Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth (16 July 1909 – 2 August 1940) was a racing motorist, aviator and prolific collector of veteran cars and aircraft. His collection forms the nucleus of the

Shuttleworth Collection The Shuttleworth Collection is a working aeronautical and automotive collection located at the Old Warden Aerodrome, Old Warden in Bedfordshire, England. It is the oldest in the world and one of the most prestigious, due to the variety of old a ...

. He was killed in an air crash on a night RAF training exercise in 1940.

Life

Family

Richard Shuttleworth was the only son of Colonel Frank Shuttleworth (1845—1913) and Dorothy Clotilda (née Lang, 1879–1968), the youngest daughter of the Rev. Robert Lang, the Vicar of

Old Warden Old Warden is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of the county of Bedfordshire, England, about south-east of the county town of Bedford. The 2011 census shows its population as 328. The ...

; they had married in 1902. Richard Shuttleworth was the grandson of Joseph Shuttleworth (1819—1883), co-founder of

Clayton & Shuttleworth Clayton & Shuttleworth was an engineering company located at Stamp End Works, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. The company was established in 1842 when Nathaniel Clayton (1811–1890) formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Joseph Shuttlewo ...

. After her husband's death Dorothy Clotilda Shuttleworth remarried in 1914, her second husband being Brigadier-General William McLaren Campbell (1864—1924) and she had a daughter by him, Anne Elspeth Campbell (1917-1986). Anne Campbell married H.S.H. Alexander Georg Maria Ignatius von Croy (1912—2002) in 1938 (they divorced in 1968) and they had three children.

Early life

Richard Shuttleworth was born at Old Warden Park in 1909; his father Frank Shuttleworth died when he was just 4 years old, and his mother Dorothy Shuttleworth brought him up to be ready to take over his inheritance, which he did in 1932 when he was 23. He was fascinated from an early age with any mechanical object, and this interest led to the nucleus of the present

, housed on his former estate. His interest in the family estate lead to him being elected President of the Bedfordshire Agricultural Society in 1935. He was educated at

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 ...

, where he was "just" accepted in 1922. He did not excel academically, except in Eton's School of Mechanics, and on leaving the college he attained the necessary qualifications through a "

crammer A cram school, informally called crammer and colloquially also referred to as test-prep or exam factory, is a specialized school that trains its students to achieve particular goals, most commonly to pass the entrance examinations of high school ...

" to join the Army. After passing out at Sandhurst he joined the 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers. A keen and accomplished horseman, between 1927 and 1932 he rode in the Oakley Club's Hunt, various point-to-points,

hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

s and in 1931 won the Subalterns Cup. On attaining his inheritance in 1932 he left the Army hoping to join 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 ...

, but was considered to be too old.

Motor vehicles

By this time he had already begun to collect and restore vintage cars. Richard Shuttleworth first took part in a

London to Brighton Veteran Car Run The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is the world's longest-running motoring event, held on a course between London () and Brighton (), England. To qualify, participating cars must have been built before 1905. It is also the world's largest g ...

in 1928. He often entered more than one car for this event. He participated 1928—1938 except for 1935 where: "R. O. Shuttleworth failed to send in his entry before the closing date, but joined up with the others at Westminster Bridge with a Benz. His companion at the wheel was Charles Martin, and their hairy goat-skin coats, which dated from the same period as the car, were much admired." He won the

Brighton Speed Trials The Brighton Speed Trials, in full The Brighton National Speed Trials, is commonly held to be the oldest running motor race. The first race was held 19–22 July 1905 after Sir Harry Preston persuaded Brighton town council to tarmac the surface ...

on a Bugatti Type 51 in 1934, and again in 1935 on an Alfa-Romeo P3 Tipo B, breaking Sir Malcolm Campbell's course record. He also won a one-off hill climb at Joel Park, Northwood Hill, Middlesex, on 22 June 1935, on a Bugatti, in a time of 30.16 seconds. His greatest victory came in the

Donington Grand Prix The Donington Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at the Donington Park circuit in Leicestershire, England, from 1935 to 1938. The Donington Grand Prix was held just four times, but quickly rose to prominence as one of the most importa ...

in 1935. He won the Mountain Championship 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, ...

later that year. In 1936 he had a bad crash in his Alfa Romeo at the

South African Grand Prix The South African Grand Prix was first run as a Grand Prix motor racing handicap race in 1934 at the Prince George Circuit at East London, Cape Province. It drew top drivers from Europe including Bernd Rosemeyer, Richard "Dick" Seaman, R ...

. The injuries suffered caused him to retire from motor racing. He was chairman of Railton Cars, Ltd and a member of the

British Racing Drivers' Club The British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) is an exclusive invitation-only members club for racecar drivers who are judged to have achieved success in the upper levels of motor sport for a number of seasons. Except under exceptional circumstances, me ...

(BRDC).''Motor Sport'', September 1945, Page 247.

Aircraft

Shuttleworth became interested in aviation and earned his pilot's licence. He collected old aircraft, repaired them for flight at workshops at

, Bedfordshire and flew them at air displays. He acquired a wrecked

Blériot XI The Blériot XI is a French aircraft of the pioneer era of aviation. The first example was used by Louis Blériot to make the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft, on 25 July 1909. This is one of the most fa ...

and a

Deperdussin 1910 monoplane The 1910 Deperdussin monoplane was the first aircraft to be built in significant quantities by Aéroplanes Deperdussin. The type was produced in a number of variants which were flown successfully in air races and gained several records during 19 ...

from a local businessman and restored them; the Blériot is now the world's oldest flying powered aircraft. When the

Second World War 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 ...

broke out Shuttleworth joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR). He reached the rank of

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

and was selected to join the Aircraft Crash Investigation Branch once he had completed his RAF flying training, and to achieve this in August 1940 he was training with No. 12 Operational Training Unit RAF at

RAF Mount Farm Royal Air Force Station Mount Farm or more simply RAF Mount Farm is a former Royal Air Force station located north of Dorchester, Oxfordshire, England. History USAAF use Mount Farm was originally a satellite airfield for the RAF Photograp ...

, Oxfordshire. In the early hours of 2 August 1940 he took off in a

Fairey Battle The Fairey Battle is a British single-engine light bomber that was designed and manufactured by the Fairey Aviation Company. It was developed during the mid-1930s for the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a monoplane successor to the Hawker Hart and Hi ...

light bomber for a cross-country training exercise, but it crashed into a hill at nearby

Ewelme Ewelme () is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, north-east of the market town of Wallingford. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,048. To the east of the village is Cow Common and to the ...

and he was killed. Richard Shuttleworth is buried in the Shuttleworth family plot at the church of St Leonard in

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* Desmond, Kevin, 1982, ''Richard Shuttleworth: An Illustrated Biography'', London, Jane's Publishing Co Ltd. * Ogilvy, David, 1989, ''Shuttleworth — The Historic Aeroplanes'', Shrewsbury, Airlife Publishing Ltd. * Shuttleworth, Dorothy Clotida, ''Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth: Reminiscences of his life by his Mother'', No place or date (privately published) {{DEFAULTSORT:Shuttleworth, Richard 1909 births 1940 deaths People educated at Eton College Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in England Brighton Speed Trials people British car collectors Brooklands people English aviators Military personnel from Bedfordshire Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers officers Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1940 Royal Air Force pilots of World War II British World War II bomber pilots Grand Prix drivers