On the south side of The Source near the intersection of Birch Avenue and First Street is a mural dedicated to William Martin Alleyne Cecil, the seventh Marquess of Exeter.
The mural was commissioned in 2011 and painted by Williams Lake-area artist Dwayne Davis, and is a collage of various moments from Lord Cecil's life. They include a depiction of the Burghley House in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England where he was born, the 100 Mile Lodge which he helped build and design, the settlement of 100 Mile House as it was when he arrived and two likenesses of Cecil, one depicting him as a cowboy and the other a simple portrait.
Cecil was born on April 27, 1909, into a noble family. His father was David George Brownlow Cecil, the sixth Marquess of Exeter, a title which had been formed in the early years of the 19th century by King George III and which carried forward from generation to generation. Burghley House itself was built for Sir William Cecil, the principal advisor for Queen Elizabeth I.
"It's a treasure house. It's open to the public for a lot of the year, and there's an estate around Burghley House. There are many, many things for tourists to do," said Marina Cecil, one of Cecil's daughters who assisted in the creation of his mural.
Growing up, according to a 1988 100 Mile Free Press article on the life of Cecil, he was naturally raised in the manner of the English aristocracy. However, it would not be long until his father bought a 12,000 acre ranch near what today is 100 Mile House - Bridge Creek Ranch. The article notes that Cecil did not feel at home with the English aristocracy.
After attending private schools, Cecil enrolled at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, located in Cornwall in the southeast of the United Kingdom - and later joined the Mediterranean Fleet, serving the next three years in the Navy. In 1929, he met Hungarian debutant Edith Csanady, and then, moved to 100 Mile House the next year in 1930. At the time, Canada was still a part of the British Empire: the Statute of Westminister, which effectively granted Canada independence, was passed in 1931.
According to Marina, Cecil has played an important role in the creation of 100 Mile House as we know it today.
"In fact, it is the history. So the reason there is a 100 Mile House is because my father helped develop it - alongside other people who helped him," Marina explained.
Some of Cecil's developments for 100 Mile House included the development of the 100 Mile Lodge, one of the first large projects in the town and which currently stands behind the Red Coach Inn at the north end of town. The Lodge was a replacement for the old stopping house that 100 Mile House takes its name from, which had become infested with "vermin." When news broke of the stopping house burning down to the ground, Cecil lamented about the loss of life that was not "human."
"It was like an inn, or a hotel, with a restaurant, originally, at the time," noted Marina Cecil about the Lodge.
He also became a spokesperson for the cattle industry for British Columbia and beyond becoming president of the Cariboo Stockmen's Association and the Cariboo Cattlemen's Association in 1943.
After Csanady's death in 1954, Cecil married Lillian Johnson, who gave birth to two children, Marina Cecil and her sister Janine. Around September 1954, he became president of the Emissaries of Divine Light, which is a spiritual community that believes that a human being's true qualities can only be known as they are expressed in practical daily living. The Emissaries made up a substantial portion of 100 Mile House's population for decades.
In 1981, Cecil succeeded his elder brother, William Cecil, as the seventh Marquess of Exeter - and retained the title until his death in 1988.
Marina said she thinks the mural commemorating her late father is a great addition to 100 Mile House and was happy to help bring it to life.
"I think it's great - I was initially on the organizing of the mural committee to get that mural done."
