Mary Cecil, 2nd Baroness Amherst of Hackney

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Lady William Cecil" redirects here. For other people whose wives may have been so known, see William Cecil.

OBE
1919 upon receipt of her OBE
Born
Mary Rothes Margaret Tyssen-Amherst

(1857-04-25)25 April 1857
Didlington Hall, Norfolk, England
Died21 December 1919(1919-12-21) (aged 62)
London, England
NationalityEnglish
Other namesLady William Cecil
Years active1901–1919
Known forExcavations in Qubbet el-Hawa and various birding books
SpouseLord William Cecil
ChildrenWilliam Cecil
Thomas James Cecil
John Francis Cecil
Henry Mitford Cecil
Parent(s)Baron Amherst of Hackney
Margaret Susan Mitford

Mary Rothes Margaret Cecil,

ornithologist. Thirty-two of the Tombs of the Nobles at Aswan were uncovered in her excavations and for many years were known as the "Cecil Tombs". She was one of the few English women to have held a peerage in her own right. The black crowned crane
, balearica pavonia ceciliae was named in her honour.

Early life

Mary Rothes Margaret Tyssen-Amherst, known as "May" to her family,

Egyptian antiquities.[1][4] He had large collections of books and manuscripts, many on the history of bookbinding and printing,[4] and his collection of artefacts was at one time the third largest in England.[1]

May's mother was known for her

naturalist who had studied engraving techniques and illustrated birds.[6]

As did her six younger sisters, May studied at home, learning painting, music and

Inji Hanimefendi's palace.[10]

In 1891, Howard Carter and his father Samuel visited Didlington Hall to study the artefacts at the estate's museum. The two were known for their illustrations and drawings and were acquaintances of the family.[1][11] Lady Margaret, who was impressed by young Howard's talent, assisted in arranging an apprenticeship for him from the Egypt Exploration Fund,[12] as a tracer of drawings and inscriptions.[13]

Peerage

In 1892, May's father, who by then had served several terms as member of the House of Commons became the 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney. As he had no male heirs, a special remainder granted that May (now known as Lady William Cecil) would succeed him as the 2nd Baron (i.e. Baroness) to pass the title on to her male heirs.[4]

In 1909, when her father died suddenly, Lady William Cecil succeeded him suo jure under the special remainder previously attained, as the 2nd Baron(ess) Amherst of Hackney,[14] but his residual estate had been reduced to £341,[15] as most of his personal collections and estate had been sold to pay off debt, when he was defrauded by his solicitor.[16][17][18]

Career

Archaeology and Cecil Tombs

Despite that it was unusual for women to participate in archaeology at the time,

termites, Tomb 21 yielded two burial boxes. The male's coffin disintegrated when it was touched, but the female's coffin remained intact[23] and was removed. The exterior was painted in yellow and devoid of any inscription. The mummy was covered with a blue network of beading. A coarse blue glaze was used on the winged scarabs and Amenti gods depicted on the canopic jars. The sole adornment of the mummy was a one inch by half inch opaque green stone. Lady William's diary recorded that the names found in the tomb were[24] Bao-bao, daughter of Pawebas and Shepentanefet and her brother Waher. She also reported remnants of a former burial, which may have been the tomb of Shepentanefret.[25]

In all, Lady William Cecil uncovered thirty-two tombs at the site which became known as the "Cecil Tombs", and were later called the Tombs of the Nobles

weevils, but was encased in seven layers of finely woven cloth. Though there were no artefacts found with the mummy, the exterior wrapping was painted white about the face with a painted necklace.[29] In many of the tombs, Lady William reported that they appeared to be re-used, and her finds suggest the artefacts came from a diverse range of dynasties.[30] The excavations proved successful and though Carter took "some of the best things", both he and Gaston Maspero were pleased with the endeavour.[22]

Author

Returning home, Lady William Cecil published her findings "Report on the Work Done at Aswan" in the Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Égypte in 1903.

Queen's Hospital for Children, for which she was one of only two women directors;[38] and the ambulance and hospital works of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem,[39] for which she also served as a Lady Justice.[40] Lady William and her husband spent the next several years travelling, visiting Australia in 1905.[41]

Lady-in-waiting

In 1906, they were in Madrid, where Lady William served as the only English lady-in-waiting attending Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Princess Henry's daughter, when she became Spanish queen.[16] That same year at the request of the Empress Dowager Cixi, Lord and Lady William Cecil went with an English committee to help organise schools for Chinese girls.[42] They returned with Princess Henry and her entourage to Spain the following year, as well.[43]

World War I

During World War I, Lady Amherst participated in projects to raise funds for various war works, including an exhibition of her own paintings of Egyptian scenes at the Dudley Galleries

Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1919 for her charitable works with several governmental offices dealing with sanitation and health.[46]

Personal life

On 2 September 1885, May married Colonel Lord William Cecil (1854–1943), son of the 3rd Marquess of Exeter. The couple had four sons:[2]

Death and legacy

Barely a month after her own mother died, Lady Amherst died on 20 December 1919 in London.[49] The coffin of Bao-bao was sold upon her death via a sale organised by

Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina.[20] Her notes and letters have been useful references for other archaeologists in tracking provenance of objects which were part of the family collections[51] and because the tombs she inspected have not fully been subsequently explored.[52]

Selected works

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e Reid 2008, p. 3.
  2. ^ a b c Lundy 2011.
  3. ^ Reid 2008, p. 1.
  4. ^ a b c d Bell 2004.
  5. ^ Duggan 2009, p. 12.
  6. ^ Uglow 2011, p. 490.
  7. ^ Duggan 2009, pp. 12–13.
  8. ^ Duggan 2009, p. 15.
  9. ^ Reid 2008, p. 4.
  10. ^ Reid 2008, p. 5.
  11. ^ James 2012, pp. 10–11.
  12. ^ Duggan 2009, p. 55.
  13. ^ Brier 2013, p. 15.
  14. ^ Gibbs 1910, pp. 124–125.
  15. ^ The Manchester Guardian 1909, p. 11.
  16. ^ a b c de Fontenoy 1906, p. 6.
  17. ^ Brabrook 1909, p. 41.
  18. ^ The Atlanta Constitution 1908, p. 3.
  19. ^ a b Willems 1996, p. 15.
  20. ^ a b c James 2012, p. 94.
  21. ^ James 2012, p. 78.
  22. ^ a b c James 2012, p. 95.
  23. ^ a b Elias 1996, p. 105.
  24. ^ Elias 1996, p. 106.
  25. ^ Elias 1996, p. 107.
  26. ^ Luckhurst 2012, p. 191.
  27. ^ James 2012, pp. 12, 95.
  28. ^ Willems 1996, p. 16.
  29. ^ Willems 1996, p. 17.
  30. ^ Willems 1996, pp. 18–22.
  31. ^ The Manchester Guardian 1903, p. 6.
  32. ^ a b The Manchester Guardian 1915, p. 6.
  33. ^ James 2012, p. 136.
  34. ^ The Manchester Guardian 1904, p. 4.
  35. ^ The Manchester Guardian 1905, p. 6.
  36. ^ Beolens, Watkins & Grayson 2014, p. 251.
  37. ^ The Manchester Guardian 1916, p. 5.
  38. ^ The Spokane Daily Chronicle 1911, p. 4.
  39. ^ Duggan 2009, p. 14.
  40. ^ The Edinburgh Gazette 1907, p. 1349.
  41. ^ The Register 1905, p. 4.
  42. ^ Somerset 1908, p. 9.
  43. ^ The Philadelphia Inquirer 1907, p. 16.
  44. ^ The Manchester Guardian 1917, p. 4.
  45. ^ a b Cracroft-Brennan 2009.
  46. ^ Imperial War Museum 2016.
  47. New York Times
    . 6 March 1924. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  48. New York Times. Associated Press
    . 23 October 1954. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  49. ^ Duggan 2009, p. 129.
  50. ^ The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 1921, p. 218.
  51. ^ D'Auria 2008, pp. 225–226.
  52. ^ Willems 1996, pp. 15–16.
  53. ^ The Auk & April 1917, p. 235.
  54. ^ The Auk & July 1917, p. 363.

Bibliography

Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Baroness Amherst of Hackney
1909–1919 		Succeeded by
William Cecil
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