James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury James Edward Hubert Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury, (23 October 1861 – 4 April 1947), known as Viscount Cranborne from 1868 to 1903, was a British statesman. Born in London, Salisbury was the eldest son of Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, who served as British Prime Minister, by his wife Georgina (née Alderson). The Right Reverend Lord William Cecil, Lord Cecil of Chelwood and Lord Quickswood were his younger brothers and Prime Minister Arthur Balfour his first cousin. He was educated at Eton and University College, Oxford, graduating BA in 1885. He started
Records of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom when he returned to office after his Liberal Party were successful in the 1892 general election. The oldest Prime Minister to be victorious at a general election for the first time was Lord Palmerston, who was 72 years of age when his Whig Party won the 1857 general election. Fourteen Prime Ministers never fought a general election while they held office (or to gain office), usually by serving terms sandwiched between the victor of one election and the Prime Minister who faced the next. Chronologically they were: John Russell was unique in serving one entire term at Downing Street as