Cecil Williamson
Cecil Williamson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 19 September 1909 |
| Died | 9 December 1999 (aged 90) |
| Occupation(s) | MI6 Operative; Witch |
| Spouse | Gwen Wilcox |
Cecil Williamson (18 September 1909 – 9 December 1999) was a British screenwriter, editor and film director and influential English
Biography
Early life
Williamson was born in Paignton, Devon.[1] His father was a senior officer in the Royal Navy and was posted abroad.[1] He first encountered witchcraft in 1916, when, on a visit to North Bovey, also in Devon, to visit his uncle, a local vicar, he saw a woman being publicly beaten and accused of being a witch. Williamson tried to defend the woman, and in doing so befriended her.[1]
In 1921, whilst at the boarding school Malvern College, Williamson was bullied, but got help from a woman who lived on the school grounds, who was also a witch. She showed him how to cast a spell on the bully, who soon after broke his leg in a skiing accident and stopped bullying Cecil.
During Summer holidays, Williamson often went to visit
Life in Rhodesia
After studying in college, Williamson travelled to Rhodesia (modern Zimbabwe) to grow tobacco, where his servant, Zandonda, taught him about African magic.
Life in Britain
In 1930, Williamson returned to Britain and moved to London, where he began working as a production assistant at several film studios. As a hobby, he continued to investigate the occult, beginning to collect objects and became an acquaintance of Margaret Murray, Montague Summers and Aleister Crowley.
In 1933, he married Gwen Wilcox, a make-up artist, and niece of film director Herbert Wilcox.
World War II
In 1938,
Gardner and the Museum
In 1946, Williamson met
In 1947, Williamson tried to open a museum about witchcraft in
Williamson employed Gardner to be the 'resident witch' at the museum, which had been renamed the Museum of Magic and Witchcraft after the repeal of the
At Windsor, Williamson's museum remained open for a year, and was quite successful, but was again forced out due to local opposition. In 1954 he therefore moved the museum to Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire. Here, the museum was damaged in an arson attack, and so, in 1960, Williamson moved the museum to Boscastle in Cornwall, where it remains to this day.
Final years
At midnight on 31 October 1996, Williamson sold the museum to Graham King. Williamson retained some of his artefacts (but none that were on display in the museum) at his home in [Witheridge], a small village near to Tiverton in Devon. After his death in 1999 much of his private collection was acquired by the museum.
Selected filmography
Director
- Soho Conspiracy (1950)
- Hangman's Wharf (1950)
- Action Stations (1956)
Editor
- Up for the Derby (1933)
- Girls, Please! (1934)
- The Way of Youth (1934)
- The Village Squire (1935)
- Troubled Waters (1936)
- Blind Man's Bluff (1936)
- The Minstrel Boy (1937)
- The Mill on the Floss (1937)
- Jailbirds (1940)
- Three Silent Men (1940)
- Old Mother Riley in Paris (1942)
References
- ^ a b c The Museum of Witchcraft, page 2
- ^ "Nazis Read Their Fate In The Stars". Sunday Mail. Brisbane. 9 April 1944. p. 1. Retrieved 30 September 2013 – via National Library of Australia.