CECIL, Hugh Peniston (1941-2020)

[Richard R]

From the Telegraph and Times of 16 March 2020: CECIL Hugh Peniston died peacefully at home on March 11th, after a long illness bravely borne. His Funeral is on Monday March 23rd at 3 p.m. at St Mary's Church, Wiveton, near Holt NR25 7TP. Enquiries to Sutton Funeral Director, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk...

He was s of Lord (Edward Christian) David CECIL (1902-86 s of 4th Marquess of SAILSBURY etc etc) and Rachel Mary Veronica (1909-82) d of Sir (Charles Otto) Desmond MacCARTHY (1877-1952) and Mary Josepha (Molly) WARRE-CORNISH (1882-1953), scion of the CORNISH gentry family formerly of Thurlestone. He m 1972 Mirabel d of Richard Fife WALKER OBE (1910-2001) of The Close, Withington, Glos by his 1937 m (reg Q3 London) to [?his 1st w] Christine Mabel WILKES (1909-?1968), and had two sons and two daus.

[G. Willis]

Mirabel Cecil b. 1944, full name Christine Mirabel Charlotte Louise Walker. Her brother, (Richard) Sebastian Maynard Walker (1942-1991), was a publisher (founded Walker Books Ltd), of whom she wrote a biography; she wrote several other books with her husband.

Richard Fife Walker was appointed O.B.E. in 1973 "for services to export"; he is noted to be "chairman and managing director, Walker Crosweller and Company Ltd", this, per other sources, an instrument engineering firm (inc. thermostatically-controlled valves for mixing hot and cold water).

[colinp]

Obit in Daily Telegraph 17 March 2020 here - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2020/03/16/hugh-cecil-historian-brought-home-readers-experience-fighting/

EXTRACTS

Hugh Cecil, who has died aged 78, was a military historian with a special interest in the experience of fighting in the First and Second World Wars.

Hugh Peniston Cecil was born in Oxford on December 29 1941, the second son of Lord David Cecil, the biographer of Lord Melbourne, Max Beerbohm and Jane Austen, and Goldsmiths’ Professor of English from 1948 to 1969. Hugh’s mother, Rachel, the daughter of the literary critic Desmond McCarthy, afforded inspiring hospitality to countless undergraduates.

Hugh’s elder brother Jonathan would become an actor, celebrated especially for his readings of P G Wodehouse. His younger sister, Laura, would run a literary agency which specialised in children’s books.

In 1972 Cecil married Mirabel Walker, a journalist and writer who in 1974 would publish Heroines in Love, 1750-1974, a sparkling survey of romance in women’s magazines.

Hugh and Mirabel Cecil complemented each other in an exceptionally happy match – evident not only in their family life, but also in the books they wrote together.

In his last years Cecil was afflicted by a rare and horrible illness, progressive supranuclear palsy, which gradually deprived him of movement and affected his speech. To the end, he was supported by Mirabel and their two sons and two daughters.

Hugh Cecil, born December 29 1941, died March 11 2020 

On Monday, 16 March 2020 10:03:35 UTC, Richard R wrote:

[gorgo...@gmail.com]

 I just re-watched Fake Or Fortune episode about this family and a portrait from their collection

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixs7DBWubIg