Hilda Hewlett
Encyclopedia
Hilda Beatrice Hewlett was the first British
aviatrix
to earn a pilot's licence. She was also a successful early aviation entrepreneur
. She created and ran the first flying school in the United Kingdom
. She also created and managed a successful aircraft
manufacturing business which produced more than 800 aeroplanes and employed up to 700 people. She later emigrated to New Zealand
.
, London
on 17 February 1864 to Louisa Herbert née Hopgood and George William Herbert. Her father was a Church of England
vicar
. Hilda was one of nine siblings.
As a young woman she attended the National Art Training School
in South Kensington
. She specialised in three skills which served her well in her later aviation engineering career: woodwork, metalwork, and needlework. Her art was good enough to be exhibited. When she was 19 she visited Egypt
with her parents. At the age of 21 she spent a year training as a nurse at a hospital in Berlin
. She was an early bicycle
and motor car
enthusiast and participated in automobile rallies.
She married Maurice Henry Hewlett
on 3 January 1888 in St. Peter's Church, Vauxhall, where her father was the incumbent. The couple had two children, a daughter, Pia, and a son, Francis, but separated in 1914. Maurice Hewlett was unsympathetic to his wife's involvement in aviation and claimed, "Women will never be as successful in aviation as men. They have not the right kind of nerve."
in 1909. Later that year, after adopting the pseudonym "Grace Bird", she travelled to the airfield at Mourmelon-le-Grand, France
, to study aeronautics. She met aviation engineer Gustav Blondeau
and they became business partners. Hewlett returned to England
with a Farman
biplane
, nickname
d the Blue Bird, and Blondeau and in the summer of 1910 they opened the first flying school in the United Kingdom at the Brooklands
motor-racing circuit at Weybridge
, Surrey
. Many people gained their first experience of flying at Hewlett and Blondeau's school, including Thomas Sopwith
. Thirteen pupils graduated from the school in the year and a half it operated and, with a remarkable safety record for the time, there were no accidents.
On 29 August 1911, at Brooklands, Hilda Hewlett became the first woman in the UK to earn a pilot's licence when she received certificate No.122 from the Royal Aero Club
after completing the test in her biplane. Hewlett also taught her son, Francis, to fly; he earned his pilot's certificate on 14 November 1911 and went on to have a distinguished military aviation career in both the UK and New Zealand
, making him the first military pilot taught to fly by his mother. He earned a Distinguished Service Order
in 1915 and rose to the rank of Group Captain
.
Hilda Hewlett participated in airshows and aviation competitions. On 11 September 1911 she flew her Farman biplane in an airshow at Chelson Meadow, Plymouth
. In 1912 Hewlett won a quick-start aviation competition.
Hewlett and Blondeau started an aircraft manufacturing business, Hewlett & Blondeau Limited, which was managed by Hewlett. They built Farman
, Caudron
and Hanriot
aircraft under licence. The business began at Brooklands, moved to Clapham
, London, and finally settled on a 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) site at Leagrave
, Bedfordshire
, in May 1914. By August 1914 the company had produced 10 different types of aircraft. During the First World War
, Hewlett's company manufactured more than 800 military aircraft, a specialised 90 hp engine which the British government considered vital to the war effort, and employed up to 700 people. After the war the business diversified into making farming equipment, but the factory had closed by the end of October 1920. The site remained unsold until 1926. A road in Luton, Hewlett Road, was named after her in recognition of the importance of the company towards the war effort.
, Rarotonga
, and the United States
, but it was not until the factory site was sold that she emigrated to Tauranga
, New Zealand, with her daughter Pia Richards and Pia's family. Hilda stated, "The urge to escape from the three Cs, crowds, convention, and civilization, became strong." She enjoyed the outdoor life, especially camping and fishing. Her family gave her the nickname "Old Bird".
In June 1932 Hewlett was present at the inaugural meeting of the Tauranga Aero and Gliding Club. In July she was elected as the club's first president. In January 1939, at the opening of a new aerodrome in Tauranga, Frederick Jones, New Zealand's then Minister of Defence, named a nearby road after Hilda Hewlett and her son Francis, in recognition of their services to aviation.
Her grandson's wife Gail has carried out exhaustive research into the lives of both Hilda and Maurice Hewlett and recently published the results of this work; the book was officially launched on 26th April 2010 at St Peter's Church in Vauxhall, London.
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...
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...
to earn a pilot's licence. She was also a successful early aviation entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
. She created and ran the first flying school in the United Kingdom
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...
. She also created and managed a successful aircraft
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
manufacturing business which produced more than 800 aeroplanes and employed up to 700 people. She later emigrated to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
Early life
Hilda Beatrice Hewlett was born in VauxhallVauxhall
-Demography:Many Vauxhall residents live in social housing. There are several gentrified areas, and areas of terraced townhouses on streets such as Fentiman Road and Heyford Avenue have higher property values in the private market, however by far the most common type of housing stock within...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 17 February 1864 to Louisa Herbert née Hopgood and George William Herbert. Her father was a Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
. Hilda was one of nine siblings.
As a young woman she attended the National Art Training School
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
in South Kensington
South Kensington
South Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. It is a built-up area located 2.4 miles west south-west of Charing Cross....
. She specialised in three skills which served her well in her later aviation engineering career: woodwork, metalwork, and needlework. Her art was good enough to be exhibited. When she was 19 she visited 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...
with her parents. At the age of 21 she spent a year training as a nurse at a hospital in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. She was an early bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
and motor car
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
enthusiast and participated in automobile rallies.
She married Maurice Henry Hewlett
Maurice Hewlett
Maurice Henry Hewlett , was an English historical novelist, poet and essayist. He was born at Weybridge, the eldest son of Henry Gay Hewlett, of Shaw Hall, Addington, Kent. He was educated at the London International College, Spring Grove, Isleworth, and was called to the bar in 1891. He gave up...
on 3 January 1888 in St. Peter's Church, Vauxhall, where her father was the incumbent. The couple had two children, a daughter, Pia, and a son, Francis, but separated in 1914. Maurice Hewlett was unsympathetic to his wife's involvement in aviation and claimed, "Women will never be as successful in aviation as men. They have not the right kind of nerve."
Achievements in aviation
Hewlett attended her first aviation meeting at BlackpoolBlackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
in 1909. Later that year, after adopting the pseudonym "Grace Bird", she travelled to the airfield at Mourmelon-le-Grand, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, to study aeronautics. She met aviation engineer Gustav Blondeau
Gustav Blondeau
Gustav Jules Eugene Blondeau was an early pilot and went on to form Hewlett & Blondeau Limited, an aircraft manufacturer in the United Kindgdom. He was born on 8 March 1871 in Tregnier, France, and graduated from Farman Aircraft at Mourmelon in France on July 10, 1910 then joining the Gnome engine...
and they became business partners. Hewlett returned to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
with a Farman
Henry Farman
Henri Farman Henri Farman Henri Farman (26 May 1874 – 17 July 1958 was a French pilot, aviator and aircraft designer and manufacturer with his brother Maurice Farman. His family was British and he took French nationality in 1937.-Biography:...
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...
, nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
d the Blue Bird, and Blondeau and in the summer of 1910 they opened the first flying school in the United Kingdom at 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 circuit at Weybridge
Weybridge
Weybridge is a town in the Elmbridge district of Surrey in South East England. It is bounded to the north by the River Thames at the mouth of the River Wey, from which it gets its name...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. Many people gained their first experience of flying at Hewlett and Blondeau's school, including Thomas Sopwith
Thomas Sopwith
Sir Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith, CBE, Hon FRAeS was an English aviation pioneer and yachtsman.-Early life:...
. Thirteen pupils graduated from the school in the year and a half it operated and, with a remarkable safety record for the time, there were no accidents.
On 29 August 1911, at Brooklands, Hilda Hewlett became the first woman in the UK to earn a pilot's licence when she received certificate No.122 from the 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...
after completing the test in her biplane. Hewlett also taught her son, Francis, to fly; he earned his pilot's certificate on 14 November 1911 and went on to have a distinguished military aviation career in both the UK and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, making him the first military pilot taught to fly by his mother. He earned a Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
in 1915 and rose to the rank of Group Captain
Group Captain
Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...
.
Hilda Hewlett participated in airshows and aviation competitions. On 11 September 1911 she flew her Farman biplane in an airshow at Chelson Meadow, Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
. In 1912 Hewlett won a quick-start aviation competition.
Hewlett and Blondeau started an aircraft manufacturing business, Hewlett & Blondeau Limited, which was managed by Hewlett. They built Farman
Henry Farman
Henri Farman Henri Farman Henri Farman (26 May 1874 – 17 July 1958 was a French pilot, aviator and aircraft designer and manufacturer with his brother Maurice Farman. His family was British and he took French nationality in 1937.-Biography:...
, Caudron
Caudron
The Caudron Airplane Company was a French aircraft company founded in 1909 by brothers Gaston Caudron and René Caudron . It was one of the earliest aircraft manufacturers in France and produced planes for the military in both World War I and World War II...
and Hanriot
Hanriot
The Hanriot company was a French aircraft manufacturer.Following pioneering work, mainly with monoplanes, René Hanriot established a new company, Aeroplanes Hanriot et Cie in 1914...
aircraft under licence. The business began at Brooklands, moved to Clapham
Clapham
Clapham is a district in south London, England, within the London Borough of Lambeth.Clapham covers the postcodes of SW4 and parts of SW9, SW8 and SW12. Clapham Common is shared with the London Borough of Wandsworth, although Lambeth has responsibility for running the common as a whole. According...
, London, and finally settled on a 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) site at Leagrave
Leagrave
For other uses see Leagrave Leagrave is a former village and now a suburb of Luton in Bedfordshire in the northwest of the town. Connected by train from Leagrave station into London and Bedford by First Capital Connect...
, Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
, in May 1914. By August 1914 the company had produced 10 different types of aircraft. During the First World War
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...
, Hewlett's company manufactured more than 800 military aircraft, a specialised 90 hp engine which the British government considered vital to the war effort, and employed up to 700 people. After the war the business diversified into making farming equipment, but the factory had closed by the end of October 1920. The site remained unsold until 1926. A road in Luton, Hewlett Road, was named after her in recognition of the importance of the company towards the war effort.
Emigration to New Zealand
Hewlett had previously spent nine months touring New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Rarotonga
Rarotonga
Rarotonga is the most populous island of the Cook Islands, with a population of 14,153 , out of the country's total population of 19,569.The Cook Islands' Parliament buildings and international airport are on Rarotonga...
, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, but it was not until the factory site was sold that she emigrated to Tauranga
Tauranga
Tauranga is the most populous city in the Bay of Plenty region, in the North Island of New Zealand.It was settled by Europeans in the early 19th century and was constituted as a city in 1963...
, New Zealand, with her daughter Pia Richards and Pia's family. Hilda stated, "The urge to escape from the three Cs, crowds, convention, and civilization, became strong." She enjoyed the outdoor life, especially camping and fishing. Her family gave her the nickname "Old Bird".
In June 1932 Hewlett was present at the inaugural meeting of the Tauranga Aero and Gliding Club. In July she was elected as the club's first president. In January 1939, at the opening of a new aerodrome in Tauranga, Frederick Jones, New Zealand's then Minister of Defence, named a nearby road after Hilda Hewlett and her son Francis, in recognition of their services to aviation.
Death and afterwards
Hewlett died 21 August 1943 in Tauranga, New Zealand. Following a service on the railway wharf, she was buried at sea.Her grandson's wife Gail has carried out exhaustive research into the lives of both Hilda and Maurice Hewlett and recently published the results of this work; the book was officially launched on 26th April 2010 at St Peter's Church in Vauxhall, London.
Sources
Hewlett, Gail (2010) 'Old Bird - The Irrepressible Mrs Hewlett' (Troubadour Publishing Ltd, Leicester, ISBN 978 1848763 371)Published non-fiction
- Our Flying Men, Mrs. Hilda Beatrice Hewlett, pp. 40, T.B. Hart: KetteringKetteringKettering is a market town in the Borough of Kettering, Northamptonshire, England. It is situated about from London. Kettering is mainly situated on the west side of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene which meets at Wellingborough...
(1917).
Unpublished non-fiction
- Hewlett's autobiography was unpublished but the manuscript is in the care of her family and has recently formed the basis for a new biography (see above).
