Lord David Cecil
Encyclopedia
Edward Christian David Gascoyne-Cecil, CH
(9 April 1902 – 1 January 1986), was a British biographer, historian and academic. He held the style of 'Lord' by courtesy
, as a younger son of a marquess.
and Lady Cicely (born Gore, second daughter of Arthur Gore, 5th Earl of Arran
). His siblings were Beatrice Edith Mildred Cecil (afterwards Baroness Harlech), Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury
(1893-1972) and Mary Alice Cecil (afterwards Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire
). Cecil was a delicate child, suffering from a tubercular gland in his neck at the age of 8 years, and after an operation he spent a great deal of time in bed, where he developed his love of reading.
Because of his delicate health his parents sent him to Eton College
later than other boys, and he survived the experience by spending one day a week in bed. After school he went on to Christ Church, Oxford
, as an undergraduate.
In 1939 he became a Fellow of New College, Oxford
, where he remained a Fellow until 1969, when he became an Honorary Fellow.
In 1947 he became Professor of rhetoric
at Gresham College
, London, for a year; but in 1948 he returned to the University of Oxford
and remained a Professor of English Literature there until 1970. There his pupils included Kingsley Amis
, Dr. R.K.Sinha, John Bayley and Ludovic Kennedy
; and for a time he was an associate of the literary group known as the "Inklings
".
During his academic career Cecil published studies of Hardy, Shakespeare, Thomas Gray, Dorothy Osborne and Walter Pater. As well as his literary studies he also published a two-volume historical biography of Lord Melbourne (to whom he was distantly related) and appreciations of visual artists - Augustus John, Max Beerbohm, Samuel Palmer and Edward Burne Jones. In retirement he published further literary and biographic studies of Walter de la Mare, Jane Austen, Charles Lamb and Desmond MacCarthy, as well as a history of his own family, The Cecils of Hatfield House and an account of Some Dorset Country Houses. His anthology of writers who had given him special pleasure, Library Looking Glass, appeared in 1975.
. They had three children - Jonathan Hugh
(1939–2011) (the actor and journalist), Hugh Peniston (b. 1941) (the historian) and Alice Laura (b. 1947) (the literary agent
, who in 1975 married A. Hornak). Rachel Cecil died in 1982.
Order of the Companions of Honour
The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion....
(9 April 1902 – 1 January 1986), was a British biographer, historian and academic. He held the style of 'Lord' by courtesy
Courtesy title
A courtesy title is a form of address in systems of nobility used for children, former wives and other close relatives of a peer. These styles are used 'by courtesy' in the sense that the relatives do not themselves hold substantive titles...
, as a younger son of a marquess.
Early life and studies
David Cecil was the youngest of the four children of James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of SalisburyJames Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury
James Edward Hubert Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, CB, PC , known as Viscount Cranborne from 1868 to 1903, was a British statesman.-Background and education:...
and Lady Cicely (born Gore, second daughter of Arthur Gore, 5th Earl of Arran
Arthur Gore, 5th Earl of Arran
Arthur Saunders Gore, 5th Earl of Arran KP , known as Viscount Sudley from 1839 to 1884, was an Anglo-Irish peer and diplomat....
). His siblings were Beatrice Edith Mildred Cecil (afterwards Baroness Harlech), Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury
Robert Arthur James Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury, KG, PC , known as Viscount Cranborne from 1903 to 1947, was a British Conservative politician.-Background:...
(1893-1972) and Mary Alice Cecil (afterwards Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire
Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire
Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, GCVO, CBE was born Lady Mary Alice Gascoyne-Cecil, daughter of James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury...
). Cecil was a delicate child, suffering from a tubercular gland in his neck at the age of 8 years, and after an operation he spent a great deal of time in bed, where he developed his love of reading.
Because of his delicate health his parents sent him to Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
later than other boys, and he survived the experience by spending one day a week in bed. After school he went on to Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
, as an undergraduate.
Career
From 1924 to 1930 Cecil was a Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford. He made an impact as a literary historian with his first publication, The Stricken Deer (1929), a sympathetic study of the poet Cowper. He followed this with studies of Walter Scott, early Victorian novelists and Jane Austen.In 1939 he became a Fellow of New College, Oxford
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
, where he remained a Fellow until 1969, when he became an Honorary Fellow.
In 1947 he became Professor of rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
at Gresham College
Gresham College
Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in central London, England. It was founded in 1597 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham and today it hosts over 140 free public lectures every year within the City of London.-History:Sir Thomas Gresham,...
, London, for a year; but in 1948 he returned to the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
and remained a Professor of English Literature there until 1970. There his pupils included Kingsley Amis
Kingsley Amis
Sir Kingsley William Amis, CBE was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, various short stories, radio and television scripts, along with works of social and literary criticism...
, Dr. R.K.Sinha, John Bayley and Ludovic Kennedy
Ludovic Kennedy
Sir Ludovic Henry Coverley Kennedy was a British journalist, broadcaster, humanist and author best known for re-examining cases such as the Lindbergh kidnapping and the murder convictions of Timothy Evans and Derek Bentley, and for his role in the abolition of the death penalty in the United...
; and for a time he was an associate of the literary group known as the "Inklings
Inklings
The Inklings was an informal literary discussion group associated with the University of Oxford, England, for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1949. The Inklings were literary enthusiasts who praised the value of narrative in fiction, and encouraged the writing of fantasy...
".
During his academic career Cecil published studies of Hardy, Shakespeare, Thomas Gray, Dorothy Osborne and Walter Pater. As well as his literary studies he also published a two-volume historical biography of Lord Melbourne (to whom he was distantly related) and appreciations of visual artists - Augustus John, Max Beerbohm, Samuel Palmer and Edward Burne Jones. In retirement he published further literary and biographic studies of Walter de la Mare, Jane Austen, Charles Lamb and Desmond MacCarthy, as well as a history of his own family, The Cecils of Hatfield House and an account of Some Dorset Country Houses. His anthology of writers who had given him special pleasure, Library Looking Glass, appeared in 1975.
Family
In 1932 Cecil married Rachel MacCarthy, daughter of the literary journalist Desmond MacCarthyDesmond MacCarthy
Sir Desmond MacCarthy was a British literary critic and journalist.-Early life and education:MacCarthy was born in Plymouth, Devon, and educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. At Cambridge he got to know Lytton Strachey, Bertrand Russell and G. E...
. They had three children - Jonathan Hugh
Jonathan Cecil
Jonathan Hugh Gascoyne-Cecil , more commonly known as Jonathan Cecil, was an English theatre, film and television actor.-Early life:...
(1939–2011) (the actor and journalist), Hugh Peniston (b. 1941) (the historian) and Alice Laura (b. 1947) (the literary agent
Literary agent
A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers and film producers and assists in the sale and deal negotiation of the same. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwriters and major non-fiction writers...
, who in 1975 married A. Hornak). Rachel Cecil died in 1982.
Publications
- The Stricken Deer or The Life of Cowper (1929) [on the poet William CowperWilliam CowperWilliam Cowper was an English poet and hymnodist. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside. In many ways, he was one of the forerunners of Romantic poetry...
; this won the 1929 James Tait Black Memorial PrizeJames Tait Black Memorial PrizeFounded in 1919, the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are among the oldest and most prestigious book prizes awarded for literature written in the English language and are Britain's oldest literary awards...
] - Sir Walter Scott: The Raven Miscellany (1933)
- Early Victorian Novelists : essays in revaluation (1934)
- Jane Austen (1936)
- The Young Melbourne and the Story of his Marriage with Caroline Lamb (1939; reprinted 1948)
- The English Poets (1941)
- The Oxford Book of Christian Verse (1941) [editor]
- Men of the R.A.F. (1942) [with Sir William Rothenstein ]
- Hardy the Novelist: an Essay in Criticism (1942) [Clark Lectures]
- Antony and Cleopatra, the fourth W. P. Ker memorial lecture delivered in the University of Glasgow, 4 May, 1943 (1944)
- Poetry of Thomas Gray (1945) [Warton Lecture]
- Two Quiet Lives (1948) [on Dorothy OsborneDorothy OsborneDorothy Osborne, Lady Temple was a British writer of letters and wife of Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet.-Life:Osborne was born at Chicksands Priory, Bedfordshire, England, the youngest of ten children born to a staunchly Royalist family. Her father was the nobleman Sir Peter Osborne, who was the...
and Thomas GrayThomas GrayThomas Gray was a poet, letter-writer, classical scholar and professor at Cambridge University.-Early life and education:...
] - Poets & Story-tellers (1949) [essays]
- Reading as One of the Fine Arts (1949) inaugural lecture delivered before the University of Oxford on 28 May 1949
- Lord M, or the Later Life of Lord Melbourne (1954)
- Walter Pater--the Scholar Artist (1955) [ Rede LectureRede LectureThe Sir Robert Rede's Lecturer is an annual appointment to give a public lecture, the Sir Robert Rede's Lecture at the University of Cambridge. It is named for Sir Robert Rede, who was Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in the sixteenth century.-Initial series:The initial series of lectures ranges...
] - Augustus John: Fifty-two Drawings (1957)
- The Fine Art of Reading and Other Literary Studies (1957)
- Modern Verse in English 1900-1950 (1958) [editor with Allen TateAllen TateJohn Orley Allen Tate was an American poet, essayist, social commentator, and Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1943 to 1944.-Life:...
] - Max (1964) [biography of Max BeerbohmMax BeerbohmSir Henry Maximilian "Max" Beerbohm was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist best known today for his 1911 novel Zuleika Dobson.-Early life:...
] - The Bodley Head Beerbohm (1970) [editor]
- Max Beerbohm: Selected Prose (1970) [editor]
- Visionary and Dreamer : two poetic painters : Samuel Palmer and Edward Burne-Jones (1969)
- A Choice of Tennyson's Verse (1971) [editor]
- The Cecils of Hatfield House: a Portrait of an English Ruling Family (1973)
- Walter de la Mare (1973) [English Association leaflet]
- A Victorian Album: Julia Margaret Cameron and her Circle (1975) [with Graham Ovenden]
- Library Looking-Glass (1975) [anthology]
- Lady Ottoline's Album (1976)
- A Portrait of Jane Austen (1978)
- A Portrait of Charles Lamb (1983)
- Desmond MacCarthy, the Man and His Writings (1984) [editor]
- Some DorsetDorsetDorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
Country Houses (1985)
See also
- List of Gresham Professors of RhetoricGresham Professor of RhetoricThe Professor of Rhetoric at Gresham College, London, gives free educational lectures to the general public. The college was founded for this purpose in 1596 / 7, when it appointed seven professors; this has since increased to eight and in addition the college now has visiting professors.The...
Further reading
- David Cecil - A Portrait by his Friends Collected And Introduced By Hannah Cranborne (Dovecote Press, 1990)