Henry Segrave
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Sir Henry O'Neal de Hane Segrave (22 September 1896 – 13 June 1930) was an early British pioneer in
land speed An object's speed across land is measured by difference in movement between the object and the land beneath it. Atmospheric pressure and aerodynamics must be considered when attempting to calculate possible speeds from the force applied. Units Comm ...
and water speed records. Segrave, who set three land and one water record, was the first person to hold both titles simultaneously and the first person to travel at over in a land vehicle. He died in an accident in 1930 shortly after setting a new world water speed record on
Windermere Windermere (sometimes tautology (language), tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere, Cumbria (town), Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in leng ...
in the
Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...
, England. The
Segrave Trophy The Segrave Trophy is awarded to the British national who demonstrates "Outstanding Skill, Courage and Initiative on Land, Water and in the Air". The trophy is named in honour of Sir Henry Segrave, the first person to hold both the land and wat ...
was established to commemorate his life.


Early life

Segrave, who was a British national, was born on 22 September 1896 in
Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, to an American mother and an Irish father. He was raised in
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and attended
Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...
in
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 ...
. He spent some time at 'Belle Isle' house, near Portumna and learnt to drive the family houseboat. He is reported to have attended the North Shannon Yacht Club regatta on Lough Boderg between Leitrim and Roscommon.


First World War

At the outbreak of war the Sandhurst officer training course was drastically reduced from two years to three months and he was commissioned in November 1914. Anxious to immediately enter the fray, he applied to join a unit that had suffered heavy casualties and so joined the
Royal Warwickshire Regiment The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, previously titled the 6th Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. The regiment saw service in many conflicts and wars, including the Second Boer War ...
. Always in the thick of the fighting, his soldiers referred to the 18-year-old subaltern as 'The Lion's Cub'. Wounded in the wrist at
Aubers Aubers () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is west of Lille. The parish church is dedicated to St Vaast. It was the site of a major World War I battle, the Battle of Aubers, during 1915. Aubers is twinned with the E ...
he was again wounded in hand-to-hand fighting on 16 May 1915. His revolver was clogged with mud so he threw a belt of ammunition at the German he was fighting and the resulting shot went high and hit him in the shoulder. Whilst recuperating in England, he transferred to the
Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...
joining 29 Squadron flying the DH2 fighter. On the first of May 1916 he shot down a German
Aviatik Automobil und Aviatik AG was a German aircraft manufacturer during World War I. The company was established at Mülhausen (today in France) in 1909 and soon became one of the country's leading producers of aircraft. It relocated to Freiburg in ...
two-seater but was hit by anti-aircraft fire over the Somme in early July and crashed, severely breaking an ankle. This effectively ended his combat flying. He described himself as "the world’s worst pilot". and said "I was a rotten pilot, I always seemed to make a mess of landing." Segrave became the ‘pilot’ in command on the ground of the first unmanned powered aircraft, the Aerial Target. "This was the first drone to fly under control when it was tested in March 1917." He married
Doris Stocker Doris Mary Stocker (Lady Segrave) (1886 – 16 December 1968) was a British actress and singer, especially in Edwardian musical comedy. Early life and career She was born in Bombay in India in 1886, the second of three children of George St ...
, the well-known actress on 4 October 1917. On 31 January 1918
Sir Henry Norman, 1st Baronet Sir Henry Norman, 1st Baronet (19 September 18584 June 1939) was an English journalist and Liberal Member of Parliament and government minister. Norman was educated privately in France and at Harvard University, where he obtained his B.A. Fo ...
the
Munitions Inventions Department The Munitions Inventions Department (MID) of the British Ministry of Munitions was created during the First World War in 1915. Its administrative structure encompassed university and industrial laboratories, private workshops, and military experime ...
's permanent attaché to the French Ministry of Inventions requested Segrave be assigned to assist him. Segrave was sent to the US in the autumn as part of Brig. Gen. Charles Frederick Lee's Headquarter's Staff on the British Aviation Mission. He sent reports to Norman, including details of the US enquiries into their aircraft production failures. After the war, he transferred to the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
Administrative Branch in 1919 but soon resigned his commission due to his war injuries.


Motor sports

After the war, British motor manufacturers were starting to build more reliable and faster vehicles, although motor racing was in its infancy. Segrave would soon become a championship winning driver. In 1921 Segrave won the first long-distance car race to be run in
Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
. The 200-mile race, which was organised by the Junior Car Club for 1,500 c.c. light cars, was held at
Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...
in Surrey. Segrave won in a
Darracq A Darracq and Company Limited owned a French manufacturer of motor vehicles and aero engines in Suresnes, near Paris. The French enterprise, known at first as A. Darracq et Cie, was founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq after he sold his Gladi ...
-made
Talbot Talbot was an automobile marque introduced in 1902 by English-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément-Talbot ...
that were marketed as Talbot-Darracqs. In the same year Segrave competed in his first ever
French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championsh ...
, Darracq was reorganised as part of the S.T.D. Motors conglomerate. To impress Breton automobile designer,
Louis Coatalen Louis Hervé Coatalen (11 September 1879 – 23 May 1962) was an automobile engineer and racing driver born in Brittany who spent much of his adult life in Britain and took British nationality. He was a pioneer of the design and development of inte ...
, in order to gain a place in the formidable Sunbeam-Talbot-Darrac Works team, Segrave, replaced fourteen engine covers on his Talbot, a rebadged highly advanced
straight eight The straight-eight engine (also referred to as an inline-eight engine; abbreviated I8 or L8) is a piston engine with eight cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. The number of cylinders and perfect primary and secondary engi ...
dual overhead camshaft (dohc) 1921 Sunbeam Grand Prix. In the
1922 French Grand Prix The 1922 French Grand Prix (formally the XVI French Grand Prix, Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France) was a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix motor race held at Strasbourg on 15 July 1922. The race was run over 60 laps of the 13.38km circui ...
, Segrave was forced to retire in his
Grand Prix Sunbeams 1922 Sunbeam Works Racing cars participated in the 1922 XVI Grand Prix de l'A.C.F. in Strasbourg. The race took place on 15 July 1922 and was run to a formula stipulating that maximum engine capacity should not exceed 2 litres and that the cars shou ...
because of chemical burns. When he won the 1923
French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championsh ...
in a Sunbeam, he became the first
Briton British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mod ...
to win a Grand Prix in a British car. In 1924 he won the San Sebastian Grand Prix at
Circuito Lasarte The Circuito Lasarte was an Grand Prix motor racing road course at Lasarte-Oria, Guipúzcoa, Spain in the Basque Country near the city of San Sebastián on the Bay of Biscay. The counterclockwise layout was used between 1923 and 1935 but ...
(Spain). After a further win at
Miramas Miramas (; oc, Miramàs) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, southern France. It is the second-largest commune in metropolitan Ouest-Provence and is located at the north end of the Éta ...
in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, he retired from racing to concentrate on speed records.


Speed career


Land

On 16 March 1926, Segrave set his first
land speed record The land speed record (or absolute land speed record) is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C ("Special Vehicles") flying start regula ...
of using ''Ladybird'', a 4-litre
Sunbeam Tiger The Sunbeam Tiger is a high-performance V8 version of the British Rootes Group's Sunbeam Alpine roadster, designed in part by American car designer and racing driver Carroll Shelby and produced from 1964 until 1967. Shelby had carried out a ...
on Ainsdale beach at
Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...
, England. This record was broken a month later by J. G. Parry-Thomas driving ''
Babs Babs or BABS may refer to: People * Nickname of Barbara Windsor (1937-2020), British actress * Babs McMillan, Australian actress * Babs Olusanmokun, American actor * Babs Reingold, American artist * Babs Fafunwa (1923-2010), Nigerian educationist ...
'', a custom-built car with a 27-litre V12
Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
aero engine. A year later he became the first person to travel over when he regained the land speed record at the Daytona Beach Road Course on 29 March 1927. Using ''Mystery'' (but also known as 'the Slug'), a 1000 HP Sunbeam, he recorded a speed of . On 11 March 1929, Segrave set his final land speed record again at
Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County near the Atlantic coastline, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. Daytona Beach is approximately nort ...
. Using a new car designed for him by Captain
Jack Irving John Samuel Irving (1880–1953), MIAE, was a British automobile engineer best known for designing the Irving-Napier land speed record breaking car '' Golden Arrow''.Captain J. S. Irving. ''The Times'', Tuesday, 31 March 1953; pg. 8; Issue 52584 ...
and named the '' Golden Arrow'' he set a new record of . Segrave never attempted another land speed record after witnessing the high-speed death of American racing driver,
Lee Bible Lee Bible (May 27, 1887 March 13, 1929) was an American garage operator and a racing-car driver. He was killed attempting to break the land-speed record on March 13, 1929, at Ormond Beach, Florida. Early life He was born Conway Lee Bible on ...
, who was trying to set a new land speed record on 13 March 1929, at
Ormond Beach Ormond Beach is a city in central Florida in Volusia County. The population was 43,080 at the 2020 census. Ormond Beach lies directly north of Daytona Beach and is a principal city of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, FL Metropolitan ...
,
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. The ''Golden Arrow'', which was never used again, has only on the clock. The vehicle is on display along with Segrave's Sunbeam 350HP and Sunbeam 1000 hp at the
National Motor Museum, Beaulieu The National Motor Museum (originally the Montagu Motor Museum) is a museum in the village of Beaulieu, set in the heart of the New Forest, in the English county of Hampshire. History The museum was founded in 1952 by Edward Douglas-Scott- ...
. On the 90th anniversary of Segrave setting his first historic record, his original Sunbeam racing car returned to Southport where it was driven down Ainsdale beach in March 2016.


Water

Segrave had ''
Miss England I ''Miss England I'' was the first of a series of speedboats used by Henry Segrave and Kaye Don to contest world water speed records in the 1920s and 1930s. Design and construction ''Miss England'' was built for Henry Segrave in 1928, in an ...
'' built in 1928, in an attempt to retrieve the
Harmsworth Trophy The Harmsworth Cup, popularly known as the Harmsworth Trophy, is a historically important British international trophy for motorboats. History The Harmsworth was the first annual international award for motorboat racing. Officially, it is a cont ...
from the American
Gar Wood Garfield Arthur "Gar" Wood (December 4, 1880 – June 19, 1971) was an American inventor, entrepreneur, and championship motorboat builder and racer who held the world water speed record on several occasions. He was the first man to trave ...
whose series of high-powered aero-engine-driven ''Miss America'' boats had made him a multiple water speed record holder and the first man to travel over on water. Although Segrave had already used aero-engines in some of his land-speed record setting vehicles, ''Miss England I'' used a single
Napier Lion The Napier Lion is a 12-cylinder, petrol-fueled 'broad arrow' W12 configuration aircraft engine built by D. Napier & Son from 1917 until the 1930s. A number of advanced features made it the most powerful engine of its day and kept it in produ ...
engine. Instead Segrave believed the boat's speed would come from its advanced lightweight planing-hull design. Wood - along with other American boat designers - thought the design was too flimsy for the speeds. Wood sportingly offered to help Segrave, particularly sharing his experiences in propeller and rudder design. After his 1929 land speed record, Segrave immediately went to
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
for his speedboat race with Wood which he won. It was the American's first defeat in nine years. After Segrave returned to Britain, he was knighted for his many accomplishments.


Death

On Friday 13 June 1930, a few months after receiving his knighthood, Segrave drove ''
Miss England II ''Miss England II'' was the second of a series of speedboats used by Henry Segrave and Kaye Don to contest world water speed records in the 1920s and 1930s. Design and construction ''Miss England II'' was built in 1930 for Lord Wakefield, who ...
'' to a new record of average over two runs on
Windermere Windermere (sometimes tautology (language), tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere, Cumbria (town), Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in leng ...
. However, on the third run the boat capsized at full speed. Chief engineer Victor Halliwell was killed by the boat rolling over on him as it crashed. Mechanic Michael "Jack" Willcocks survived with a broken arm after being thrown from the craft. Segrave, who was rescued unconscious as the boat sank, regained consciousness for a moment and asked about the fate of "the lads". Shortly after being told that he had broken the record he died from acute lung haemorrhages. Although a large floating branch was discovered near the crash, there has been no definitive cause for the accident. Other theories include the boat's construction. Concerns were raised that its hull was too light in design and construction, particularly around the craft hydroplane which was found partially detached after the crash.
Kaye Don Kaye Ernest Donsky (10 April 1891 – 29 August 1981), better known by his ''nom de course'' Kaye Don, was an Irish world record breaking car and speedboat racer. He became a motorcycle dealer on his retirement from road racing and set up Amb ...
subsequently broke two more world water speed records in ''Miss England II''.


Aircraft designer

When Segrave's interest in flying returned in the late 1920s he designed an aircraft for luxury touring. The prototype, known as the Saro Segrave Meteor was a wooden twin-engined monoplane. It first flew on 28 May 1930. However, development was delayed due to Segrave's death a month later. Only three metal versions of the
Blackburn Segrave The Blackburn B-1 Segrave was a 1930s British twin-engine four-seat touring aircraft built by Blackburn Aircraft. History The aircraft was designed by the racing driver (and world land speed record holder) Sir Henry Segrave as a twin-engin ...
were subsequently built.


Legacy

In 1930 the
Segrave Trophy The Segrave Trophy is awarded to the British national who demonstrates "Outstanding Skill, Courage and Initiative on Land, Water and in the Air". The trophy is named in honour of Sir Henry Segrave, the first person to hold both the land and wat ...
was established to recognise any British national who demonstrated the most outstanding accomplishments in the possibilities of transport by land, sea, air, or water. The trophy is awarded by the
Royal Automobile Club The Royal Automobile Club is a British private social and athletic club. It has two clubhouses: one in London at 89 Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, near Epsom in Surrey. Both provide accommodation and a range o ...
. Recipients include
Malcolm Campbell Major Sir Malcolm Campbell (11 March 1885 – 31 December 1948) was a British racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times, using vehicles called ''Blue Bird'', including a 1 ...
(1932),
Stirling Moss Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British Formula One racing driver. An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of comp ...
(1957),
Richard Noble Richard James Anthony Noble, OBE (born 6 March 1946) is a Scottish entrepreneur who was holder of the land speed record between 1983 and 1997. He was also the project director of ThrustSSC, the vehicle which holds the current land speed record ...
(1983),
Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mich ...
(2007) and
John Surtees John Surtees, (11 February 1934 – 10 March 2017) was a British Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver. On his way to become a seven-time Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion, he won his first title in 1956, and followed with ...
(2013).


References

;Citations ;Bibliography *


External links


Biography






* ttp://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9066605 Encyclopædia Britannica article
Movie No. 7: Windermere 1930: Henry Segrave: Opening of Constantine College by Prince of Wales: The Visit Of HRH The Prince of Wales July 1930
{{DEFAULTSORT:Segrave, Henry British Army personnel of World War I Royal Flying Corps officers Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers officers Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Knights Bachelor People in sports awarded knighthoods English racing drivers Brooklands people Grand Prix drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers BRDC Gold Star winners Land speed record people British motorboat racers Water speed records Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst People educated at Eton College 1930 deaths 1896 births Sunbeam Motor Car Company Sport deaths in England Motorboat racers who died while racing Bonneville 200 MPH Club members British expatriates in the United States