Lord Richard Cecil well established links with Rhodesia, the capital city of which was named Salisbury after the third Marquess (it was renamed Harare in 1982 on the second anniversary of Zimbabwean independence). The family had extensive land holdings in the country and the fifth Marquess (Lord Richard's grandfather) was a leading British supporter of the white minority UDI government that ruled Rhodesia from 1965-1979. Lord Richard was the eldest of the younger brothers of Robert Cecil, Viscount Cranborne, who has been both an MP and the Leader of the House of Lords. In 2003, Cranborne became 7th Marquess of Salisbury upon the
Avondale, Harare Avondale, Harare Avondale is a suburb of Harare, Zimbabwe, located about north of Harare city centre. It is the earliest suburb established in Harare, having been laid out in 1903. Prior to becoming a suburb Avondale was a dairy farm and was named after Avondale, County Wicklow, Ireland the home of the 19th-century Irish politician Charles Stewart Parnell. Avondale was incorporated into Harare Municipality in 1934. The first official marriage ceremony in Zimbabwe took place on Avondale farm in 1894 when the Count de la Panouse was married to Fanny Pearson (Countess Billie) by Lt Col. Marshall Hole, the Chief