Editing Violet Milner, Viscountess Milner (section)

==Family==
She married, firstly, [[Lord Edward Cecil]], the youngest son of [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|Prime Minister Salisbury]] on [https://www.thetimes.com/archive/article/1894-06-19/5/16.html?region=global#start%3D1894-05-31%26end%3D1894-06-30%26terms%3DEdward%20Cecil%26back%3D/tto/archive/find/Edward+Cecil/w:1894-05-31%7E1894-06-30/o:-date/3%26prev%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/Edward+Cecil/w:1894-05-31%7E1894-06-30/o:-date/23%26next%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/Edward+Cecil/w:1894-05-31%7E1894-06-30/o:-date/25 ''18 June 1894''] at St Saviour's Church, Chelsea. The officiant was his brother [[Lord William Cecil (bishop)|Rev William Cecil]]. A wide range of society guests appeared at the wedding, [[H. H. Asquith]], [[John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley]] and [[Joseph Chamberlain]], as well as his cousin Arthur Balfour and father Salisbury, and liberal poets [[Wilfred Scawen Blunt]] and [[Oscar Wilde]]. His mother, Lady Salisbury remarked: "It will be good for Nigs to have a clever wife and one accustomed to taking care of expenses and I hope will convert her. I don't believe in pious pagans - and my only real objection to [[the Souls]], is their heathenry." His father warned him about her character; and settled a further £1,000 pa having settled his debts again. Lord Edward earned £200 pa in Army pay, but his wife's contribution was double that, making their life comfortable. Salisbury urged them to work on their relationship, but the marriage was unhappy.

She and Lord Edward Cecil had two children: 
*One son, George Edward Gascoyne-Cecil born on 9 September 1895. He was a Lieutenant in the [[Grenadier Guards]], and was killed in action in the [[First World War]] on 1 September 1914 on the Western Front. Rudyard Kipling, Georges Clemenceau, and former President Theodore Roosevelt helped her track down his fate.<ref>Hochschild, [https://archive.org/details/toendallwarsstor0000hoch_v2l1/page/118/mode/2up?view=theater ''pgs. 119-122'']</ref>
*One daughter, Helen Mary Gascoyne-Cecil, who was born on 11 May 1901. She was an author. She married [[Alexander Hardinge, 2nd Baron Hardinge of Penshurst]], and died in 1979.

Violet was appointed Grand Dame of the [[Order of Saint John (chartered 1888)|Order of St John]], and Chevalier of the ''[[Légion d'honneur]]''.<ref>My Picture Gallery (ed.) ''National Review'' 1932-48.</ref>

Lord Edward died on [https://www.thetimes.com/archive/article/1918-12-16/11/11.html?region=global#start%3D1917-12-31%26end%3D1918-12-31%26terms%3DEdward%20Cecil%26back%3D/tto/archive/find/Edward+Cecil/w:1917-12-31%7E1918-12-31/1%26next%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/Edward+Cecil/w:1917-12-31%7E1918-12-31/2 ''13 December 1918''] of the [[Spanish influenza]], and she married Lord Milner at [[St James's Church, Paddington]] on 26 February 1921.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title= Lord Milner Married|date= 28 February 1921|page= 13|issue= 42656|column= }}</ref><ref name="ODNB">{{cite ODNB|id=35039|first=Hugh|last=Cecil|title=Milner, Violet Georgina}}</ref> Violet and Lord Milner were married 12 days after Lord Milner's retirement from Prime Minister Lloyd George's government on [https://www.thetimes.com/archive/article/1921-02-14/10/7.html?region=global#start%3D1921-01-31%26end%3D1921-02-28%26terms%3DMilner%26back%3D/tto/archive/find/Milner/w:1921-01-31%7E1921-02-28/o:date/2%26prev%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/Milner/w:1921-01-31%7E1921-02-28/o:date/14%26next%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/Milner/w:1921-01-31%7E1921-02-28/o:date/16 ''14 February 1921'']. They had a great marriage. On [https://www.thetimes.com/archive/article/1928-05-22/16/9.html?region=global#start%3D1928-04-30%26end%3D1928-05-31%26terms%3DMilner%26back%3D/tto/archive/find/Milner/w:1928-04-30%7E1928-05-31/o:date/1%26prev%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/Milner/w:1928-04-30%7E1928-05-31/o:date/7%26next%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/Milner/w:1928-04-30%7E1928-05-31/o:date/9 ''22 May 1928''] she turned over important information relating to the First World War and Lord Milner's role at the Doullens Conference in France to the Public Records Office.

Upon Lord Milner's death in May 1925, Violet inherited nearly £46,000 (£2.8 million in 2020).<ref>O'Brien, pg. 389</ref> In 1929 she donated Sturry Court, Milner's residence in [[Canterbury]], to [[The King's School, Canterbury]]. The site now houses the Junior Kings School. {{efn|Although some sources suggest Lady Milner sold the estate to the school, a letter from [[George Bell (bishop)|George Bell]], [[Dean of Canterbury]] appears to confirm it was a donation; "I need not tell you again how grateful we are, or how much we appreciate the gift both of itself and for the traditions and hopes which it contains."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oks.org.uk/news/junior-king-s-celebrates-90-years-at-milner-court/|title=Junior King's Celebrates 90 Years at Milner Court|publisher=The OKS Association|access-date=29 September 2022}}</ref>}} She continued to maintain Great Wigsell, her manor home in Salehurst, and 14 Manchester Square, their joint house in London.