John Cecil, 4th Earl of Exeter (1628 – February 1678) was an English peer

Peerage

The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...

 and member of the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

, styled Lord Burghley from 1640 to 1643.

He inherited the earldom from his father David Cecil, 3rd Earl of Exeter

David Cecil, 3rd Earl of Exeter

David Cecil, 3rd Earl of Exeter was an English peer and member of the House of Lords.-Life:David Cecil was the son of Sir Richard Cecil of Wakerley, Northamptonshire. He was educated at Clare College, Cambridge, and admitted at Lincoln's Inn in 1627. In 1640, he sat for Peterborough in the Short...

 in 1643.

He was joint Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire

Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire

Below is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire. Since 1735, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Northamptonshire. The lieutenancy included the Soke of Peterborough until 1965, when the Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire became Lord Lieutenant of...

 from 1660 to 1673; after 1673, he held the Lord Lieutenancy for East Northamptonshire while the Earl of Peterborough

Henry Mordaunt, 2nd Earl of Peterborough

Henry Mordaunt, 2nd Earl of Peterborough, KG, PC, FRS was an English soldier, peer and courtier.-Early life:Styled Lord Mordaunt from 1628, he was the eldest son of John Mordaunt, 1st Earl of Peterborough...

 held the West. From 1660 to 1676 he was Recorder

Recorder (judge)

A Recorder is a judicial officer in England and Wales. It now refers to two quite different appointments. The ancient Recorderships of England and Wales now form part of a system of Honorary Recorderships which are filled by the most senior full-time circuit judges...

 of Stamford

Stamford, Lincolnshire

Stamford is a town and civil parish within the South Kesteven district of the county of Lincolnshire, England. It is approximately to the north of London, on the east side of the A1 road to York and Edinburgh and on the River Welland...

, and in November 1660, was granted the office of Keeper of the West Hay, Bailiwick of Cliffe, Rockingham Forest

Rockingham Forest

Rockingham Forest is a former Mediæval royal hunting forest in the East Midlands region of England; most of which was in the county of Northamptonshire but also extended slightly into the neighbouring counties of Leicestershire and Lincolnshire .The forest originally stretched from Stamford down...

.

He married Lady Frances Manners (c. 1636–1660), daughter of John Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland

John Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland

John Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 until 1641 when he inherited the peerage....

, from which marriage one son survived him:

• John Cecil, 5th Earl of Exeter
  John Cecil, 5th Earl of Exeter
  John Cecil, 5th Earl of Exeter , known as Lord Burghley until 1678, was a British peer and Member of Parliament. He was also known as the Travelling Earl.-Life:...
  
   (c. 1648–1700)

After his first wife's death, he married the widow, Lady Mary Fane

Lady Mary Fane

Lady Mary Fane was the daughter of Mildmay Fane, 2nd Earl of Westmorland who succeeded to the title in 1628 and died in 1666, and his second wife, Mary, daughter of Horace Vere, 1st Baron Vere of Tilbury, and widow of Sir Roger Townshend....

, daughter of the Mildmay Fane, 2nd Earl of Westmorland

Mildmay Fane, 2nd Earl of Westmorland

Mildmay Fane, 2nd Earl of Westmorland was an English nobleman, politician, and writer.-Life:One of seven sons of Francis Fane by his wife Mary, granddaughter of Sir Walter Mildmay, Mildmay Fane was born in Kent and educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge . He became MP for Peterborough in 1620...

.