Eleanor Josephine Trehawke Davies (1880 – 1915) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

and the first woman to fly across the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

and to have "looped the loop" in an aircraft. She described the latter experience as "a grand, whirling delight".

Early life

Davies was born in 1880 in

St Pancras, London St Pancras () is a district in north London. It was originally a medieval ancient parish and subsequently became a metropolitan borough. The metropolitan borough then merged with neighbouring boroughs and the area it covered now forms around ...

, the daughter of Eleanor Rosa (née Springbett) and Frederick Trehawke Davies. Her father was an Alderman with Marylebone Council and a Solicitor’s Clerk, her mother the owner of a high end millinery business based at 293

Regent Street Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash and James Burton. It runs from Waterloo Place ...

, London.

Aviator

Davies who was known as "Miss Trehawke Davies" was never a pilot but known at the time as an "air companion" to a number of early aviators. In August 1911 she chartered

Horatio Barber Captain Horatio Claude Barber (1875–1964) was an early British aviation pioneer and First World War flight instructor. In 1911 he flew the first cargo flight in Britain, transporting electric light bulbs from Shoreham to Hove. He was also t ...

to fly her from Hendon to Brighton and back. The flight, hampered by cloud and high winds, took two days. In April 1912 she flew with

Gustav Hamel Gustav Wilhelm Hamel (25 June 1889 – missing 23 May 1914) was a pioneer British aviator. He was prominent in the early history of aviation in Britain, and in particular that of Hendon airfield, where Claude Graham-White was energetica ...

on a flight from

Hendon Aerodrome Hendon Aerodrome was an aerodrome in London, England, that was an important centre for aviation from 1908 to 1968. It was situated in Colindale, north west of Charing Cross. It nearly became a central hub of civil aviation ("the Charing Cros ...

near London to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, gaining the distinction of being the first woman to fly the English Channel. She also flew with Hamel at the 1912 Whitsun meeting at Hendon, winning the altitude competition, and in June 1912 she was with Hamel when he won the 1912

Aerial Derby The Aerial Derby was an air race in the United Kingdom sponsored by the '' Daily Mail'' in which the competitors flew a circuit around London. It was first held in 1912, with subsequent races in 1913 and 1914. Suspended during the First World Wa ...

around London. In September 1912 she flew with Henry Astley in a failed attempt to fly from

Issy-les-Moulineaux Issy-les-Moulineaux () is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France, lying on the left bank of the river Seine. Its citizens are called ''Isséens'' in French. It is one of Paris' entrances and is located from Notre-Dame Cath ...

to Berlin in one day: returning from Liege to London with Astley on 18 September in his Blériot monoplane they crashed from a height of 450ft (135m) near Lille, but Astley and Davies were unhurt. On 2 January 1914 she was a passenger in Hamel's Morane-Saulnier monoplane when it " looped the loop" seven time in one flight: this made Davies the first woman ever to do this aerobatic manoeuvre. She described the experience as "a grand, whirling delight" and was reported to have undertaken the flight against her doctor's orders. In 1913 she was awarded a trophy by the Women's Aerial League for her services to aviation. In August 1914 she presented her Blériot Monoplane Seaplane to the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

. Davies died of natural causes at her home in Portland Place in London on 22 November 1915 having suffered lifelong health problems"England and Wales National Probate Calendar" although her death was not announced until January 1916, at her own request.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trehawke Davies, Eleanor 1880 births 1915 deaths English aviators People from St Pancras, London British women aviators