Violette Cordery (married name Hindmarsh; 10 January 1900 – 30 December 1983) was a British racing driver and long distance record breaker.

Early life

Cordery was born in London to Henry Cordery and had an elder sister (Lucy)/Leslie and a younger sister Evelyn who also participated in her driving exploits.

Motoring

Cordery was employed as a driver to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Noel Macklin Sir (Albert) Noel Campbell Macklin (28 October 1886 – 1946) was an innovative British car maker and boat designer. He founded Eric-Campbell in 1919, Silver Hawk in 1920, Invicta in 1925 and Railton in 1933. In 1939 he founded Fairmile Mari ...

of the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

(RNVR) at

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maids ...

. He subsequently invalided out of the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1915 and transferred to the RNVR. Macklin was married to her elder sister Lucy. In 1920 she competed in the

South Harting South Harting is a village within Harting civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 ...

hill climb driving a

Silver Hawk ''Silver Hawk'' is a 2004 Hong Kong-Chinese superhero film directed by Jingle Ma and starring Michelle Yeoh, Richie Jen, Luke Goss, Brandon Chang, Adrian Cooper Lastra and Michael White. Yeoh plays the title character, a masked comic book s ...

, manufactured by Noel Macklin. Cordery also competed in two British Motor Cycle Racing Club handicap events driving an Eric-Campbell, also manufactured by Noel Macklin. In May 1921 she won the ladies' race at the Junior Car Club meeting, averaging . In 1925 she publicised the new Invicta car, also manufactured by Noel Macklin, by racing and breaking records. At the West Kent Motor Club meeting at Brooklands she won the half mile sprint in a 2.7 litre Invicta, and went on other victories and records. In 1926 she set a long distance record at the

Autodromo Nazionale Monza The Monza Circuit ( it, Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, , National Automobile Racetrack of Monza) is a race track near the city of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy. Built in 1922, it was the world's third purpose-built motor racing circuit afte ...

, Italy, when she co-drove a 19.6 hp Invicta for at . In July 1926 she averaged for at

Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry Autodrome de Montlhéry (established 4 October 1924) is a motor racing circuit, officially called L’autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry, owned by Utac, located south-west of the small town of Montlhéry about south of Paris. History Industria ...

, Paris, and became the first woman to be awarded the

Dewar Trophy The Dewar Trophy was a cup donated in the early years of the twentieth century by Sir Thomas R. Dewar, M.P. a member of parliament of the United Kingdom (UK), to be awarded each year by the Royal Automobile Club (R. A .C.) of the United Kingdom "t ...

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 ...

. In 1927 she drove an Invicta around the world in five months, covering at an average speed of . She traveled through Europe, Africa, India, Australia, the United States, and Canada accompanied by a nurse, a mechanic, and a Royal Automobile Club observer. In 1929, with her younger sister Evelyn, she covered of the

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 ...

circuit within 30,000 minutes (approximately 20 days, 20 hours) at an average speed and earning a second Dewar Trophy from the Royal Automobile Club. By 1930 her 4.5-litre Invicta tourer had completed return journeys from

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Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

, London to John O'Groats and London to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Family life

Cordery married the racing driver and aviator

John Stuart Hindmarsh John Stuart Hindmarsh (25 November 1907 – 6 September 1938) was an English racecar driver and aviator. Career Hindmarsh was educated at Sherborne, Dorset and then attended the Royal Military College. He joined the Royal Army Tank Corps in ...

on 15 September 1931 at Stoke D'Abernon parish church. They had two daughters, of whom Susan married the racing driver Roy Salvadori. Widowed in 1938 by Hindmarsh's death while test flying a

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...

, she retired from public life until her death on 30 December 1983 in Oxshott, Surrey. She was cremated at Randalls Park crematorium.Obituary - Roy Salvadori

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

, 6 June 2012, by

Alan Henry Alan Henry (9 June 1947 – 3 March 2016) was a British Grand Prix reporter and book author. Career Henry had been a Grand Prix reporter since the early 1970s. He was the Formula One correspondent of ''The Guardian'' newspaper and until the end o ...

References

External links

British Pathe Video of Violet Cordery's Invicta beginning its 'Round the World' trip in 1927
*Tejera, P. (2018).
Reinas de la carretera
'. Madrid: Ediciones Casiopea. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cordery, Violette English female racing drivers English racing drivers Brooklands people Land speed record people English feminists 1900 births 1983 deaths English rally drivers Female rally drivers People from Oxshott Circumnavigators of the globe