OW 3-16 Mildred Peel story III - passing Victoria Lawn Cemetery

As you walk along Queenston Street, you'll find yourself walking past a vast cemetery. This is Victoria Lawn Cemetery, established in 1856 as the St. Catharines Cemetery, and renamed after Queen Victoria in the early 1900s.

While we pass the cemetery and its monuments, let's hear a bit more about monumental Mildred Peel...

- how she painted a controversial picture that grew a beard;

- married the Premier of Ontario; and ultimately...

- might even have left a picture of her own dear mother, in disguise, hanging in the halls of the Ontario Legislature, at taxpayer expense!

Video version of "Bronze Busts and Bearded Ladies"



The Mysterious Peel Portrait

There was always something a bit strange about the 1905 portrait of Laura Secord painted by Canadian artist Mildred Peel. The painting is a somber yet dignified portrayal of an elderly Mrs. Secord dressed in a bonnet, coat, and lace gloves, similar to the dress she wore in the only known authentic photographic likeness of her, a daguerreotype from the 1860s.



(courtesy Archives of Ontario)
 


(courtesy McCord Museum)
 


 


 

Ruth McKenzie described the initial reception of the painting in her 1971 biography of Laura Secord:

"According to a contemporary account in the Christian Guardian, "Miss Peel, availing herself of existing likenesses, also made a careful study of the faces of a number of living relatives, and has succeeded in producing a portrait as faithful to the original as could now be had. . .. "

However, despite this initial praise in the press, murmurings about the painting started soon after it was hung in the Hall of Fame in the Ontario Legislature, for which it had been commissioned.

To any but the most casual onlooker, the portrait bore little or no resemblance to the authentic daguerreotype image of Laura Secord.



1904 Mildred Peel portrait of Laura Secord
 


1860 Daguerreotype of Laura Secord
 


 


 

The face had always seemed a bit masculine, and as the decades passed, it became even more so, as the faint outlines of a bushy beard slowly began to emerge through its angular contours. Rumours abounded that there was another likeness underneath.

Eventually, the scuttlebutt and scandal about the portrait led to action. Art historian Frank Worrall carefully examined the work, taking a series of x-ray photographs. Sure enough, the x-rays revealed that a portrait of Sir George Ross, former Premier of Ontario - and the eventual husband of artist Mildred Peel! - was painted under Laura Secord's stern gaze.

The top and back of Laura Secord's old-fashioned bonnet were superimposed over George Ross' head [i], and the rest of Laura Secord's face was blended in over his nose, chin and whiskers.

Ross' forehead from the original portrait was actually incorporated into the final painting. The result, which was a bit disconcerting when first unveiled in 1905, became progressively even more odd looking as it aged.


 
 

Reflecting on the scandal, Secord biographer Ruth McKenzie wrote,

"In utilizing the discarded canvas, Miss Peel followed a time-honoured practice of painters. It is an economical method, and if handled properly the original painting detracts in no way from the painting that is superimposed on the canvas. Unfortunately Miss Peel's painting failed this test.

Laura's portrait was not a fake (though it was not a good likeness) but it caused so much amusement that Laura Secord herself became the butt of quips and jokes. Premier Mitchell Hepburn decided to leave the portrait hanging in the Ontario Legislature, but later it was taken down and relegated to storage."

And there it stayed for many years, until it was eventually unpacked again, and put back on display in the Ontario Legislature.

Immortalizing Mother?

But we are not sure that the story ends there.

In 2014, an exhibition of paintings and sculptures by the Peel family was put on at Museum London.

 
 

The resemblance of Amelia Margaret Hall to Mildred Peel's portrait of Laura Secord is quite striking. The expression, the features, even the pose of Mildred's mother are echoed quite faithfully in the Secord portrait.



 


 


 


 

Though just conjecture at this point, it seems plausible that Mildred Peel may have used her own late mother's likeness for the face of Laura Secord – perhaps as a somewhat cheeky way of memorializing her mother in the annals Canadian history, or as a quick and expedient method of re-purposing an existing portrait using a familiar face in order to collect the commission.

Amelia Margaret Hall...to 'Laura Secord'


In 1905, the daguerreotype of Laura Secord would not have been that widely distributed, so Laura's actual features would not necessarily be well known to the general public – which may have allowed the poor resemblance to pass unnoticed by naïve observers.



1860 daguerreotype
 


Portrait from Emma Currie's 1900 Secord biography
 


Mildred Peel's 1904 portrait
 


 

It is also just possible that Mildred had not seen the Secord daguerreotype - but this seems unlikely, given that the clothing and posture of the portrait closely resemble those in the old photograph. Also, a likeness closely resembling Laura Secord's face in the photo was available in the frontspiece of Emma Currie's authoritative 1900 biography of Laura Secord.

Whiskers and controversies notwithstanding, Mildred Peel's artistic portrayals of Laura Secord in bronze and on canvas have helped immortalize a Canadian icon, and have enriched our history with a couple of unforgettable stories.



References

[i] Laura Secord Portrait under X-Ray Reveals Head of Former Ontario Premier. The Evening Citizen, Ottawa, Ontario - Tuesday, February 25th, 1936 - p.17

[ii] X-Ray Reveals Hidden Portrait of Sir George Ross. Canadian Statesman. Bowmanville, Ontario - Thursday March 12, 1936 - p.7

[iii] McKenzie, Ruth.1971. Laura Secord: The Legend and the Lady. McLelland and Stewart, Limited, Toronto – pp. 127-128.

[iv] X-Ray Reveals Hidden Portrait of Sir George Ross. Canadian Statesman. Bowmanville, Ontario - Thursday March 12, 1936 - p.7

[v] Ontario Probes Art Mystery in Hall of Fame. Is painting of Premier or of woman war hero - Chicago Tribune, 23 February 1936, Part 1 - Page 3


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