Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, Member of Parliament for Stamford, Governor of Hull, Privy Councillor, Knight of the Garter, created 1st Earl of Exeter in 1605., 2nd Baron Burghley from 1598, Knight of the Garter from 1601, Lord Lieutenant of Yorkshire and Lord President of the Council of the North, 1599–1603, 1st Earl of Exeter from 4 May 1605, Privy Counsellor, Lincolnshire, and later Northamptonshire, Governor of Brielle, High Sheriff of Northamptonshire, 1578., Countess of Exeter by marriage, daughter and co-heiress of John Neville, 4th Baron Latimer, 2nd Baron Burghley, Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire, Lord President of the Council of the North, Lord Lieutenant of Yorkshire and Northamptonshire, Governor of Brill, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire., soldier and courtier, Lord Lieutenant of Yorkshire, Member of Parliament., English politician, Member of Parliament for Stamford., Thomas Cecil: 2nd Baron Burghley, KG, soldier and politician. Dorothy Neville: daughter and co-heiress of John Neville, 4th Baron Latimer., soldier, courtier and landowner.
Dates: 5 May 1542–7 February 1623
Biography
Eldest son of William Cecil and Mary Cheke. He inherited the Burghley title in 1598 and was raised to the earldom of Exeter in 1605. Through his marriage to Dorothy Neville, daughter and co-heir of John Neville, 4th Baron Latimer, the Exeter branch acquired important landed and baronial connections.
Notes / Sources
Westminster Abbey, Thomas & William Cecil, Earls of Exeter — https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/thomas-william-cecil-earls-of-exeter
Guide to Burghley House — https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Guide_to_Burghley_House%2C_Stamford_-_the_seat_of_the_most_honourable%2C_the_Marquess_of_Exeter_%28IA_guidetoburghleyh00unse%29.pdf
Family / Armorial Context
Family / cadet branch: Cecil of Exeter
Father: William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
Mother: Mary Cheke
Spouse(s): Dorothy Neville; Frances Brydges
Children / next generation: William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter; Edward Cecil, Viscount Wimbledon; Elizabeth Cecil, later wife of Sir Edward Coke; Lucy Cecil, later Marchioness of Winchester
Armorial Registry
Cecil of Exeter — Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, Garter-era ancestral achievement
Branch: First Earl of Exeter and founder of the senior Exeter succession
Issued / recorded: 1542
Cecil–Nevill of Exeter — Gray's Inn Great Hall marriage panel with Latimer inescutcheon of pretence
Branch: Exeter Cecil branch through Thomas Cecil and the Latimer-Nevill marriage of Dorothy Nevill
Issued / recorded: 1564
Cecil–Neville of Exeter — Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, and Dorothy Neville, documented matrimonial achievement with full Neville-Latimer quartering
Branch: Exeter Cecil line through Dorothy Neville of Snape and Latimer
Issued / recorded: 1564
Cecil of Exeter — Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, transmission of the Burghley base arms
Branch: Senior Exeter line descended from William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley; founder of the later Exeter succession through his eldest son William and second son Sir Richard Cecil of Wakerley
Issued / recorded: 1598
Thomas Cecil of Burghley — 2nd Baron Burghley and 1st Earl of Exeter, founder of the senior Exeter succession
Branch: Senior Exeter line; first hereditary Earl of Exeter
Issued / recorded: 1598
Cecil of Exeter — Garter achievement of Thomas Cecil
Branch: Cecil of Exeter, elder Burghley line
Issued / recorded: 1601
Cecil of Exeter — Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, complete six-quarter Garter achievement
Branch: Senior Exeter line; Burghley House
Issued / recorded: 1605
Neville–Cecil of Snape and Exeter — Dorothy Neville's marital transmission into the Cecil family
Branch: Dorothy Neville of Snape; maternal line of Cecil of Exeter and Cecil of Wimbledon
Issued / recorded: 27 November 1564
Thomas Cecil and Dorothy Nevill — c.1600 impaled Exeter Cecil and Latimer-Nevill achievement
Branch: Exeter Cecil paternal line impaled with the extensive hereditary quartering of Dorothy Nevill, daughter and coheir of John Nevill, 4th Baron Latimer
Issued / recorded: c.1600
Record history (latest 1)
- Updated crest/arms.
2 Sep 2026, 12:34 UTC · William James Dalrymple Bedding Fanshawe West Esq., Lord of Watlington-West, Norfolk
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