Edith Maud Cook
Encyclopedia
Edith Maud Cook also known as Viola Spencer-Kavanagh, Viola Spencer, Viola Kavanagh, and perhaps as Viola Fleet and Elsa Spencer, was an early British parachutist
, balloon
ist, and aviatrix
.
, Suffolk
, the daughter of James Wells Cook, a confectioner, and Mary Ann Baker. Her birthplace is marked by a plaque erected by the Ipswich Society in 2007.
Cook was variously known as Miss Spencer-Kavanagh, Viola Spencer-Kavanagh, Viola Spencer, and Viola Kavanagh. She is also reputed to have been known as Viola Fleet and Elsa Spencer, although another lady parachutist was using the latter name in 1919. It would seem that she used the names Viola Spencer and Viola Kavanagh when undertaking parachuting engagements, and the name Spencer-Kavanagh as an aviatrix. She worked for the Spencer Brothers and Auguste Eugene Gaudron.
In August 1908, she had a narrow escape when trying to make a parachute jump at Ilkeston
, Derbyshire
. On attaining the desired altitude she found that she could not detach the parachute from the balloon. Clinging on she continued to gain height and drifted during the night before she finally came down some twenty-five miles from her starting point. This event was widely reported in newspapers at the time.
She was reputed to have made over 300 parachute jumps in a career spanning over 10 years. She was reported in the newspapers to carry a small revolver with her as she could never be sure where she might land.
Edith was a pupil at the Blériot
flying school and at Claude Grahame White
's school at Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques in 1909 or early 1910, where she learnt to fly and according to journals of the day became the first British woman to pilot a plane.
She died from injuries sustained following a jump from a balloon at Coventry
on 9 July 1910. Her parachute collapsed after a gust of wind blew her on to a factory roof. It was reported that another gust of wind caught the parachute and she fell from the factory roof sustaining serious injuries. She died on the 14th, and an inquest was held on the 16th; her death certificate states the cause of her death as "Internal injuries, broken pelvis and arm, caused by a fall from a parachute. Accidental." Apparently Dolly Shepherd
had been due to make the jump at Coventry but Cook took her place.
In 2008 Suffolk Aviation Heritage Group launched a campaign to erect a statue to Edith Cook in her home town of Ipswich in Suffolk.
Parachuting
Parachuting, also known as skydiving, is the action of exiting an aircraft and returning to earth with the aid of a parachute. It may or may not involve a certain amount of free-fall, a time during which the parachute has not been deployed and the body gradually accelerates to terminal...
, balloon
Balloon
A balloon is an inflatable flexible bag filled with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. Modern balloons can be made from materials such as rubber, latex, polychloroprene, or a nylon fabric, while some early balloons were made of dried animal bladders, such as the pig...
ist, and aviatrix
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
.
Biography
Cook was born on 1 September 1878, in IpswichIpswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, the daughter of James Wells Cook, a confectioner, and Mary Ann Baker. Her birthplace is marked by a plaque erected by the Ipswich Society in 2007.
Cook was variously known as Miss Spencer-Kavanagh, Viola Spencer-Kavanagh, Viola Spencer, and Viola Kavanagh. She is also reputed to have been known as Viola Fleet and Elsa Spencer, although another lady parachutist was using the latter name in 1919. It would seem that she used the names Viola Spencer and Viola Kavanagh when undertaking parachuting engagements, and the name Spencer-Kavanagh as an aviatrix. She worked for the Spencer Brothers and Auguste Eugene Gaudron.
In August 1908, she had a narrow escape when trying to make a parachute jump at Ilkeston
Ilkeston
Ilkeston is a town within the Borough of Erewash, in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the River Erewash, from which the local borough takes its name. Its population at the 2001 census was 37,550...
, Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
. On attaining the desired altitude she found that she could not detach the parachute from the balloon. Clinging on she continued to gain height and drifted during the night before she finally came down some twenty-five miles from her starting point. This event was widely reported in newspapers at the time.
She was reputed to have made over 300 parachute jumps in a career spanning over 10 years. She was reported in the newspapers to carry a small revolver with her as she could never be sure where she might land.
Edith was a pupil at the Blériot
Louis Blériot
Louis Charles Joseph Blériot was a French aviator, inventor and engineer. In 1909 he completed the first flight across a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft, when he crossed the English Channel. For this achievement, he received a prize of £1,000...
flying school and at Claude Grahame White
Claude Grahame White
Claude Grahame White was an English pioneer of aviation, and the first to make a night flight, during the Daily Mail sponsored 1910 London to Manchester air race.-Early life:...
's school at Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques in 1909 or early 1910, where she learnt to fly and according to journals of the day became the first British woman to pilot a plane.
She died from injuries sustained following a jump from a balloon at Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
on 9 July 1910. Her parachute collapsed after a gust of wind blew her on to a factory roof. It was reported that another gust of wind caught the parachute and she fell from the factory roof sustaining serious injuries. She died on the 14th, and an inquest was held on the 16th; her death certificate states the cause of her death as "Internal injuries, broken pelvis and arm, caused by a fall from a parachute. Accidental." Apparently Dolly Shepherd
Dolly Shepherd
Dolly Shepherd , was born in Potters Bar as Elizabeth Shepherd. She was a pre-eminent parachutist and fairground entertainer in the Edwardian and Georgian eras, renowned for her exceptional courage...
had been due to make the jump at Coventry but Cook took her place.
In 2008 Suffolk Aviation Heritage Group launched a campaign to erect a statue to Edith Cook in her home town of Ipswich in Suffolk.