Anne Cecil, Countess of Exeter (c.1649–1704), was the wife of

John Cecil, 5th Earl of Exeter John Cecil, 5th Earl of Exeter (c. 1648 – 29 August 1700), known as Lord Burghley until 1678, was a British peer and Member of Parliament. He was also known as the Travelling Earl. Life Exeter was the son of John Cecil, 4th Earl of Exeter (16 ...

. She was the only daughter of

William Cavendish, 3rd Earl of Devonshire William Cavendish, 3rd Earl of Devonshire, KB, FRS (c. 10 October 161723 November 1684) was an English nobleman and politician, known as a royalist supporter. Life The eldest son of William Cavendish, 2nd Earl of Devonshire and his wife Christi ...

, and his wife, the former Elizabeth Cecil, and was born at

Latimer, Buckinghamshire Latimer is a village that sits on the border between Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, England. In 2013, the civil parish of Latimer was renamed, Latimer and Ley Hill. The parish, forming part of the Buckinghamshire district of Chiltern, includ ...

, the home of her grandmother,

Christian Cavendish, Countess of Devonshire Christian Cavendish, Countess of Devonshire ( Bruce; 1595-1675) was an influential Anglo-Scottish landowner and royalist. Life Christian Bruce was the daughter of Edward Bruce, 1st Lord Kinloss and Master of the Rolls, and Magdalen Clerk, whos ...

, where her parents were living at the time because their estate of Chatsworth had been sequestered by Parliament. Her first marriage, in 1662, was to Charles, Lord Rich, son of the 4th Earl of Warwick. The couple had no children, and Lord Rich died in 1664. She married the earl, then known as Lord Burghley, on 2 May 1670. Their son

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, became the 6th Earl. Other children included Elizabeth (1687-1708), later Countess of Orrery.G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume X, page 180. The earl and countess lived at

Burghley House Burghley House () is a grand sixteenth-century English country house near Stamford, Lincolnshire. It is a leading example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, built and still lived in by the Cecil family. The exterior largely retains its Elizabet ...

, where the earl accumulated a large art collection as a result of his European travels. The countess joined her husband on two European tours in 1679-81 and 1699-1700. A portrait of her, by

Godfrey Kneller Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723), was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to Kingdom of England, English and Br ...

, hung in the "brown dining room" at Burghley.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Exeter, Anne Cecil, Countess of 1649 births 1704 deaths Daughters of British earls English countesses