Lord Edward Cecil
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Lord Edward Cecil KCMG DSO |
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|---|---|
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| Birth name | Edward Herbert Gascoyne-Cecil |
| Nickname(s) | Nigs |
| Born |
12 July 1867 Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, England |
| Died | 13 December 1918 (aged 51) |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
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| Service/branch | British Army |
| Years of service | 17 years |
| Rank | Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel |
| Unit | Grenadier Guards |
| Commands held | ADC (Egypt) to Lord Kitchener, Military Secretary to Lord Kitchener. |
| Battles/wars | Second Boer War |
| Relations | Marquess of Salisbury |
Lord Edward Herbert Gascoyne-Cecil KCMG DSO (12 July 1867 – 13 December 1918), known as Lord Edward Cecil, was a distinguished and highly decorated English soldier. As colonial administrator in Egypt and advisor to the Liberal government, he helped to implement Army reforms.
Lord Edward was the fourth son of Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury and Georgina Charlotte. When Edward was born, his father asked the Earl of Carnarvon to be a godfather. He was educated at Eton College, but did badly in his exams, failing to get into Sandhurst, which his father blamed on the school (because he had been bullied there). His family called him 'Nigs', which his mother used when writing to him at boarding school. When only 11 years old, he wrote a play on "The Eastern Question" from his father's foreign office papers. The tone of the play was anti-Beaconsfield, showing a resentment for a longevity in office. Written in 1878, at the time of Congress of Berlin, perhaps unaware that Beaconsfield had only three years to live, the Prime Minister is personified as Dickens 'Artful Dodger'. A latent racism was characteristic of Cecilian 'clannish' behaviour.
Gascoyne-Cecil became a Second Lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards in 1887. He served for four years in the regiment before being promoted first lieutenant and appointed to the staff of Field Marshal Garnet Wolseley. On the Dongola Expedition in 1896 he served with distinction: mentioned in despatches, he was promoted a Brevet Major, winning the Order of Medjidie 4th Class and the Khedive's Star for service in Egypt and Sudan, with two clasps. He was aide de camp to Lord Kitchener in the Egyptian campaign of 1896, who had a profound influence on his career. "All shall be at home known by the proper people" wrote Lord Edward in his diary. The following day, his father Lord Salisbury announced in parliament that Dongola was not the objective, but the conquest of the Sudan, and recapture of Khartoum to avenge the murder of Gordon.
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