Edith Maud Cook (1 September 1878 – 14 July 1910), was an early British

parachutist Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes. For ...

balloon A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or light so ...

ist, and

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

, recognized as Britain's first female pilot. She was also known as Viola Spencer-Kavanagh, Viola Spencer, Viola Kavanagh, and perhaps as Viola Fleet and Elsa Spencer.

Biography

Cook was born on 1 September 1878, in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, the daughter of James Wells Cook, a confectioner, and Mary Ann Baker. Her birthplace is marked by a plaque erected by the Ipswich Society in 2007. Edith was variously known as Miss Spencer-Kavanagh, Viola Spencer-Kavanagh, Viola Spencer, and Viola Kavanagh."Cook, Edith Maud (d. 1910)." '' Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages'', edited by Anne Commire and Deborah Klezmer, vol. 1, Yorkin Publications, 2007, p. 429. ''Gale eBooks''. Accessed 22 August 2021. She is also reputed to have been known as Viola Fleet and Elsa Spencer, although another lady parachutist was using the latter name in 1919. It would seem that she used the names Viola Spencer and Viola Kavanagh when undertaking parachuting engagements, and the name Spencer-Kavanagh as an aviator. She worked for the Spencer Brothers and Auguste Eugene Gaudron. In August 1908, she had a narrow escape when trying to make a parachute jump at

Ilkeston Ilkeston is a town in the Borough of Erewash, Derbyshire, England, on the River Erewash, from which the borough takes its name, with a population at the 2011 census of 38,640. Its major industries, coal mining, iron working and lace making/texti ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. On attaining the desired altitude she found that she could not detach the parachute from the balloon. Clinging on she continued to gain height and drifted during the night before she finally came down some twenty-five miles from her starting point. This event was widely reported in newspapers at the time. She was reputed to have made over 300 parachute jumps in a career spanning over 10 years. She was reported in the newspapers to carry a small revolver with her as she could never be sure where she might land. Edith was a pupil at the Blériot flying school and at Claude Grahame-White's school at

Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques Pau (, ) is a Communes of France, commune overlooking the Pyrenees, and prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, regions of France, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. The city is located in the heart o ...

in 1909 or early 1910, where she learnt to fly; and, according to the journals of the day, became the first British woman to pilot a plane. She died from injuries sustained following a jump from a balloon at

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

on 9 July 1910. Her parachute collapsed after a gust of wind blew her on to a factory roof. It was reported that another gust of wind caught the parachute and she fell from the factory roof sustaining serious injurie

She died on the 14th, and an inquest was held on the 16th; her death certificate states the cause of her death as "Internal injuries, broken pelvis and arm, caused by a fall from a parachute. Accidental." Apparently

Dolly Shepherd Elizabeth "Dolly" Shepherd (1886-1983) was a parachutist and fairground entertainer in the Edwardian era. Early life Shepherd was born in Potters Bar, Middlesex, England. Career At the age of 16, she got a job as a waitress at the Alexan ...

had been due to make the jump at Coventry but Cook took her place.Dolly Shepherd's biography In 2008 Suffolk Aviation Heritage Group launched a campaign to erect a statue to Edith Cook in her home town of Ipswich in Suffolk, but no statue had been approved.

References

External links

Entry at Who's Who of BallooningCoventry news paper item
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Edith Maud British aviation pioneers Parachuting deaths People from Ipswich English balloonists 1910 deaths Accidental deaths in England British stunt performers 1878 births British women aviators

Biography

See also

References

External links