James Cecil, 5th Earl of Salisbury (8 June 1691 – 9 October 1728), known as Viscount Cranborne from 1691 to 1694, was a British nobleman, politician, and peer.

Lord Salisbury married Lady Anne Tufton, daughter of Thomas Tufton, 6th Earl of Thanet, on 12 February 1709.

They had four children: Lord Salisbury died in October 1728, aged 37, and was succeeded in his titles by his son James.

The Countess Anne school in Hatfield, founded in 1735, is named after her.

This biography of an earl or countess in the Peerage of England is a stub.