married Sir Christopher Wray of Ashby
* Elizabeth Cecil, who married Francis Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby of Parham
* Frances Cecil (d. 1684), who married first James Fiennes, 2nd Viscount Saye and Sele and second the Reverend Joshua Sprigge.

Following the death of his first wife, in 1617 he married Diana Drury (d. 1631), daughter of Sir William Drury of Hawstead. Their only child, Anne, died in infancy. His third marriage, 1635, was to Sophia Zouche (c. 1618-1691), daughter of Sir Edward Zouche of Woking. By her he had a son, Algernon, but this child also died aged less than a year old.

Wimbledon died in 1638. Both his titles became extinct on his death.

References

* Concise Dictionary of National Biography (1930)
* J E Neale, "The Elizabethan House of Commons" (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
* [http://www.stirnet.com/HTML/genie/british/cc4aq/cecil01.htm Cecil genealogy]
* [http://www.thepeerage.com/p1635.htm#i16343 thepeerage.com]
*Rayment
*Dennis, George Ravenscroft. "The Cecil Family." Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1914. [http://books.google.com/books?id=0HHbZEfy6lYC&pg=PA103&dq=Edward+Cecil,+1st+Viscount+Wimbledon&ei=ijY7SIr7F5L-jgHJwNn6BQ#PPA106,M1 googlebooks] Retrieved May 26, 2008