Talk:James Cecil, 4th Earl of Salisbury

There could be some errors in the part about his marriage with Frances Bennett ...

Hello,

Like i very often do in my spare time is watching documentaries. Today is stumbled upon one made by the BBC from the series Restoration home - episode 5 - Calverton manor (youtube)

While they study the story of the house they discover that the intials S.B. with the date of 1659 engraved above the entrance door actually refer to Simon Bennet, Simon Bennet was a well off entrepreneur who's family bought itself in the landed gentry.

Simon Benett had a wife called Grace Benett ( who seems to have been brutally murdered into the servants hall long after Simon died by a butcher and his apprentice that wanted to get her money, it seems she wasn't really popular with the townsfolk in the nearby village after misbehaving against some of them. In a bill they found out that the Bennet family had to pay off all the witnesses for the trial and the other costs, both murderers were hanged.)

Now for the possible errors:

Simon and Frances Bennet didn't have 3 but 2 daughters called Grace and Frances, in his will made 3 years before his dead, that can be found in the archives of the nearby town of Milton Keynes,he states that both his daughters will inherit 20 000 pounds when they become 25 years of age or if they happen to get married at the age of 16. If they marry before 16 they will only get 10 000 pounds. Frances seems to have been married by arrangement of her mother with James Cecil when she was 13 years old. James Cecil used her dowry going on a grand tour of Europe, were he spent it all on gambling and other pleasures, leaving behind his young wife alone at Hatfield house.

Well i hope this helps a little.

Funkyplanet (talk) 22:24, 9 April 2014 (UTC)