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Mary Bailey (aviator)

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Dame
Mary Bailey
DBE
Mary, Lady Bailey, 1911
Born
The Hon Mary Westenra

(1890-12-01)1 December 1890
Rossmore Castle, County Monaghan, Ireland
Died(1960-08-29)29 August 1960 (aged 69)
Kenilworth, Cape Town, South Africa
NationalityBritish
OccupationAviator
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1911⁠–⁠1940)​
(his death)
Children5, including Derrick and James

Mary, Lady Bailey, DBE (née Westenra; 1 December 1890 – 29 July 1960) was an Anglo-Irish aviator. She was known as one of the finest aviatrixes of her time, who '"personally guided a plane from England to the nether tip of South Africa and back"[1]

Early life

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Lady Bailey was the only daughter of Derrick Westenra, 5th Baron Rossmore, of Rossmore Castle, County Monaghan and his wife, Mittie (née Naylor). She had two brothers.[2]

She spent most of her childhood in Ireland where she was home schooled until she ran away in 1906.[3] Adventurous from a young age, she apparently bought a motorbike in her youth and was gaining a reputation for speeding in cars by 1914.[3]

Aviation

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During the First World War, Mary volunteered as an aviation mechanic and served in Britain and France, with the Womens Auxiliary Air Corps which provided female mechanics to the Royal Flying Corps.[4][3]

She was given flight instruction in 1926 by Mary, Lady Heath (at the time Sophie Eliott-Lynn) at Stag Lane Aerodrome. She was awarded her Royal Aero Club certificate on 26 January 1927,[2] and quickly started a sporting career.[5] She became the first woman to fly across the Irish Sea.[2]

On 5 July 1927, she set a world's altitude record of 17,283 ft (5,268 m) in a two-seater light aircraft category, flying a de Havilland DH.60 Cirrus II Moth, her passenger was Louise de Havilland, the wife of aircraft designer Geoffrey de Havilland.[6]

Between 9 March and 30 April 1928, Bailey made an 8,000 mi (7,000 nmi; 13,000 km) solo flight from Croydon to Cape Town, flying a Cirrus-engined de Havilland DH.60 Cirrus Moth with an extra fuel tank which gave an endurance of about 10 hours. At about the same time (January to May 1928), Lady Heath was flying solo from Cape Town to the UK.

She then made the 8,000 mi (7,000 nmi; 13,000 km) journey back between September 1928 and 16 January 1929.[citation needed] The return journey involved flying across the Belgian Congo, then along the southern edge of the Sahara and up the west coast of Africa, then across Spain and France back home again.[7] It was the longest solo flight and longest flight accomplished by a woman that far.[8][9] This feat won her the 1929 Britannia Trophy.[10]

In 1927 and 1928 she twice won the Harmon Trophy as the world's outstanding aviatrix. She also participated in the Challenge International de Tourisme 1929, which she completed off the contest, and Challenge International de Tourisme 1930, in which she took 31st place for 60 participants, being one of only two women.[11][page needed]

In 1930 she held a seat on the Women's Engineering Society Council.[12] In 1931, she became a member of a group of female pioneers for science, the members of which shared her adventurous and determined spirit.[3] That same year Bailey became the first woman in the United Kingdom to obtain a Certificate for Blind Flying.[13]

Bailey also attained the rank of Section Officer in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, during World War II.

Contributions to archaeology

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Lady Bailey was also able to use her talents for aviation to take aerial photographs of important archaeological sites. She was very likely the first woman to accomplish this during her work in February 1931 on the Kharga Oasis project in Egypt.[3] Working closely with Gertrude Caton-Thompson and Elinor Wight Gardner, Bailey was able to take aerial photographs which presented an expansive overview of the archaeological site within just two weeks.[3] These photographs accomplished what would have taken far longer to do on foot. In addition, there also revealed future excavation sites. Indeed, Lady Bailey's valuable contribution to the Kharga Oasis expedition was both innovative and impressive.[3]

Honours

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In 1930 Lady Bailey was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) and awarded the Britannia trophy for meritorious performance in the air.[2]

Family

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She married the South African mining magnate, financier, and politician Abe Bailey on 5 September 1911 at the age of 20. She was his second wife.[14] They had five children including Sir Derrick Bailey, 3rd Bt. (15 August 1918 – 19 June 2009) a fighter pilot cricketeer and businessman and James R A Bailey (23 October 1919 – 29 February 2000) fighter pilot, writer and co-founder of Drum magazine.

References

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  1. ^ Time, 28 January 1930 p. 30
  2. ^ a b c d Cooksley, Peter G. (6 January 2011) [23 September 2004]. "Bailey [née Westenra], Dame Mary, Lady Bailey (1890–1960), aviator". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30528. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Whitaker, Katy (26 June 2015). "Lady Mary Bailey". TrowelBlazers.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  4. ^ Evers, Liz (March 2023). "Bailey, Mary ('Lady Bailey') (née Westenra)". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  5. ^ "The Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom - official notices to members". Flight. 17 February 1927. p. 84.
  6. ^ "British Light 'Plane Record Confirmed". Flight. 15 September 1927. p. 654. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012.
  7. ^ "Lady Mary Bailey (1890-1960), Pioneer Aviatrix". www.ctie.monash.edu.au. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Editorial Comment". Flight. 10 January 1929. p. 20. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
  9. ^ Wilkins, Harold T. (September 1928). "Champion Air Woman Wins 8000 Mile Race". Popular Mechanics. Vol. 50, no. 3. pp. 457–459.
  10. ^ "Members Activities". The Woman Engineer. 3: 20. Archived from the original on 19 November 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  11. ^ Krzyżan, Marian (1988). Międzynarodowe turnieje lotnicze 1929-1934 [International Air Tournaments 1929-1934] (in Polish). Warsaw. ISBN 83-206-0637-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  12. ^ "Presidential Address". The Woman Engineer. 3: 52. September–October 1930.
  13. ^ "News of Members". The Woman Engineer. 3: 145. March 1932. Archived from the original on 19 November 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  14. ^ Fraser, Maryna (25 May 2006) [23 September 2004]. "Bailey, Sir Abraham [Abe], first baronet (1864–1940), financier and politician in South Africa". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30521. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
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