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Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC (3 February 1830–22 August 1903), known as Lord Robert Cecil before 1865 and as Viscount Cranborne from 1865 until 1868, was a British statesman and Prime Minister.

Life

Lord Robert Cecil was the second son of the 2nd Marquess of Salisbury. After an unhappy childhood, in which he was sent to Eton College, he went up to Christ Church, Oxford, and on taking his degree was elected a Fellow of All Souls College. He entered the House of Commons as a Conservative in 1853.

In 1857, Cecil married Georgina Alderson, a woman of relatively low social standing, in spite of his father's objections. The marriage proved a happy one, producing five sons and two daughters. In 1866 Cecil, now called Viscount Cranborne (due to the death of his older brother), entered the third government of Lord Derby as Secretary of State for India, but resigned the next year over the Reform Bill, which he opposed.

In 1868, on the death of his father, he inherited the Marquessate of Salisbury, thereby becoming a member of the House of Lords. In 1900 Salisbury was worth £6.56 million, about £374 million in 2005.

He returned to government in 1874, serving once again as India Secretary in the government of Benjamin Disraeli. Gradually, Salisbury developed a good relationship with Disraeli, whom he had previously disliked and distrusted, at least partially due to the latter's Jewish origins. In 1878, Salisbury succeeded Lord Derby (son of the former Prime Minister) as Foreign Secretary, in time to help lead Britain to "peace with honour" at the Congress of Berlin. For this he was rewarded with the Order of the Garter.

Following Disraeli's death in 1881, the Conservatives entered a period of turmoil. Salisbury became the leader of the Conservative members of the House of Lords though the overall leadership of the party was not formally allocated and so he struggled with the Commons leader Sir Stafford Northcote, a struggle in which Salisbury eventually emerged as the leading figure to become Prime Minister of a minority administration from 1885 to 1886. Although he was unable to accomplish much in this administration, due to his tenuous command over the Commons, the split of the Liberals over Irish Home Rule in 1886 enabled him to return to power with a parliamentary majority, and, with a short break (1892–1895) to serve as Prime Minister throughout the period from 1886 to 1902.

In 1889 Salisbury set up the London County Council and then in 1890 allowed it to build houses. However he came to regret this, saying in November 1894 that the LCC "is the place where collectivist and socialistic experiments are tried. It is the place where a new revolutionary spirit finds its instruments and collects its arms".Andrew Roberts, Salisbury: Victorian Titan (Phoenix, 2000), p. 501.

Salisbury's expertise was in foreign affairs, and uncharacteristically, for most of his time as Prime Minister he served not as First Lord of the Treasury, the traditional position held by the Prime Minister, but as Foreign Secretary. In that capacity, he skilfully managed Britain's foreign affairs, famously pursuing a policy of "Splendid Isolation". Among the important events of his premierships was the Partition of Africa, culminating in the Fashoda Crisis and the Second Boer War. While at home he sought to "fight Home Rule with kindness" by launching a land reform program which helped hundreds of thousands of Irish peasants gain land ownership.

On July 11, 1902, Salisbury resigned from office due to ill health and being heart-broken over his wife's death. He was succeeded by his nephew, Arthur James Balfour. Salisbury was the last peer to serve as Prime Minister, with the brief exception of the 14th Earl of Home who renounced his peerage within a few days of being appointed. Salisbury was offered a dukedom by Queen Victoria twice, in 1886 and 1892 but declined both times because the cost of the lifestyle which dukes were expected to maintain was prohibitive.

When Salisbury died his estate was probated at 310,336 pounds sterling.

Family

Salisbury was the third son of James Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury, a minor Tory politician. He went against his father's wishes and married Georgina Alderson, the daughter of Sir Edward Alderson, a moderately notable jurist. Robert and Georgina had eight children, all but one of whom survived infancy.

The blatant favour Lord Salisbury showed towards his family in appointing them while he was in office, is immortalised in the phrase "Bob's your uncle".

Lord Salisbury's First Government, July 1885–February 1886

Changes

Lord Salisbury's Second Government, August 1886–August 1892

Cabinet after the reorganization of January, 1887

Further Changes

  • February 1888 – Sir Michael Hicks Beach succeeds Lord Stanley of Preston as President of the Board of Trade
  • 1889 – Henry Chaplin enters the Cabinet as President of the Board of Agriculture.
  • October, 1891 – Arthur James Balfour succeeds William Henry Smith (deceased) as First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons. William Lawies Jackson succeeds him as Irish Secretary.

Lord Salisbury's Third Government, June 1895–July 1902

Changes

November, 1900 – Complete reorganization of the ministry:

Notes

Further reading

Andrew Roberts Salisbury: Victorian Titan (1999)

1830 births | 1903 deaths | British Secretaries of State | Former students of Christ Church, Oxford | Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order | Knights of the Garter | Leaders of the British Conservative Party | Lords Privy Seal | Lords Warden of the Cinque Ports | Marquesses in the Peerage of Great Britain | Old Etonians | Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford | Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom | Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom | Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs

Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3. Marquess of Salisbury | Robert Gascoyne-Cecil | Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil | Robert Gascoyne-Cecil | Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil | 罗伯特·盖斯科因-塞西尔 (索尔兹伯里侯爵)

 

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