Christine Davy (born 7 August 1934) is an Australian former alpine skier who competed at the

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

and

1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Vall ...

Early life

Davy was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

to Ashleigh Osborne Davy and Elizabeth Deuchar (née Gordon) of

Edgecliff, New South Wales Edgecliff is a small suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Edgecliff is located 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollah ...

. Her father was an ear, nose and throat surgeon who received the MVO for his services to the

Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, (Henry William Frederick Albert; 31 March 1900 – 10 June 1974) was the third son and fourth child of King George V and Queen Mary. He served as Governor-General of Australia from 1945 to 1947, the only memb ...

, and his family, whilst he was Governor General of Australia. Her mother was the daughter of William Deuchar Gordon of the heritage listed rural

homestead Homestead may refer to: *Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses *Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres *Homestead principle, a legal concept th ...

Manar House, near Braidwood.Gordon, H. McL. and Kelleher, S. (1991). The Gordons of Manar In Australia, pp. 97–105. Davy was educated at

Frensham School Frensham School is an independent non-denominational comprehensive single-sex preschool, primary, and secondary day and boarding school for girls, located at Mittagong, in the Southern Highlands region of New South Wales, Australia. Estab ...

Olympic record

In 1956, she came 39th, 33rd and 37th in the downhill, giant slalom and slalom respectively, out of 47, 48 and 49 entrants. In 1960, she came 27th, 32nd and 29th in the same three events, out of 46, 45 and 44 competitors.

Pilot

After retiring from skiing, she became a pioneering female airline pilot flying the DC-3 and the Fokker Friendship with Connellan Airways out of Alice Springs. She was the first Australian woman to hold a 1st Class Air Transport Pilot's Licence. In 1963, Davy received the Nancy Bird Trophy for her service to aviation from the Australian Women Pilots' Association. In 1974, Christine Davy, MBE, became the first woman in Australia to be employed as a pilot of a passenger airline, Connair, which was based in Alice Springs NT.

Honours

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

— Awarded 1 January 1970 in recognition of her service to civil aviation.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davy, Christine Olympic alpine skiers for Australia Alpine skiers at the 1956 Winter Olympics Living people 1934 births Australian female alpine skiers Alpine skiers at the 1960 Winter Olympics Australian aviators Australian women commercial aviators Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Frensham School Skiers from Sydney