Women racing drivers in the 1930s

Looking for any info/results etc,. on Miss M Patten who drove a British Salmson in 1936 in Torquay rally,Lewes speed trials, Blackpool rally, Brooklands high speed trials, grosser Bergpreis, Brightn Sp trials, Donnington park races, 1937 Monte Carlo Rally

Yesterday I decided to do a bit of internet research about women who were racing in the thirties. I found some great information (a lot of which was supplied by members here!)

I'd love to have more information, though. The drivers I found information about - but would like more - are:

Kay Petre
Violet Cordery
Gwenda Stewart
Eileen Ellison
Fay Taylour
Elsie Wisdom
Dorothy Champney
Dorothy Stanley Turner

It seems that several started their careers as motorbike racers. Was that the normal route in those days?

Edited by 275 GTB-4, 10 April 2013 - 09:55.

Miss Irene C. Schwedler took part in some Handicap races at Brooklands in the 30's.

I found those results

1931, October 17, BARC Meeting,
Women Handicap, 6.5 miles, 8 starters
1- Miss Fair Taylour, Talbot AV105 2970 cc
2- Mrs T. H. Wisdom, Invicta 4497 cc
3- Miss Irene C. Schwedler, Alvis 1645 cc


1932, June 18, BARC Inter-Club Meeting
Sport Long Handicap, 9 miles
1- Miss G. Hedges, Talbot 2276 cc
2- A. D. Taylor, Riley 1089 cc
3- Miss Irene C. Schwedler, Alvis 1645 cc

Stanley Cup (best Club of the day, on points)
1- Junior Car Club (H. J. Aldington/ Major A. T. G. Gardner/ P. F. Parker, 18 points
2- Women's Automobile and Sports Association (Miss G. Hedges/ Miss Schwedler/ Miss M. Allan, 17 points
3- Brighton & Hove Motor Club (holders), 15 points
4- Motor Cycling Club, 12 points
5ex- Cambridge University AC, 3 points
5ex- Light Car Club, 3 points


1933, July 8, BARC Inter-Club Meeting
Lightning Short Handicap, 6.5 miles
1- Miss I. C. Schwedler, Alvis 2511 cc
2- E. L. Bouts, Leyland-Thomas 7266 cc
3- Miss G. Hedges, Talbot 2276 cc

Stanley Cup
1- Frazer Nash CC, 48 points
2- Brighton and Hove MC, 25 points
3- Women's A and SA, 23 points
4- Mid-Surrey AC, 13 points
5- Junior CC, 6 points


1934, May 21, BARC Whit-Monday Meeting
Merrow Junior Short Handicap, 6.5 miles
1- D. A. Aldington, Frazer Nash 1496 cc
2- F. Allen, MG 747 cc
3- W. E. Humphreys, Alvis 1496 cc

P- Miss I. C. Schwedler, Alvis


1938, August 1, BARC Bank Holiday Meeting
The Talbot car race
1- C. A. Woodling, Talbot "10" Saloon
2- H. O. Radbbourne, Talbot "10" Saloon
3- Miss Fay Taylour, Talbot "10" Saloon

E-W. M. Couper, Talbot "10" Saloon
E- C. G. H. Dunham, Talbot "10" Saloon
E- I. C. Schwedler, Talbot "10" Saloon

Marc,   it seems that you have quite some information about "racing woman of the terties",  I'm searching for information or foto's about Mrs. Scudamore,  as I'm owning one of her Singers BKO736.   All information is welcome!

Thanks to the British Pathe archive (now on YouTube), some clips of the women drivers of the Thirties are preserved on film (some with sound).

1st to 5th March 1932: "Paddie" Naismith interviewed at the 1932 RAC Rally (in Torquay): http://www.youtube.c...h?v=FDA-tf0cZ0M

10th September 1932: "Paddie" Naismith wins the "Ladies Hadicap" at Brooklands: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=Dqb5yskGwSw

1934 Monte Carlo Rally: Greta Molander (2nd Coupe des Dames) and Marguerite Mareuse & Mlle Gonnot (3rd Coupe des Dames): http://www.youtube.c...h?v=iljpLhIKWUE

"Speed Duels (1935)": Kay Petre & Gwenda Stewart at Brooklands: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=s9BVMCN9J44

Edited by Roy C, 20 August 2014 - 16:46.

see the getty images

http://www.gettyimages.be/detail/nieuwsfoto's/mrs-scudamore-a-well-known-trials-driver-extols-the-nieuwsfotos/3090838?Language=nl

Another British Pathe clip on YouTube -

Elsie "Bill" Wisdom is interviewed on her return from winning the 1934 Alpine Trial in her Talbot 105 (BGH21): http://www.youtube.c...h?v=HgIt25dzc8w

Thanks to the information on the Austin Harris website that she was Mrs Aubrey Scudamore, I've just spent a frustrating couple of hours searching Ancestry. Initially, I thought I'd found her in the shape of the former Ethel Amelia Unwin, born 1895: she had married Harold Aubrey Scudamore on September 1st 1918 in Camberwell. However she seemed to have come from a humble background for someone involved in motor sport at that time: on the 1911 census she was working in a millinery workshop and her profession at the time of her marriage was 'machinist' and her father a 'hide hauler'.

Her husband seemed to have been somewhat more middle class: his father, who had died by the time of the 1911 census, had been a greengrocer with his own business - the 1891 census shows he was prosperous enough to have employed a housekeeper.

However, it all started to fall apart when I found their address - a small council flat in Bermondsey. Added to which Ethel Amelia Scudamore is recorded as having died in Lewisham in the third quarter of 1932, aged 37. Her husband died in Brighton in 1951.

So, she's obviously not the Mrs Scudamore in the Getty picture. Doesn't fit with a 1934 Singer either ...

I can't trace another Aubrey Scudamore. Nor (apparently) even a Mrs Audrey Scudamore. However there is a 1987 death record in Hereford for a Florence Audrey Scudamore, born 1902 - although from what little I can find she may have been a spinster, originally from Birmingham.

But Ancestry only has England and Wales records. Maybe she was a Scot? Or Irish? Maybe someone who has Cowbourne's 'British Trials Drivers' can tell us more?

I checked for Scudamores on "Scotlands People" .  There are postwar deaths for Adele in 1982, Jesse in 1974, and Lucy in 1957.  When looking in Scotland remember that women keep their maiden names for anything legal.  I have these ladies maiden names as Masikunas, Milne,  and Squires.  One would have to get their death certificates for more information, unless they show up in the Parish Records, but these don`t seem to be On-line for after 1854. 

If it's any help, she is listed in many rally results of the period (& Brooklands) as "Mrs C.G.Scudamore"

Edited by Roy C, 22 August 2014 - 06:49.

Aha! Found her! It is indeed the Florence Audrey Scudamore who died in Hereford! She was the wife of Charles Gilbert Scudamore, born June 7th 1899: he was the son of a doctor from Croydon and died in Hereford 1982. Profession probably engineer (which covers a multitude of sins!) They married in Midhurst in Sussex in 1926 and she was born Florence Audrey Greenwell in Winster, Derbyshire. On the 1911 census the family is listed as living at Dyke House, Felpham, Westhampnett: her father was 'of private means'.

Her husband had served in both the Army (Royal Engineers) and RAF at the tail end of the Great War and seems to have left the services at about the time they married. Phone book and travel records show them living at various addresses in Kent and Surrey during the 1930s and 1940s. It seems he re-enlisted in WW2. In the 1942 phone book he becomes 'Major Scudamore' and travel records suggest that by 1943 he was attached to the Ministry of Supply, working in Washington DC for at least a couple of years.

Can't find any further trace until 1970, when Colonel CG Scudamore is listed in the phone book as living at Canon Pyon House, Canon Pyon, near Hereford. That entry persists until his death.

^{from England & Wales births 1837-2006:}

_{FLORENCE AUDREY  GREENWELL}

_{Birth 3rd Quarter 1902}

_{District BAKEWELL}

^{from England & Wales deaths 1837-2007:}

^{FLORENCE AUDREY SCUDAMORE}

^{Birth Year 1902}

^{Died 1st Quarter 1987}

^{District HEREFORD}

_{from the London Gazette, 15th June 1984:}

Charles Gilbert Scudamore (College of Royal Engineers - Retired) died 26th March 1984

Canon Pyon House, Canon Pyon, Hereford

Edited by Roy C, 30 August 2014 - 10:09.

As she died in 1987 at the age of 85, is it possible to find out if she had children or grandchildern or other relatives?

According to the 1911 census, she had twin younger sisters, called Doreen and Madeline and born on March 23rd 1905.

Doreen married one Michael W S Bruce in 1925. It appears he was Rhodesian, but this marriage seems not to have lasted long, since she was married again in 1928. This time to a Douglas D Stewart. It is possible they moved to Kenya: if that is the case then it appears she was either dead or divorced by 1950.

Madeline died in Cheltenham in 1977. It appears she never married.

Thanks again Vitesse2

This is very interesting stuff. I had only come across Florence as an entrant in the RAC Rally in 1933.

"Stewart" and "Bruce" are both contemporary motorsporting names - could Florence have been an in-law relation to Victor and Mary Bruce, as Kay Petre was, or Gwenda Stewart's second husband?

This is very interesting stuff. I had only come across Florence as an entrant in the RAC Rally in 1933.

 

"Stewart" and "Bruce" are both contemporary motorsporting names - could Florence have been an in-law relation to Victor and Mary Bruce, as Kay Petre was, or Gwenda Stewart's second husband?

No, I think it's pure coincidence. I can't find any trace of Mr Bruce before he arrives from Rhodesia in 1915. Or after his marriage. There may be one or two DD Stewarts: the one who travelled to Kenya in 1950 probably lived in North Wales, whereas Ancestry seems to think that the one who married Doreen was born in Worthing and was a naval cadet in 1911. Worthing, of course, is not far from Westhampnett. But I couldn't find any definite proof they were one and the same person.

Hey,  Is there a possibility to find back the license plates history as when I bought the car (BKO736) i only got a V5 sheet on which i could find that the car has had from 1985  2 owners.

But I know that the "old" registration cards hold more information.   Where are those registration cards stored  as i believe that they (governement/ registration administration?!?)  have not thrown away those papers. 

Via this way i hope to find the history of the car and of the  first owner Mrs. Scudamore.

Sadly, it is highly likely the original documents no longer exist. The database is computerised. The DVLA may have a scan. I have no idea who to ask about this.

Are any motor clubs the car was associated with, still going? 

Hey,  Is there a possibility to find back the license plates history as when I bought the car (BKO736) i only got a V5 sheet on which i could find that the car has had from 1985  2 owners.

But I know that the "old" registration cards hold more information.   Where are those registration cards stored  as i believe that they (governement/ registration administration?!?)  have not thrown away those papers. 

Via this way i hope to find the history of the car and of the  first owner Mrs. Scudamore.

Well, BKO736 was issued some time in 1935. It's a Kent registration, which fits with the address details I found and also presumably indicates that the car still has its original number. This may help a little:

http://www.oldclassi....uk/history.htm

I'm no expert on this, but I think the procedure is to apply to DVLA using a form V888. See section 2 in this booklet:

https://www.gov.uk/g...7533/MIS546.pdf

Form V888:

https://www.gov.uk/g...V888_080814.pdf

However, as the car presumably isn't currently registered for UK road use or covered by a SORN (Statutory Off Road Notice) I suspect that will complicate things more than a little.

I have checked  in "Directgov" for  the existence of the 4 cars with lisence plates :

KJ9057   --->    no trace found in the Directgov                   (I have a picture of that car with Mrs. Scudamore in that trial) I don't believe the car still exists, but you never know.

AK0352  ---->   date of first registration:  06/11/1933,  year of manufacture: 1933        ( I know the english owner of this car)

BKO736 ---->   date of first registration:  06/11/1984,  year of manufacture: 1934        1984:  I believe  this is the date  when the V5 is created,  as from then on the car had 2 owners, I'm the 3rd.   So i "believe" that more information should be available in the "old paper log book"  ?????   

CKL888 ---->   no trace found in the Directgov,       I don't believe the car still exists,   but you never know  

You see i try to go via all ways i know,  and many thanks again to everybody replying in the forum. 

Edited by ivomat, 05 September 2014 - 12:40.

Does anyone know the given name of Miss G Hedges, who raced a Talbot (belonging to Patricia McOstrich), among other cars, at Brooklands?

According to the 1911 census, she had twin younger sisters, called Doreen and Madeline and born on March 23rd 1905.
 
Doreen married one Michael W S Bruce in 1925. It appears he was Rhodesian, but this marriage seems not to have lasted long, since she was married again in 1928. This time to a Douglas D Stewart. It is possible they moved to Kenya: if that is the case then it appears she was either dead or divorced by 1950.
 
Madeline died in Cheltenham in 1977. It appears she never married.

To "275 GTB-4" :    what do you mean by "then there is the Irish connection" ?    Do you believe there can be found another trace overthere?   

For  those who want to know:    the car is in superb condition and won at last september 2014  the "Best prewar sportscar" price  at the concours in Belvédère castle near Antwerp

http://www.antwerpconcours.be/index

To "275 GTB-4" :    what do you mean by "then there is the Irish connection" ?    Do you believe there can be found another trace overthere?

Does anyone know the given name of Miss G Hedges, who raced a Talbot (belonging to Patricia McOstrich), among other cars, at Brooklands?

Bit of a punt, but she could possibly be Fanny Eliza Grace Hedges, who died a spinster in Cirencester in 1959, aged 64. Also born in Cirencester. The initial G seems to be very unusual in combination with the surname Hedges for females born around the turn of the century. However, she is on both the 1901 and 1911 censuses simply as 'Grace Hedges' and if you google "Grace Hedges" + Cirencester, you'll see a newspaper search on Genes Reunited which suggests she was a grammar school girl - Gloucester Citizen, March 13th 1912.

Having said that, her background is somewhat different to McOstrich's - her father was a journeyman baker and two of her brothers, who were granted probate on her will, a 'retired aerodrome clerk' and a seed salesman. Nevertheless, Grace and Patricia were roughly the same age (Patricia's dates are 14/3/1898-9/1/1958 if you don't actually have them) and Patricia also died a spinster. In Patricia's case, probate was granted to another apparently unrelated spinster ...

About the scrap books of Mrs. scudamore:  that's just the question;   they were already lost in 1984 at the last visit of John Oliver. John  was a member of the Singers'Owners club.  It's a pitty but John has passed away  some time after the interview he had with Mrs. Scudamore. She was childless,   this means that it's impossible for me to find out relatives of her...   Perhaps someone  has  idees??? 

She may have had nieces and nephews to whom she was close. They would be fairly easy to find with something like Ancestry.

Bumping this for the Irene Schwedler information - 

I'm writing a bio of Irene for Speedqueens. It's quite difficult as there is almost no biographical information about Irene out there. I've got her race results and there's a copy of her pilot's license on Ancestry, but apart from that, she was an enigma.

Irene was born Ilse Charlotte and was a German national. It isn't clear when and why she came to be living in England in the 1930s. There is no record of her being interned during the war, but she stayed in the country, and competed again in 1947. Apparently, in 1947, she changed her name from Schwedler to Sadler. In the early 1950s, there was a Charlotte Sadler who drove Alvises and Rovers in rallies, the same cars that Irene used fifteen years before. She often competed alongside Hazel Dunham. Irene raced Gerald Dunham's Alvis in the 1930s, and I think Hazel Dunham was Gerald's daughter.  Is it possible that Ilse/Irene Schwedler and Charlotte Sadler were the same person?

Yes. See here.
 
I assume you have found date & place of her birth: 26 January 1906, Schwanheim.

Edited by ReWind, 23 April 2016 - 07:10.

To "Lotus Elise"   and/or  "Rewind" ,    as I am still searching for information of Mrs. Scudamore;   she had no children but perhaps  had nieces and nephews to whom she was close. They would be fairly easy to find with something like Ancestry (as you said before).   The problem is, that it's rather difficult to find more information as I'm living on the continent. Perhaps someone more familiar with those topics can help me.  She went  later in her lifteime  to Ireland where her late husband was breeding horses whilst Mrs. Scudamore bred heep - motoring sport took less important part of their life for a while.

Yes. See here.
 
I assume you have found date & place of her birth: 26 January 1906, Schwanheim.

Her naturalization papers say she was a 'garage proprietress', with a home address at 'Bonners', Pepperstock, nr Luton. (London Gazette 21 Nov 1947, p5522). However, it looks like she was perhaps only a lodger there; a wedding announcement in the Glasgow Herald suggests the house was owned by one Alexander Plummer. Same announcement is in The Times, which later records that the wedding was on November 1st 1947. Both Times pieces call Mr Plummer Alec T Plummer, but this seems to be a misprint for Alec F (Frederic) Plummer, who was an electrical engineer (see lots of references on Ancestry, but not at that address - look for Luton) and a Lt-Colonel in the Home Guard: http://lib.militarya...ml/page217.html 'The Hon Mrs Plummer' later regularly advertised Sealyham terriers for sale in The Times from 'Bonners', but I suspect 'The Hon' means we're not looking at Irene - Alec F married at least twice, but despite attending Mill Hill he seems to have come from fairly humble stock, so it looks like he managed to marry above his station at least once!

Since the Dunhams (and the family garage business, Dunham & Haines) were also Luton-based, Hazel is presumably the Hazel N Dunham whose birth was registered there in 1925. But as you may have found, it gets a bit murky from 1960 onwards!

She was still rallying as "Miss Sadler" after 1947, so I don't think she was married.

I'm going to do some more digging around her rally activities now. IIRC Charlotte Sadler navigated for Morna Vaughan as well on one of her more incident-filled Montes. One of Morna's navigators was a medical student she was supervising (Morna Vaughan was a surgeon).

Thank you Vitesse and ReWind.

EDIT: the med student who navigated Morna Vaughan was Charlotte Nash.

Edited by LotusElise, 23 April 2016 - 10:14.

Yes. See here.
 
I assume you have found date & place of her birth: 26 January 1906, Schwanheim.

Just a thought, Reinhard - might she be the daughter of the journalist Wilhelm Schwedler, who became the Chefredakteur of the Transocean press agency just after the Great War? He had seemingly been a big cheese in the Imperial Propaganda Ministry during that conflict. Irene appears in Britain about the time Transocean was forcibly amalgamated into the new Reich Propaganda Ministry in 1933 and the first mention of her at Brooklands in The Times (July 10th 1933) shows Dunham as driving a car which of which she was the entrant. Owning an Alvis and having the means to gain a pilot's licence, despite 'only' apparently being a private secretary (as noted on the certificate) suggests she wasn't short of a pfennig or two ...

Another off-the-wall thought connected to the above. Ancestry has a May 21st 1931 travel record (London-Hamburg, 1st class on the San Miguel) for a female FC Schwedler, born 1906, German citizen, country of future permanent residence England, profession 'foreign correspondent', living at 152a Haverstock Hill, NW3. That's just 500 yards from the 17 Howitt Road address on Irene's flying certificate, which is a block of what were then probably newly built flats. Both addresses very convenient for Belsize Park tube.

She was in the UK earlier than 1933 - 1930 at the least. 

I found another Schwedler lady, with a similar date of birth, coming into the UK in about 1931 on Ancestry, who was a teacher.

With the timing and her subsequent Anglicisation, I did wonder whether she was a German Jew escaping from Germany.