Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon (29 February 1572 – 16 November 1638) was an English military commander and a politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1601 and 1624. Life Cecil was the third son of Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, and his wife, Dorothy Neville, daughter of John Neville, 4th Baron Latimer, by his wife, Lucy Somerset, daughter of Henry Somerset, 2nd Earl of Worcester. He was a grandson of Queen Elizabeth's great minister William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley. Cecil served with the English forces in the Netherlands between 1596 and 1610, becoming a captain of foot in 1599. In May 1600 he was appointed to a troop of cavalry, which he commanded at the battle of Nieuport, under Sir Francis Vere. In 1601 he commanded a body of one thousand men raised in London for the relief of Ostend, then besieged by the Spanish, and on his return in September was knighted by Queen Elizabeth. He was elected Member of Parliament for Aldborough in 1601. In the spring of 1602, he was colonel of a regiment of English horse under Prince Maurice, and served in the expedition into Brabant and at the Siege of Grave. He commanded the English cavalry during the conquest of Sluis in 1604 during which he played a part in defeating the relief attempt by Ambrogio Spinola. He continued actively serving during the years immediately following, and made his reputation as a soldier. In 1610 he commanded the British and Irish contingent of four thousand men serving under Prince Christian of Anhalt in the War of the Jülich succession, at the siege of Juliers in July and August. This was the first ever army flagged as British under the Union Flag. At court, his credit also stood high. In March 1612 he was sent, as the prince's proxy, to stand sponsor at the baptism of Henry Casimir, son of Count Ernest of Nassau, and Sophia Hedwig, niece of Anne of Denmark, at Arnhem. Cecil gave gifts of a cupboard of gilt plate, a diamond necklace with a locket, horses, and an embroidered petticoat for Sophia Hedwig. In April 1613 he had a commission to receive and pay all money for the journey of Lady Elizabeth and her husband, and in November he was ordered to request his lady to attend the electress at Heidelberg. In January 1618 he