BRITISH PREMIER'S TITLE CLAIMED.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 184, 6 August 1898, Page 3 (Supplement)

BRITISH PREMIER'S TITLE CLAIMED.

ROBERT SINCLAIR CECIL, OF THE ISLE OF MAN, SAYS HE IS HEIR TO THE MARQUISATE OF SALISBURY.

Robert Sinclair Cecil, a resident of the Isle of Man, who is now in London, is

preparing to enter a claim to the Marquir sate of Salisbury. < He alleges that the second Earl of Salisbury, who in 160S married a daughter of j Thomas Howard Earl of Suffolk, was previously married -to Margaret Sinclair, from whom the claimant alleges descent. The present Marquis of Salisbury (Sir Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne Cecil, K.G., P.C., D.C.L., etc, etc.), Prime Minister of England, is'the head of the illustrious family of the Cecils. ■ . • The house first came into prominence in the reign of Edward VI., when Richard Cyssel was a lord in waiting to the King. His son, William Cecil, was the eminent scholar and statesman who was elevated to the peerage 'by Queen Elizabeth as Baron Burghley in 1571 and selected by her as Lord High Treasurer in the following year. Twelve 'times he entertained the Queen at his house at great cost: Thomas, his eldest son, was the second baron, and was created Earl of Exeter in 1605. Robert Cecil, the youngest son of the Lord High Treasurer, brother of the Earl of Exeter, was knighted in 1601, but did not attain the honours of the peerage until after the accession of James I. He was then created Baron Cecil of Essendine, 1603; Viscount Cranborne, 1604; and Earl of Salisbury, 1605. William, his eldest son, became second Earl and married in December, 1608, Catherine, youngest daughter of Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk, and was succeeded at his decease by his grandson. The present claimant alleges that the second earl had been previously married to Margaret Sinclair, of whom he states lie is a direct descendant; but unfortunately for him no recognised genealogical authority has record of Margaret Sinclair or the alleged first marriage. The title has continued to descend in entail with the estates until the present time. The family is entwined with those of the Howards, BUrghleys, and Manners, and has been one. of the most prominent in English history during the last three hundred years. The seats of the family are Hatfield, Herts; Childwall Hall, Lancashire; Cranborne Manor, Salisbury; La Bastide.Beaulieu, France, and Walmer Castle, Kent. The estates are extremely valuable and the patronage extensive.