Elsie Mackay
Encyclopedia
For the American actress Elsie Mackay please see Elsie Mackay (actress)
The Honourable
Elsie Mackay (circa 1893– circa 13 March 1928) was a British
actress, interior decorator and pioneering aviatrix
who died attempting to cross the Atlantic Ocean
with Walter G. R. Hinchliffe in a single engined Stinson Detroiter
.
, India to James Mackay, 1st Earl of Inchcape
of Strathnaver, a British
colonial administrator in India
who became chairman of the Peninsular & Oriental Steamship Co. and Jean Paterson Shanks. Her father was serving as President of the Bengal
Chamber of Commerce
, as a member of the Legislative Council of the Viceroy of India, and as a member of the Council of the Secretary of State for India
.
She was reportedly disinherited by her family after eloping with actor Dennis Wyndham
to be married on on 23 May 1917. She appeared on the stage and screen as Poppy Wyndham from 1919 through 1921. This marriage was annulled in 1922.
s and public spaces for her father's shipping line
, the Peninsular & Oriental Steamship Co. In 1923 she launched the RMS Maloja
, and went on to design much of the interiors for the four P&O "R" class ships of 1925: 'SS Rawalpindi
', 'SS Ranchi
', 'Ranpura' and 'SS Rajputana
', plus the RMS Viceroy of India
in 1927.
Flying School, probably the second woman since World War I
after 'Mrs Atkey', bought a plane, and expressed a determination to be the first woman to fly the Atlantic Ocean
. She was regarded as a contemporary role model
amongst women, with dark looks, graceful manner, habitually well-gowned and bejeweled appearance. She was renowned for driving her Rolls Royce
at great speed, galloping her horses, plus being a familiar sight in her Avro
biplane
in the skies over South Ayrshire
and Wigtownshire
. She even participated in an "outside loop," the most dangerous of all stunts in air, with Capt. E. C. D. Herne as her pilot. During this manoeuvre her safety-strap broke but she clung to bracing wires while her body swung outside the plane like a stone twirled on the end of a piece of string. She was one of the first women in Britain to gain her Royal Aero Club
pilot’s licence and was later elected to the advisory committee of pilots to the British Empire
Air League
.
ambition Elsie Mackay bought a Stinson Detroiter
, having been impressed by the aircraft during Ruth Elder's failed 1927 transatlantic attempt (despite an oil leak causing the failure 300 miles over the Atlantic). It was shipped from the USA to England and delivered to the Brooklands
motor racing
track, which at the time was also used as an airfield. She named it 'Endeavour'. It was a monoplane
with gold tipped wings and a black fuselage
, powered by a 9 cylinder, 300 h.p. Wright Whirlwind
J-6-9 (R-975) engine, with a cruising speed of 84 m.p.h.
In early March 1928 the Daily Express
discovered that Captain Hinchliffe and Elsie were preparing for a transatlantic attempt by carrying out test flights at RAF Cranwell
and were staying at 'The George Hotel' in Leadenham
near Grantham
. The story was silenced by Mackay's threatened legal action
as she intended to depart in secret while her father was in Egypt
, having promised her family she would not make the attempt.
At 8:35 am on 13 March 1928 'Endeavour' took off from RAF Cranwell
, Lincolnshire
, with minimal fuss as Walter had told only two friends he was going and Elsie registered under the pseudonym
of 'Gordon Sinclair'. Approximately 5 hours later, at 1.30 pm the Chief lighthouse keeper
at Mizen Head
on the south west coast of Cork
Ireland
saw the monoplane over the village of Crookhaven
, on the great circle
course for Newfoundland. A French steamer the SS Josiah Macy later reported seeing them still on course, but nothing else is known. A crowd of 5,000 is reputed to have waited for them at Mitchel Field, Long Island
. In December 1928, 8 months later, a single piece of identifiable undercarriage (a wheel with a serial number
on it) washed ashore in North West Ireland.
window in the chancel
of Glenapp church
(55.0288°N 5.014°W) in the parish
of Ballantrae
, Ayrshire
(where her father owned the Glenapp estate
) Rhododendrons
, now somewhat overgrown, spell out "Elsie" on the opposite side of the glen. A street is named after her in Gander
, Newfoundland and Labrador
. Her financial legacy was the 'Elsie Mackay Fund', a £500,000 trust that was left to the British nation on 12 December 1928, for 50 years and used to help pay off the national debt
.
Elsie Mackay (actress)
For the English aviator and actress known as 'Poppy Wyndham' please see Elsie MackayElsie Mackay was an American actress on Broadway and films in the 1920s and 1930s.-Private life:...
The Honourable
The Honourable
The prefix The Honourable or The Honorable is a style used before the names of certain classes of persons. It is considered an honorific styling.-International diplomacy:...
Elsie Mackay (circa 1893– circa 13 March 1928) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actress, interior decorator and pioneering 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...
who died attempting to cross the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
with Walter G. R. Hinchliffe in a single engined Stinson Detroiter
Stinson Detroiter
|-See also:...
.
Biography
She was born in 1893 in ShimlaShimla
Shimla , formerly known as Simla, is the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of the British Raj in India. A popular tourist destination, Shimla is often referred to as the "Queen of Hills," a term coined by the British...
, India to James Mackay, 1st Earl of Inchcape
James Mackay, 1st Earl of Inchcape
James Lyle Mackay, 1st Earl of Inchcape, GCSI, GCMG, KCIE was a British colonial administrator in India.Mackay was the second son of James Mackay of Arbroath and his wife, Deborah Lyle...
of Strathnaver, a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
colonial administrator in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
who became chairman of the Peninsular & Oriental Steamship Co. and Jean Paterson Shanks. Her father was serving as President of the Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
, as a member of the Legislative Council of the Viceroy of India, and as a member of the Council of the Secretary of State for India
Secretary of State for India
The Secretary of State for India, or India Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister responsible for the government of India and the political head of the India Office...
.
She was reportedly disinherited by her family after eloping with actor Dennis Wyndham
Dennis Wyndham
Dennis Wyndham was a South African film actor. He appeared in 47 films between 1920 and 1956. He was born in Natal, South Africa....
to be married on on 23 May 1917. She appeared on the stage and screen as Poppy Wyndham from 1919 through 1921. This marriage was annulled in 1922.
Theatre and film
Poppy Wyndham's film career included :- A Great CoupA Great CoupA Great Coup is a 1919 British silent sports film directed by George Dewhurst and Walter West and starring Stewart Rome, Poppy Wyndham and Gregory Scott. It was based on a novel by Nat Gould...
(1919) as Kate Hampton, - 'Snow in the Desert' (1919),
- 'Many a Slip' (1919) as The Girl,
- 'Nothing But the Truth' (1920) as Gwendolyn Gerald,
- 'A Dead Certainty' (1920) as Pat Stone,
- 'The Town of Crooked Ways' (1920) as Queenie Clay,
- 'The Tidal Wave' (1920) (as Carmen Hale / Columbine),
- 'A Son of David' (1920) as Esther Raphael
Interior design
After the marriage to Wyndham was annulled she returned to her family and developed a career as an interior decorator, creating lavish interiors, state roomState room
A state room in a large European mansion is usually one of a suite of very grand rooms which were designed to impress. The term was most widely used in the 17th and 18th centuries. They were the most lavishly decorated in the house and contained the finest works of art...
s and public spaces for her father's shipping line
Shipping
Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...
, the Peninsular & Oriental Steamship Co. In 1923 she launched the RMS Maloja
RMS Maloja
RMS Maloja was an English steam-powered ocean liner that saw service during the first part of the twentieth century.The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company placed the order for RMS Maloja with Harland and Wolff Ltd on 29 November 1918. Yard No. 588 was assigned to the project and work...
, and went on to design much of the interiors for the four P&O "R" class ships of 1925: 'SS Rawalpindi
HMS Rawalpindi
HMS Rawalpindi was a British armed merchant cruiser that was sunk during the Second World War.-Merchant service:...
', 'SS Ranchi
SS Ranchi
The SS Ranchi was a British passenger and cargo carrying ocean liner. During World War II she served as an armed merchant cruiser HMS Ranchi.-P&O career:...
', 'Ranpura' and 'SS Rajputana
SS Rajputana
The SS Rajputana was a British passenger and cargo carrying ocean liner. She was built for the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company at the Harland and Wolff docks on the River Clyde near Glasgow, Scotland in 1925. She was one of the P&O 'R' class liners from 1925 that had much of their...
', plus the RMS Viceroy of India
RMS Viceroy of India
The RMS Viceroy of India was an ocean liner that was owned and operated by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company Ltd. of Great Britain....
in 1927.
Flying
In 1923 she took up flying, gaining her pilot's license at the De HavillandDe Havilland
The de Havilland Aircraft Company was a British aviation manufacturer founded in 1920 when Airco, of which Geoffrey de Havilland had been chief designer, was sold to BSA by the owner George Holt Thomas. De Havilland then set up a company under his name in September of that year at Stag Lane...
Flying School, probably the second woman since World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
after 'Mrs Atkey', bought a plane, and expressed a determination to be the first woman to fly the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. She was regarded as a contemporary role model
Role model
The term role model generally means any "person who serves as an example, whose behaviour is emulated by others".The term first appeared in Robert K. Merton's socialization research of medical students...
amongst women, with dark looks, graceful manner, habitually well-gowned and bejeweled appearance. She was renowned for driving her Rolls Royce
Rolls-Royce (car)
This a list of Rolls-Royce motor cars and includes vehicles produced by:*Rolls-Royce Limited *Rolls-Royce Motors , which was owned by Vickers between 1980 and 1998, and after that by Volkswagen...
at great speed, galloping her horses, plus being a familiar sight in her Avro
Avro
Avro was a British aircraft manufacturer, with numerous landmark designs such as the Avro 504 trainer in the First World War, the Avro Lancaster, one of the pre-eminent bombers of the Second World War, and the delta wing Avro Vulcan, a stalwart of the Cold War.-Early history:One of the world's...
biplane
Biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
in the skies over South Ayrshire
South Ayrshire
South Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway....
and Wigtownshire
Wigtownshire
Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown is a registration county in the Southern Uplands of south west Scotland. Until 1975, the county was one of the administrative counties used for local government purposes, and is now administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway...
. She even participated in an "outside loop," the most dangerous of all stunts in air, with Capt. E. C. D. Herne as her pilot. During this manoeuvre her safety-strap broke but she clung to bracing wires while her body swung outside the plane like a stone twirled on the end of a piece of string. She was one of the first women in Britain to gain her Royal Aero Club
Royal Aero Club
The Royal Aero Club is the national co-ordinating body for Air Sport in the United Kingdom.The Aero Club was founded in 1901 by Frank Hedges Butler, his daughter Vera and the Hon Charles Rolls , partly inspired by the Aero Club of France...
pilot’s licence and was later elected to the advisory committee of pilots to the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
Air League
Air League
For the Air League , see Australian Air LeagueThe Air League is an aviation society in the United Kingdom, founded in 1909.The aims and mission of the Air League are to promote the cause of British aviation by:...
.
Transatlantic Flight
To achieve her transatlanticTransatlantic flight
Transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean. A transatlantic flight may proceed east-to-west, originating in Europe or Africa and terminating in North America or South America, or it may go in the reverse direction, west-to-east...
ambition Elsie Mackay bought a Stinson Detroiter
Stinson Detroiter
|-See also:...
, having been impressed by the aircraft during Ruth Elder's failed 1927 transatlantic attempt (despite an oil leak causing the failure 300 miles over the Atlantic). It was shipped from the USA to England and delivered to the Brooklands
Brooklands
Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England. It opened in 1907, and was the world's first purpose-built motorsport venue, as well as one of Britain's first airfields...
motor racing
Auto racing
Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...
track, which at the time was also used as an airfield. She named it 'Endeavour'. It was a monoplane
Monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
with gold tipped wings and a black fuselage
Fuselage
The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
, powered by a 9 cylinder, 300 h.p. Wright Whirlwind
Wright Whirlwind
The Wright R-975 Whirlwind was a series of nine-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by the Wright Aeronautical division of Curtiss-Wright. These engines had a displacement of about 975 in³ and power ratings of 300-450 hp...
J-6-9 (R-975) engine, with a cruising speed of 84 m.p.h.
In early March 1928 the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
discovered that Captain Hinchliffe and Elsie were preparing for a transatlantic attempt by carrying out test flights at RAF Cranwell
RAF Cranwell
RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. It is currently commanded by Group Captain Dave Waddington...
and were staying at 'The George Hotel' in Leadenham
Leadenham
Leadenham is a village in North Kesteven, Lincolnshire, bypassed to the south in 1995 by the A17. It is on the A607 between Welbourn and Fulbeck, on the beginnings of the Lincoln Cliff.-The Village:...
near Grantham
Grantham
Grantham is a market town within the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It bestrides the East Coast Main Line railway , the historic A1 main north-south road, and the River Witham. Grantham is located approximately south of the city of Lincoln, and approximately east of Nottingham...
. The story was silenced by Mackay's threatened legal action
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
as she intended to depart in secret while her father was in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, having promised her family she would not make the attempt.
At 8:35 am on 13 March 1928 'Endeavour' took off from RAF Cranwell
RAF Cranwell
RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. It is currently commanded by Group Captain Dave Waddington...
, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, with minimal fuss as Walter had told only two friends he was going and Elsie registered under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of 'Gordon Sinclair'. Approximately 5 hours later, at 1.30 pm the Chief lighthouse keeper
Lighthouse keeper
A lighthouse keeper is the person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Keepers were needed to trim the wicks, replenish fuel, wind clockworks and perform maintenance tasks such as cleaning...
at Mizen Head
Mizen Head
Mizen Head , is located at the extremity of a peninsula in the district of Carbery in County Cork, Ireland. It is one of the extreme points of the island of Ireland and is a major tourist attraction, noted for its dramatic cliff scenery...
on the south west coast of Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
saw the monoplane over the village of Crookhaven
Crookhaven
Crookhaven is a village in County Cork, Ireland, on the most southwestern tip of Ireland. A winter population of about forty swells in the summer to about four hundred with the occupants of the many holiday homes arriving.-History:...
, on the great circle
Great circle
A great circle, also known as a Riemannian circle, of a sphere is the intersection of the sphere and a plane which passes through the center point of the sphere, as opposed to a general circle of a sphere where the plane is not required to pass through the center...
course for Newfoundland. A French steamer the SS Josiah Macy later reported seeing them still on course, but nothing else is known. A crowd of 5,000 is reputed to have waited for them at Mitchel Field, Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. In December 1928, 8 months later, a single piece of identifiable undercarriage (a wheel with a serial number
Serial number
A serial number is a unique number assigned for identification which varies from its successor or predecessor by a fixed discrete integer value...
on it) washed ashore in North West Ireland.
Commemoration
Elsie Mackay is commemorated by a stained glassStained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
window in the chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
of Glenapp church
Glenapp Castle
Glenapp Castle, formerly the family seat of the Earl of Inchcape, is now a luxury hotel and restaurant located in Ballantrae, South Ayrshire, Scotland....
(55.0288°N 5.014°W) in the parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of Ballantrae
Ballantrae
Ballantrae is a community in Carrick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. The name probably comes from the Scottish Gaelic Baile na Tràgha, meaning the "town by the beach"....
, Ayrshire
Ayrshire
Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...
(where her father owned the Glenapp estate
Glenapp Castle
Glenapp Castle, formerly the family seat of the Earl of Inchcape, is now a luxury hotel and restaurant located in Ballantrae, South Ayrshire, Scotland....
) Rhododendrons
Rhododendron
Rhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...
, now somewhat overgrown, spell out "Elsie" on the opposite side of the glen. A street is named after her in Gander
Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador
Gander is a Canadian town located in the northeastern part of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, approximately south of Gander Bay, south of Twillingate and east of Grand Falls-Windsor...
, Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
. Her financial legacy was the 'Elsie Mackay Fund', a £500,000 trust that was left to the British nation on 12 December 1928, for 50 years and used to help pay off the national debt
Government debt
Government debt is money owed by a central government. In the US, "government debt" may also refer to the debt of a municipal or local government...
.
External links
- BBC Radio 4 Making History - Elsie Mackay overview
- West over the Waves - Elsie Mackay tribute site
- Picture of Poppy Wyndham at 'Find a Grave'
- Pictures of Elsie, her father and mother, and Capt. Walter G. R. Hinchliffe and an erroneous Fokker composite image at Jamd.com
- Images and Info of Stinson Detroiter SM-1 at Airliners.net