Edna Eileen Mary Gray

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, (25 April 1920 – 20 May 2015) was an international bicycle racer who founded the Women's Cycle Racing Association, and was president of the British Cycling Federation. She was also mayor of the

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a borough in southwest London. The main town is Kingston upon Thames and it includes Surbiton, Chessington, Malden Rushett, New Malden and Tolworth. It is the oldest of the four royal boroughs in Eng ...

and Olympic torchbearer for the 2012 London Olympics.

Early life

Gray was born in

Bermondsey Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham ...

, London, on 25 April 1920. As a youngster she lived in

Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half ...

, near

Herne Hill Velodrome The Herne Hill Velodrome is a velodrome in Herne Hill, in south London. It is one of the oldest cycling tracks in the world, having been built in 1891. It hosted the track cycling events in the 1948 Summer Olympics and was briefly the home of Cry ...

. 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 opposing ...

she was an engineer, a protected occupation which allowed her to look after her hospitalised mother. While a quality controller in an engine factory on the

Harrow Road The Harrow Road is an ancient route in North West London which runs from Paddington in a northwesterly direction towards Harrow. It is also the name given to the immediate surrounding area of Queens Park and Kensal Green, straddling the NW10, ...

, a rail strike disrupted her travel from Herne Hill and she took up cycling, commuting through bomb-damaged streets. She joined the Apollo cycling club; other nearby clubs would not admit women.

Cycling career

In 1946 Gray competed in a women's race at

Ordrup Ordrup is a district of Gentofte Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located circa north of the city centre. History Ordrup was originally a small village which only consisted of eight farms and a forge. The area ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark, in Britain's first women's international team. In the Women's Cycle Racing Association, she promoted the cause of women's cycle racing. In 1976 Gray became president of the British Cycling Federation, (now known as

British Cycling British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the main national governing body for cycle sport in Great Britain. It administers most competitive cycling in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It represents Bri ...

Awards and celebrations

In 1991, aged 71, she was given a page in the

Golden Book of Cycling The ''Golden Book of Cycling'' was created in 1932 by ''Cycling'', a British cycling magazine, to celebrate "the Sport and Pastime of Cycling by recording the outstanding rides, deeds and accomplishments of cyclists, officials and administrat ...

, where she was described as ''a champion of women's racing and an administrator of vision and authority''. In 2010 Gray became one of the initial inductees into the

British Cycling Hall of Fame The British Cycling Hall of Fame was established in 2009 as part of British Cycling's 50th anniversary celebrations. On 17 December 2009, the names of fifty one people involved in cycling to be inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame wer ...

, cited as "founding the Women's Cycle Racing Association of which she became BCF President" and as ''key to women's racing becoming part of the Olympics from 1984''. Gray was a torchbearer in Kingston for the 2012 London Olympics, on Tuesday 24 July .

Freemasonry

In 2005 the BBC reported that Gray was the head of The Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Masons, one of two orders of women's Freemasons in the UK. In 2001, in a public message to the Women's Masonic Fraternity, she wrote that she had been a freemason for more than 50 years.

Local government

Gray was a Conservative councillor between 1982 and 1998 in

and was mayor of the borough for a year from May 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Eileen 1920 births 2015 deaths People from Bermondsey Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English female cyclists English Freemasons Mayors of places in Greater London Women mayors of places in England Women councillors in England Councillors in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames