Lord Cecil Manners Explained

Lord Cecil Manners
Office:Member of Parliament for Melton
Term Start:1900
Term End:1906
Predecessor:Lord Edward Manners
Successor:Henry de Rosenbach Walker
Birth Name:Cecil Reginald John Manners
Birth Date:4 February 1868
Birth Place:Camden, London
Death Place:Crowborough, Sussex
Death Cause:Suicide
Party:Conservative
Parents:John Manners, 7th Duke of Rutland
Janetta Manners, Duchess of Rutland

Lord Cecil Reginald John Manners DL (4 February 1868 – 8 September 1945) was a British Conservative politician and aristocrat.

Early life

Manners was born at 6 Cumberland Terrace, Camden,[1] the second son of John Manners, 7th Duke of Rutland, by his second marriage to Janetta Hughan, daughter of Thomas Hughan. Henry Manners, 8th Duke of Rutland, was his half-brother and Lord Edward Manners his brother. His half-nephew was John Manners, 9th Duke of Rutland.[2] He was educated at Charterhouse School and Trinity College, Cambridge.

Career

In early 1900 he visited South Africa, travelling with troops taking part in the Second Boer War.[3] While acting as a newspaper correspondent, he was among the prisoners captured by the Boers in the course of Lord Roberts' advance on 29 May 1900.[4]

He succeeded his brother as Member of Parliament for Melton in 1900, a seat he held until 1906. On 10 June 1902, he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Derbyshire.

Personal life

Manners died by suicide in September 1945, aged 77, killed by a train at Crowborough railway station.[5] A fully-loaded six-chambered revolver, with the hammer cocked, was found on his body. The cause of death was determined to be "decapitation by throwing himself in front of a train while the balance of mind was disturbed."[6]

Notes and References

  1. News: Births . . The Times Digital Archive . 7 February 1868 . 1.
  2. News: TIMES . Wireless to THE NEW YORK . DUKE OF RUTLAND, OF ANCIENT FAMILY; Medieval Art Authority, Head of the Manners House, Dies in Castle at 53 HE LIVED AT HADDON HALL Dorothy Vernon an Ancestor --the Former Lady Diana Manners Is His Sister . 17 February 2023 . . 22 April 1940.
  3. The War - Embarcation of Troops. 12 February 1900 . 10 . 36063.
  4. News: Lord Cecil Manners a Prisoner. . 17 February 2023 . . 1 June 1900.
  5. News: Times . Wireless To the New York . Briton Killed by Train; Lord Cecil Manners, 77, Falls Under It--Inquest to Be Held . 17 February 2023 . . 11 September 1945.
  6. News: Loaded Gun on Body. Lord Cecil Manners--Suicide Verdict . 17 February 2023 . . 11 September 1945 . 4.