Robert Arthur James Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury, was born on August 27, 1893, in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, son of a politician James Edward Hubert Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury (1861-1947).

He was a British Conservative politician. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, but left school for war service without completing his degree. He served in the Army during the First World War as a Lieutenant of the Grenadier Guards and was awarded the Croix de Guerre and Chevalier Order of the Crown of Belgium. After the war, he worked for a City bill broking firm for the next ten years. In 1929, he entered politics as Conservative Member of Parliament for South Dorset, a post he held until 1941. He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Lord Privy Seal in 1934 and promoted to Joint Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 1935 to 1938. He was made Paymaster-General by Winston Churchill for the duration of the Battle of Britain (July-October 1940) and was appointed Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs from 1940 to 1942. He was a Member of the House of Lords from 1941 until he died in 1972. Salisbury was known as Viscount Cranborne from 1903 to 1947 and Lord Cranborne from 1947. He served as Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1942, Lord Privy Seal (1942-1943), Leader of the House of Lords (1942-1945) and again Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs (1943-1945). In 1951, Salisbury was reappointed Leader of the House of Lords. In June 1953, as Acting Foreign Secretary, he carried the sword of state at Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. He received an honorary degree DCL from the University of Liverpool in 1951. He served as chair of the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments in 1957, and from 1959 to 1966, was a trustee of the National Gallery. He was chancellor of Liverpool University from 1951 to 1971, a Fellow of Eton College from 1951 to 1966, and a Fellow of the Royal Society from 1957.

In 1915, he married Elizabeth Vere (-1982). He died on February 23, 1972, in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England.

James Edward Hubert Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury, was born on October 23, 1861, in London, England, son of Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, Viscount Cranborne and 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (1830-1903), British Prime Minister (1895-1902).

He was a British Conservative politician. He was educated at Eton and University College, Oxford (B.A., 1885). He accompanied his father to the 1876–1877 Constantinople Conference and the 1888 Congress of Berlin. He had a reputation as a zealous defender of the established church. Salisbury sat as Conservative Member of Parliament for Darwen (1885-1892) and Rochester (1893-1903). As Lieutenant-Colonel, he commanded the 4th (Militia) Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, in South Africa during the Second Boer War (1899-1902). In 1903, he succeeded his father, Lord Cranborne, as a Member of the House of Lords, a post he held until 1947. Salisbury served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1922-1923), as Lord President of the Council (1922-1924), as Lord Privy Seal (1924-1929), and as Leader of the House of Lords (1925-1929). He resigned as Leader of the Conservative peers in 1931 and became one of the most prominent opponents of Indian Home Rule in the House of Lords, supporting the campaign of the House of Commons led by Winston Churchill against the Home Rule legislation. Together with Winston Churchill, he tried to organize British defences against Nazi Germany. From 1942 to 1945, he was president of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations.

In 1887, he married Lady Cicely Alicia Gore Salisbury, Marchioness of Salisbury (1867-1955). He died on April 4, 1947, in London, England.

Lady Cicely (Cecilia, Cecil) Alicia Gore Salisbury, Marchioness of Salisbury, was born on July 15, 1867, in London, England, daughter of Arthur Saunders William Charles Fox Gore, 5th Earl of Arran of the Arran Islands (1839-1901), and Lady Edith Elizabeth Henrietta Jocelyn (1845-1871).

She was an English noblewoman. In 1887, she married James Edward Hubert Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury (1861-1947). High-spirited and a sympathetic conversationalist, she soothed her husband's self-doubts and, as an energetic and popular hostess, complemented his public life. She acquired political significance through friendships with and mediations between public figures—most notably as Lord Kitchener's unofficial channel of communication with the cabinet during his dispute with Curzon over Indian military arrangements in the early 1900s. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem and a Justice of the Peace for Hertfordshire. She served as a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Alexandra between 1907 and 1910.

She died on February 5, 1955, in London, England.