Eileen Ellison (12 December 1910 – 29 July 1967) was a British Grand Prix racer. Born in
Great Shelford,
Cambridgeshire, she was a daughter of Sidney and Theresa Ellison (formerly Vinter). She had a sister, Diana, and a brother, Tony.
Background
Due to her brother's interest in motorsport, Ellison became interested in racing in the late 1920s. She befriended a racing driver of the day,
Thomas Pitt Cholmondeley-Tapper
Thomas Pitt Cholmondeley-Tapper (31 July 1910 – 27 July 2001) was an auto racing driver from New Zealand, the first great New Zealander auto driver before Graham McRae, Chris Amon, Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme and others. He was known as "George", ...
, and soon began racing herself. She was frequently noted as the entrant when Cholmondeley-Tapper raced, chiefly because it was her car used; Tony Ellison invariably being the mechanic.
Her main racing achievement came in 1932 when she won the
Duchess of York
Duchess of York is the principal Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title held by the wife of the duke of York. Three of the eleven dukes of York either did not marry or had already assumed the throne prior to marriage, whilst two of ...
's race for women drivers at
Brooklands. The competitors included Elsie Wisdom (Invicta), Fay Taylour (Talbot 105) and
Kay Petre (Daytona Wolseley Hornet Special). Eileen Ellison won from
Kay Petre.
[
With her brother and Cholmondeley Tapper, Ellison travelled throughout Europe to racing venues. Cholmondeley-Tapper wrote a book entitled ''Amateur Racing Driver'' about his exploits but Ellison is only briefly mentioned.][
World War II drew a halt to motorsport in Europe but by this time, Eileen Ellison had stopped racing after marrying Squadron Leader Brian Lane in 1940. Lane was killed in action in 1942.][
After a period of mourning, Ellison moved to South Africa c.1953 with wealthy landowner, Owen Fargus who lived in the same apartment complex as Eileen. He owned property in the United Kingdom, in South Africa and Jersey and the couple led a jet-setting lifestyle. She remained with Fargus until her death in Jersey 1967. Owen Fargus died in Jersey in 1990.][
]
References
Further reading
*Anthony Forbes Whitmore, ''A Cambridge Life: the biography of Eileen Ellison''.
External links
www.historicracing.com Historic Racing
1967 deaths
1910 births
Brooklands people
English racing drivers
Grand Prix drivers
People from Great Shelford
{{England-autoracing-bio-stub