Cheridah de Beauvoir Stocks (1887–1971) was the second

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

woman to gain a

Royal Aero Club The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910. History The Aero Club was foun ...

aviator's licence, in 1911. She was partially paralysed following an aviation accident in 1913.

Early life

Cheridah was born Cheridah Annie Ernst on 6 November 1887 in Evercreech, Somerset,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, the daughter of Henry Ernst, a magistrate, and his wife Annie (née Waring). In the 1901 Census Cheridah was living at the Hotel Metropole on Northumberland Avenue, Strand, London with her sister Bessie and her widowed mother. She married David de Beauvoir Stocks in London in 1909.

Flying

The new Mrs De Beauvoir Stocks trained at the

Grahame-White Grahame-White was an early British aircraft manufacturer, flying school and later manufacturer of cyclecars. The company was established as ''Grahame-White Aviation Company'' by Claude Grahame-White at Hendon in 1911. The firm built mostly aircra ...

flying school at Hendon. On 7 November 1911 she became only the second woman to gain a

aviators certificate, passing her test using a

Farman Farman Aviation Works (french: Avions Farman) was a French aircraft company founded and run by the brothers Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French national ...

biplane at

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

just three months after

Hilda Hewlett Hilda Beatrice Hewlett (17 February 1864 – 21 August 1943) was an early aviator and aviation entrepreneur. She was the first British woman to earn a pilot's licence. She founded and ran two related businesses: the first flying school in the ...

became the first woman to earn the certificate. Grahame-White had trained several women and he had formed the Women's Aerial League in 1909. The membership of this league included test pilot Mrs

Winifred Buller Winifred is a feminine given name, an anglicization of Welsh ''Gwenffrewi'', from ''gwen'', "fair", and ''ffrew'', "stillness". It may refer to: People * Saint Winifred * Winifred Atwell (1914–1983), a pianist who enjoyed great popularity in Bri ...

, Lady Anne Savile and Eleanor Trehawke Davies, Emmeline and Cristabel Pankhurst. By 1912 she had moved from the Farman to a Bleriot plane which had a 35 horse power Anzani engine. She would be cheered at meeting at the Hendon airfield with what was described as a "finished performance". In July she was the only pilot at Hendon on their Women's Aerial League Lady's Day. The original plans had included

Hélène Dutrieu Hélène Dutrieu (10 July 1877 – 26 June 1961), was a Belgian cycling world champion, stunt cyclist, stunt motorcyclist, automobile racer, stunt driver, pioneer pilot, wartime ambulance driver, and director of a military hospital. Biog ...

and Jane Herveu but on the day she was alone. Later that year, her portrait, ''Mrs. Cheridah de Beauvoir Stocks'', painted by John William Schofield was exhibited at the RBA, Autumn Exhibition. Following an air crash during an airshow at Hendon in 1913, in which she was the passenger of Sydney Pickles. She was taken to Central London Sick Asylum. She was unconscious for six weeks and her recovery was closely followed by the newspapers of the day. Stocks was paralysed down her right side and never flew again.

Later life

Her husband David, a Commander in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, died on 31 January 1918 when the submarine was lost in an accident. Stocks went on to study at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in the 1920s and gained a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in Social Anthropology. She died on 1 May 1971 in Northampton aged 83.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beauvoir Stocks, Cheridah De 1887 births 1971 deaths English aviators Aviation pioneers