Grace Marguerite, Lady Hay Drummond-Hay (née Lethbridge, 12 September 1895 – 12 February 1946) was a British journalist, who was the first woman to travel around the world by air (in a
zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...
). Although she was not an aviator herself at first, she contributed to the glamour of aviation and general knowledge of it, by writing articles about her aerial adventures for US newspapers in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Early life
Grace Lethbridge was the eldest daughter of Sidney Thomas Lethbridge and his wife Grace Emily (née Willis). Her father was the managing director of the Spratt's dog and animal food company. Her father's sister was dancer
Alice Lethbridge
Alice Matilda Lethbridge (1866 – 4 February 1948) was an English music hall dancer and Gaiety Girl, best known for her "skirt dance" act.
Early life
Alice Matilda Lethbridge was born in Clerkenwell, the daughter of Thomas and Louisa (née Hol ...
. She was married in 1920 to Sir Robert Hay Drummond-Hay (1846–1925) at the age of 25, her husband being nearly fifty years older.
[Sir Robert Hay-Drummond-Hay](_blank)
ThePeerage.com website, 28 March 2009.
Sir Robert was born in
Tangiers
Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capi ...
, Morocco, and had been the British consul-general for years in
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
, Lebanon. He was previously married to Euphemia Katrina Willis Flemming. Four children were produced in this marriage, Arnold Robert, Edward William, Cecil, and Florence Caroline. The children were all significantly older than their new stepmother, Florence Caroline being 15 years older. After six years of marriage, Sir Robert died.
Lady Drummond-Hay then was 31 years old. As a young aristocratic widow, she lived in her apartment in Finchley Road, London.
Career
Having contributed to British papers such as
''The Sphere'', she began to write for
Hearst papers in the late 1920s. She wrote a series of articles for
the Chicago ''Herald and Examiner'', as one of the passengers aboard the first
transatlantic flight
A transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe, Africa, South Asia, or the Middle East to North America, Central America, or South America, or ''vice versa''. Such flights have been made by fixed-wing air ...
of a civilian passenger zeppelin in 1928.
This airship, the
LZ 127 ''Graf Zeppelin'', was also the first to circumnavigate the world, in August 1929, taking off at
Lakehurst, New Jersey and arriving there again 21 days later, after stops in
Friedrichshafen
Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''Kre ...
, Germany,
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, and
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
.
[Los Angeles to Lakehurst](_blank)
''Time'' magazine, 9 September 1929 Captain
Hugo Eckener
Hugo Eckener (10 August 1868 – 14 August 1954) Schwensen Thomas Adam. p. 289 ostsee.de was the manager of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin during the inter-war years, and also the commander of the famous '' Graf Zeppelin'' for most of its record-set ...
commanded ''Graf Zeppelin'' on the flight. Drummond-Hay was the only female passenger. Among her 19 companion travellers were:
* Australian explorer Sir
George Hubert Wilkins
Sir George Hubert Wilkins MC & Bar (31 October 188830 November 1958), commonly referred to as Captain Wilkins, was an Australian polar explorer, ornithologist, pilot, soldier, geographer and photographer. He was awarded the Military Cross afte ...
* American multi-millionaire William B. Leeds
* Commander
Charles Emery Rosendahl (
USN
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
)
* Naval observer Jack C. Richardson
* Hearst correspondent
Karl von Wiegand
* Hearst photographer Robert Hartman
* Spanish newspaper correspondent Joachim Rickard
* German correspondent Heinz von Eschwege-Lichbert
* Spanish physician Geronimo Megias, the personal doctor of Spanish King
Alfonso XIII
Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alfo ...
.
Drummond-Hay gained fame after she arrived in New York, and her career as a journalist was secured for the next decade.
She went to war zones such as Abyssinia (
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
) and was a foreign correspondent in
Manchuria
Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...
(China). She worked closely together for many years with her senior colleague Karl von Wiegand. Drummond-Hay was a well-known and respected journalist of the time, known for her beauty and wit, and the intelligence and flair of her writing. Ethiopian Emperor
Haile Selassie
Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...
presented her with a precious jewel, which was displayed on her body at her funeral.
Last years
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Lady Drummond-Hay and von Wiegand were interned in a Japanese camp in the Philippines.
When they were set free in 1943, she was ill and Karl suffered poor eyesight after a bomb blast. They returned to the United States on the Swedish rescue ship the SS ''Gripsholm'' in December 1943. Lady Drummond-Hay died of
coronary thrombosis
Coronary thrombosis is defined as the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel of the heart. This blood clot may then restrict blood flow within the heart, leading to heart tissue damage, or a myocardial infarction, also known as a heart at ...
in the Lexington Hotel on 12 February 1946.
[Time](_blank)
Time magazine
''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...
, 25 February 1946 At her funeral service, many people paid their last respects, including
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...
and
Marion Davies
Marion Davies (born Marion Cecilia Douras; January 3, 1897 – September 22, 1961) was an American actress, producer, screenwriter, and philanthropist. Educated in a religious convent, Davies fled the school to pursue a career as a chorus girl ...
. After she was cremated, her ashes were brought to the United Kingdom by von Wiegand.
Legacy
Though well known in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Lady Hay Drummond-Hay has been largely forgotten. Her name is mentioned in a number of books on the history of zeppelin flights, but no major biography or other significant document has been written about her life.
An Australian documentary, ''The Airships: Ship Of Dreams'' (2004), included footage of her.
Semidocumentary ''Farewell''
Lady Drummond-Hay's 1929 experience was explored in ''Vaarwel'' ("Farewell"), an episode of the Dutch documentary series ' ("The Hour of the Wolf"), released in 2009. It was directed by Ditteke Mensink and researched by Gerard Nijssen, and told her story in
semidocumentary
A semidocumentary is a form of book, film, or television program presenting a fictional story that incorporates many factual details or actual events, or which is presented in a manner similar to a documentary.
Characteristics
Stylistically, it ...
form. The footage is of her and ''Graf Zeppelin''s round-the-world flight. Extensive newsreel footage from the time showed in some detail how an airship operated. The narration consisted mainly of readings from Lady Drummond-Hay's articles and journal, and included discussion of her relationship with von Wiegand.
Some parts of the film are fictitious; the airship's tail fin did not rip during the flight, but during a previous transatlantic flight in October 1928, nor did the airship have to land on water to do repairs.
''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' described the documentary as 'absorbing'.
[Felperin, Leslie]
Review: "Farewell"
Variety.com website, 6 December 2009.
''Vaarwel'' was later broadcast in the UK, on
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002 , as ''Around The World by Zeppelin'', on 7 February 2010. The English-language narration was read by Poppy Elliott.
["Around the World by Zeppelin"](_blank)
(BBC documentary programme published 8 January 2012)
Notes
External links
Lady Grace Drummond-Hay photographs and biography* (letter is dated 8 May 1936)
Lady Drummond-Hay's letter to Shorty Fulton from summitmemory.org
Lady Drummond-Hay on the Graf Zeppelin as it launches from Lakehurst from summitmemory.org
Photograph of Lady Drummond-Hay and Captain von Schiller on the ''Graf Zeppelin''s catwalk from antique-images.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hay Drummond-Hay, Grace Marguerite
British aviation pioneers
British aviators
British women journalists
1895 births
1946 deaths
Deaths from coronary thrombosis
Circumnavigators of the globe
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin
20th-century British journalists