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[[File:Mary Amelia Cecil, 1st Marquess of Salisbury.png|thumb|Emily Cecil, 1st Marchioness of Salisbury, by [[Joshua Reynolds]] (1780)]]
[[File:Mary Amelia Cecil, 1st Marquess of Salisbury.png|thumb|Emily Cecil, 1st Marchioness of Salisbury, by [[Joshua Reynolds]] (1780)]]
'''Mary Amelia 'Emily Mary' Cecil, Marchioness of Salisbury''' (16 August 1750 – 22 November 1835), was an English aristocrat, Tory political hostess and sportswoman.
'''Mary Amelia 'Emily Mary' Cecil, Marchioness of Salisbury''' (16 August 1750 – 22 November 1835), was an English aristocrat, Tory political hostess and sportswoman.
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==Early life==
==Early life==
Emily Cecil was born in [[Dublin]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-68357|title=Cecil [née Hill], Mary Amelia [Emily Mary], marchioness of Salisbury|website=Oxford DNB|access-date=13 February 2018}}</ref> as Mary Amelia Hill, the daughter of [[Wills Hill, 2nd Viscount Hillsborough]] (later the first [[Marquess of Downshire]]), and his first wife, Margaretta Fitzgerald (1729–1766), sister of [[James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster]]. Her father was the [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]] under [[Lord North]] from 1768 to 1772, a critical period leading toward the [[American War of Independence]].
Emily Cecil was born in [[Dublin]]<ref name=ODNB>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-68357|title=Cecil [née Hill], Mary Amelia [Emily Mary], marchioness of Salisbury|website=Oxford DNB|access-date=13 February 2018}}</ref> as Mary Amelia Hill, the daughter of [[Wills Hill, 2nd Viscount Hillsborough]] (later the first [[Marquess of Downshire]]), and his first wife, Margaretta Fitzgerald (1729–1766), sister of [[James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster]]. Her father was the [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]] under [[Lord North]] from 1768 to 1772, a critical period leading toward the [[American War of Independence]].<ref name=ODNB/>


==Life==
==Life==
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==Death==
==Death==
Following her husband's death, Lady Salisbury continued to live with her son and grandchildren at [[Hatfield House]], Hertfordshire, where she died in a fire on 27 November 1835 at the age of eighty-five.<ref name="Bentley2001">{{cite book|author=Michael Bentley|title=Lord Salisbury's World: Conservative Environments in Late-Victorian Britain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Eqdav38BVyQC&pg=PA10|date=6 September 2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-42904-7|pages=10–}}</ref> It was thought that feathers in her hat caught alight when she was at her writing-desk and caused the conflagration.<ref name="Grumley-Grennan"/> The fire destroyed the west wing of the house and only a few bones of hers were found.
Following her husband's death, Lady Salisbury continued to live with her son and grandchildren at [[Hatfield House]], Hertfordshire, where she died in a fire on 27 November 1835 at the age of eighty-five.<ref name="Bentley2001">{{cite book|author=Michael Bentley|title=Lord Salisbury's World: Conservative Environments in Late-Victorian Britain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Eqdav38BVyQC&pg=PA10|date=6 September 2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-42904-7|pages=10–}}</ref> It was thought that feathers in her hat caught alight when she was at her writing-desk and caused the conflagration.<ref name="Grumley-Grennan"/> The fire destroyed the west wing of the house and only a few bones of hers were found.<ref name=ODNB/>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 18:57, 12 July 2021

Emily Cecil, 1st Marchioness of Salisbury, by Joshua Reynolds (1780)

Mary Amelia 'Emily Mary' Cecil, Marchioness of Salisbury (16 August 1750 – 22 November 1835), was an English aristocrat, Tory political hostess and sportswoman.

The marchioness's eccentricity was frequently remarked upon, in particular her style of dress; her clothes were often of her own design.[1]

Early life

Emily Cecil was born in Dublin[2] as Mary Amelia Hill, the daughter of Wills Hill, 2nd Viscount Hillsborough (later the first Marquess of Downshire), and his first wife, Margaretta Fitzgerald (1729–1766), sister of James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster. Her father was the Secretary of State for the Colonies under Lord North from 1768 to 1772, a critical period leading toward the American War of Independence.[2]

Leben

Coursing at Hatfield, an engraving by John Francis Sartorius, depicts the Marchioness riding side-saddle for hare coursing

Emily married James Cecil, Viscount Cranborne, the heir of James Cecil, 6th Earl of Salisbury, on 2 December 1773. After marriage, she became a prominent political hostess of the Tory party.[3] Unusually for a woman at the time, she not only took part in the sport of fox hunting but also became the first Englishwoman to serve as a Master of Foxhounds,[4] taking over the command of the Hatfield Hunt from her husband in 1775.[5]

Children

The couple had four children:

Death

Following her husband's death, Lady Salisbury continued to live with her son and grandchildren at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, where she died in a fire on 27 November 1835 at the age of eighty-five.[7] It was thought that feathers in her hat caught alight when she was at her writing-desk and caused the conflagration.[1] The fire destroyed the west wing of the house and only a few bones of hers were found.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Tony Grumley-Grennan. Tales of English Eccentrics. Lulu.com. pp. 38–. ISBN 978-0-9538922-4-2.
  2. ^ a b c "Cecil [née Hill], Mary Amelia [Emily Mary], marchioness of Salisbury". Oxford DNB. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  3. ^ http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/68357 [bare URL]
  4. ^ Lida Fleitmann Bloodgood, The Saddle of Queens: The Story of the Side-saddle (1959), p. 19
  5. ^ Jackie C. Burke, Equal to the Challenge: Pioneering Women of Horse Sports (1997), p. 29
  6. ^ a b c d Edmund Lodge, The Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire as at Present Existing (1872), p. 585
  7. ^ Michael Bentley (6 September 2001). Lord Salisbury's World: Conservative Environments in Late-Victorian Britain. Cambridge University Press. pp. 10–. ISBN 978-1-139-42904-7.