James Cecil, 6th Earl of Salisbury

Who was James Cecil, 6th Earl of Salisbury?

James Cecil, 6th Earl of Salisbury was a British peer, son of James Cecil, 5th Earl of Salisbury and a member of one of England's greatest political dynasties. He was known for his irregular life as "the Wicked Earl".

He was educated at Westminster School, was High Steward of Hertford, and a Governor of the Foundling Hospital of London. He married in 1745 Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Keet of Canterbury, said by a contemporary source to have been a barber and a tourist guide. However, within a few years he separated from his Countess and lived as a recluse with his mistress, one Mrs. Mary Grave of Baldock, for the remaining 30 years of his life at Quickswood, in the parish of Clothall. His relationship with her predated his marriage. C. Price wrote of the liaison in 1771:

“He lives upstairs … surrounded with old trunks and boxes and scattered books. Well or ill he never quits his chamber, never sees or converses with any but his old Dame, as he calls her, and his physician, who occasionally visits him. The servants are old and rusty like the dwelling.”