Victor Gascoyne-Cecil

Victor Alexander Gascoyne-Cecil was born on 21 May 1891. He was the son of Lord William Cecil, who served as Bishop of Exeter, and Lady Florence Mary Bootle-Wilbraham. His grandfather was the Marquess of Salisbury, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Gascoyne-Cecil received his education at Westminster School and subsequently attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He enlisted in the British Army and joined the Hampshire Regiment during the First World War. During the war, he was promoted to the rank of major in the Tank Corps and was wounded twice. In October 1917, he obtained a patent for a water heater.

Following the war, Gascoyne-Cecil's regiment was stationed in British India. In 1922, he participated in military operations on the North-West Frontier near Afghanistan. During the Second World War, his regimental battalion was recalled in 1939 for active service.

On 25 November 1915, Gascoyne-Cecil married Fairlie Estelle Caroline, the elder daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Watson of the Suffolk Regiment. They had two sons: Rupert Arthur Victor Gascoyne-Cecil, born in 1917 and deceased in 2004, and Anthony Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, born in 1921 and deceased in 1998.

In addition to his military career, Gascoyne-Cecil held ceremonial and civic positions. In 1949, he was appointed High Sheriff of Essex. He served as a Deputy Lieutenant for Essex from 1951 until 1968.

Victor Alexander Gascoyne-Cecil passed away on 17 January 1977.