David George Brownlow Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter, KCMG,

KStJ The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (), commonly known as the Order of St John, and also known as St John International, is an order of chivalry constituted in 1888 by royal charter from Queen Victoria and dedica ...

(9 February 1905 – 21 October 1981), styled Lord Burghley from birth until 1956 and also known as David Burghley, was an English

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

, sports official, peer, and Conservative Party politician. He won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in the 400 m hurdles at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

Early life

Born near Stamford,

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, as heir to the 5th Marquess of Exeter, Lord Burghley was educated at

Institut Le Rosey Institut Le Rosey (), commonly referred to as Le Rosey or simply Rosey, is a private school, private boarding school in Rolle, Switzerland. It was founded in 1880 by Paul-Émile Carnal on the site of the 14th-century Château du Rosey in the tow ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, Ludgrove School,

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

. At

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, he was president of the Cambridge University Athletics Club and a member of the

Pitt Club The University Pitt Club, popularly referred to as the Pitt Club, the UPC, or merely as Club, is a private members' club of the University of Cambridge. It was formerly male-only, and has admitted women since 2017. History The Pitt Club was ...

Athlete

A notable runner at school and at Cambridge, he continued with his athletics and won the British AAA championships in 120 yd from 1929 to 1931 and the hurdles from 1926 to 1928, and again in 1930 and 1932. Burghley made his Olympic debut in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1924, when he was eliminated in the first round of the 110 metre hurdles event. At the

, Burghley was eliminated in the semifinal of the 110 metre hurdles competition, but won the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Summer Olympics, Olympic Sport of athletics, athletics programme since 1900 Summer Olympics, 1900 for men and since 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 for women. On a ...

, beating second and third placed

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Law of the United States, U.S. federal law does not equate nationality with Race (hu ...

Frank Cuhel and

Morgan Taylor Frederick Morgan Taylor (April 17, 1903 – February 16, 1975) was an American hurdling, hurdler and the first athlete to win three Olympic medals in the 400 m hurdles. He was the flag bearer for the United States at his last Olympics in 19 ...

by 0.2 seconds. At the first Commonwealth Games in 1930, Burghley won both hurdling events and was also a member of the gold medal winning British 4 × 440 yards

relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switc ...

team. In 1927–1930 Burghley also set several British records, one of which, 24.7 s in the 220 yard hurdles, set in 1927, stood until 1950. In 1931 Burghley was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

. He was granted a leave of absence to compete in the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held du ...

, where he placed fourth in the 400 m hurdles event, fifth in the 110 m hurdles competition, and won a silver medal as a member of the British

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track and field, track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap, totaling 1600 meters. It is traditionally the final event of ...

team, which set a new European record in the process. In 1933, Burghley became a member of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

(IOC). Three years later he was elected President of the Amateur Athletic Association and Chairman of the

British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA; ) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It represents the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), but also incorporate represen ...

. In 1946 he became President of the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) and later acted as Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

. Between 1952 and 1966 he was vice-president of the IOC and was a presidential candidate in 1952 and 1964. As an IOC member and president of the IAAF, Burghley presented the medals for the 200 m at the

Mexico Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

in 1968 and appeared in some famous images of the Black Power salute given by

Tommie Smith Tommie C. Smith (born June 6, 1944) is an American former track and field athlete and wide receiver in the American Football League. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, Smith, aged 24, won the 200-meter sprint finals and gold medal in 19.83 sec ...

and

John Carlos John Wesley Carlos (born June 5, 1945) is an American former track and field athlete and professional football player. He was the bronze-medal winner in the 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics, where he displayed the Black Power salute on th ...

. When later asked what he had thought of the gloves, he said: "I thought they had hurt their hand."

Politician

Burghley was a member of the

Conservative and Unionist Party The Conservative and Unionist Party, commonly the Conservative Party and colloquially known as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. The party sits on the Cent ...

and served as MP for

from 1931 until 1943. He was elected in the 1931 general election, defeating the sitting Labour MP J. F. Horrabin. Burghley was returned to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

in the 1935 general election. He was for many years Chairman of the Junior Imperial League. Burghley resigned his Commons seat in 1943 to take up appointment as

Governor of Bermuda The governor of Bermuda (officially Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Somers Isles (alias the Islands of Bermuda)) is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Bermuda. For the purposes of this arti ...

, a post in which he served until 1945.

Family

The Marquess of Exeter was a descendant of

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 15204 August 1598), was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Elizabeth I, Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (England), Secretary of State (1550–1553 and ...

, chief minister and, later, treasurer to Queen

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

. On his death the title passed to his brother, Lord Martin Cecil. Lord Burghley married firstly on 10 January 1929,Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes''. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. his second cousin, Lady Mary Theresa Montagu Douglas Scott (4 March 1904 – 1 June 1984), fourth daughter of John Montagu Douglas Scott, 7th Duke of Buccleuch & 9th Duke of Queensberry, and Lady Margaret Alice Bridgeman. They were cousins through their common descent from Richard Lumley, 9th Earl of Scarbrough. They had four children before divorcing in 1946: *Lady Davina Mary Cecil (29 June 1931 – 6 September 2018), married John Vane, 11th Baron Barnard on 8 October 1952. They divorced in 1993. *Hon. John William Edward Cecil (1 June 1933 – 6 Jul 1934). *Lady Gillian Moyra Katherine Cecil (8 March 1935 - 17 June 2022), married Sir Giles Henry Charles Floyd, 7th Baronet on 23 November 1954. They divorced in 1978.Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition'', volume 1, p. 1365. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. *Lady Angela Mary Rose Cecil (born 21 May 1938), CVO and former Woman of the Bedchamber to

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was al ...

; married Sir William Richard Michael Oswald on 21 April 1958. He married secondly on 12 December 1946, Diana Mary Henderson (10 January 1911 – 6 June 1982),Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition'', volume 1, p. 1390. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. granddaughter of Alexander Henderson, 1st Baron Faringdon, and widow of Lt.-Col. David Walter Arthur William Forbes. They had one daughter: * Lady Victoria Diana Cecil (born 28 June 1947), married Simon Patrick Leatham on 25 April 1967.

Great Court Run

In June 1927, in his final year at

, Burghley sprinted around Great Court at Trinity College at midnight in the time it took the college clock to toll 12 o'clock. This inspired the scene in the film ''

Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 historical drama, historical Sports film, sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Summer ...

'' in which

Harold Abrahams Harold Maurice Abrahams (15 December 1899 – 14 January 1978) was an English track and field athlete. He was Olympic champion in 1924 in the 100 metres sprint, a feat depicted in the 1981 film '' Chariots of Fire''. Early life and educati ...

accomplishes the same feat. The character Lord Andrew Lindsay in ''Chariots of Fire'', played by Nigel Havers, is based upon Burghley, but he did not allow his name to be used because of the inaccurate historical depiction in the film. There was never a race in which Abrahams beat Burghley in this feat as the film suggests; in fact, Abrahams never attempted the Great Court Run. Burghley was the first to run the around the court in the 43.6 seconds that it takes the clock to strike 12 o'clock. Known as the Great Court Run, students traditionally attempted to complete the circuit on the night of the Matriculation Dinner. In modern times the run is attempted at noon.

References

External links

"Burghley: Bermuda’s Olympian Governor"
(2012 article) * *
Lord Burghley & the 1948 Olympics – UK Parliament Living Heritage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Exeter, David Cecil, 6th Marquess of 1905 births 1981 deaths Barons Burghley British sportsperson-politicians English male hurdlers British male hurdlers Olympic athletes for Great Britain Cecil, David Cecil, David Cecil, David English Olympic competitors Cecil, David Cecil, David Cecil, David Cecil, David David Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge Cecil, David British International Olympic Committee members Athletics (track and field) officials Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights of the Order of St John People educated at Eton College People from Stamford, Lincolnshire Rectors of the University of St Andrews Alumni of Institut Le Rosey Cecil, David Cecil, David Governors of Bermuda Cecil, David Cecil, David Presidents of the Organising Committees for the Olympic Games Bermuda in World War II Cecil, David Cecil, David Athletics (track and field) administrators 6 Presidents of World Athletics People educated at Ludgrove School Medallists at the 1930 British Empire Games 20th-century English sportsmen Sportspeople awarded knighthoods Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics