Lily, Lady of the Cave On 15th of September 2007, Jenolan Caves Reserve Trust were commemorating the visit to Jenolan Caves of Lord and Lady Carrington, Governor of New South Wales (Australia), in 1887, 120 years ago.

Lady Cecilia Carrington travelled to Jenolan Caves with her husband and 2 men by horseback from Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. Lady Carrington, a contemporary young English woman decided to walk instead, so that her horse could endure the steep slopes and valleys they encountered without the extra burden of her weight and on many occasions, Lady Carrington held on to the horses tail.

Lady Carrington was an advocate for homeless women and children, as well as a lobbyist to prevent the new colony from destroying Australia's natural wildlife and fauna; in many cases even refusing to accept bouquets of Australian flowers in an attempt to warn of the problems of interfering with the natural environment. She was also the first to plant trees to celebrate "Arbor Day".

Lady Carrington was a 19th century environmentalist with a 21st century awareness.

This lady, of which very little is recorded either in print or images, had an upbringing of riding, tennis, dinner parties and fashionable balls in England. She then came to Australia  a harsh land and dangerous new colony. On returning to Europe years later, she became the Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Alexander for many years.

During her trip to Jenolan Caves a cave was named in her honour: "Lady Carrington's Cave" (now known as the Imperial Cave). This was the first time in the world that caves had been lit by electric lighting, powered by the first hydro-electric plant in Australia.

This was the cave that Homage to Hippocrates started its journey from underground into the future. To respect this, I decided to create a portrait of her in her namesake cave. It was very difficult as I only had 2 very different woodcuts and 2 miniature paintings of which only hair colour could be determined. It was effectively a forensic investigation.

In trying to make it as close as possible to what Lady Cecilia actually looked like, I spoke to the current Lord Carrington in England who confirmed there were no other images of Cecilia, only of her husband.

This was his comment:

Cecilia was my great aunt and all my relatives will be absolutely thrilled that she, "Lily," should be remembered like this. The Right Honourable Lord Peter Carrington, M.C.
21th August 2007, England

The formation in the background is the "Madonna and Child".

Lily, Lady of the Cave