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Eileen Ellison


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#1 Jackie

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Posted 16 November 2004 - 03:27

I just found out that my son's great aunt, or second cousin or something (I'm hopeless at family relationships) was Eileen Ellison - who competed in the 1936 South African Grand Prix.

This is all I know about her, although if you Google her, you'll find a fabulous photograph of her in a Bugatti.

Does anyone know anything about her?

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#2 Ray Bell

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Posted 16 November 2004 - 03:37

Any chance you could post the url for the picture, Jackie?

And nice to see you back posting again, you leave it way too long...

#3 Jackie

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Posted 16 November 2004 - 03:49

Hi Ray,

Good to talk to you again. And thanks once again for helping me find info about my dad. Who, by the way, was eighty this year, still going strong, driving vintage Jags ans sending me sarcastic faxes from the UK :)

Here's the Url - hope it works - http://www.autoclust...ry/701a5680.png

#4 Ray Bell

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Posted 16 November 2004 - 03:55

You haven't got him on the net yet?

Is that your son's (very lucky!) great uncle or second cousin in law with her? Yes, it worked... thanks...

#5 Jackie

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Posted 16 November 2004 - 03:56

A bizarre thing - which I think you'll appreciate.

When I was a kid, a friend of my dad's (the Cortina connection) was Sir John Whitmore. I remember meeting him a few times.

Fast forward a good few years and I married a bloke whose last name was Whitmore. I never made any connection. This Whitmore and I had a son, who raced (I've mentioned this before) in karts in the UK and in SCCA races here in the US. I was divorced when by son was just a baby.

My ex has recently been in touch and said that, not only was Eileen Ellison a cousin, but Sir John Whitmore is a relative too.

I find this just all too bizarre....

#6 Jackie

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Posted 16 November 2004 - 03:59

Here's a composite image of my lad and Sir John Whitmore - a definite family resemblane, I think!

http://www.yorkshire...richsirjohn.jpg

#7 john medley

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Posted 16 November 2004 - 04:09

T P Cholmondeley Tapper and Eileen Ellison with her Type 37 Bugatti . The car became John Cummins' Bugatti Holden in Australia , both TP CT and EE drove it in various English and European events in 1934 -- 36 , South Africa 1936 probably its /their last appearance . TP CT wrote "Amateur Racing Driver " , made his racing debut in EE's Bugatti , but managed to not name her once in the book ( if my memory serves me correctly : I lost my copy of the book decades ago ).

This is a good photo , and there are lots of Eileen Ellison -- but I too know very little about her , and would like to know more .

#8 Ray Bell

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Posted 16 November 2004 - 04:25

Jackie... you might appreciate this story... John's heard it so I shan't bore him with it...

The longest surviving entrant in the 1928 Phillip Island 100 Miles Road Race (known popularly as the 1928 Australian Grand Prix) is (I hope he's still going...) Ken McKinney.

In 1934, he'd rid himself of his racing Austin 7 and was officiating at the Victorian Centenary Grand Prix (not an Australian Grand Prix... but a 300 mile race at Phillip Island... the longest openwheeler race ever held in this country).

Before the race, he made arrangements with the Riley entrant Bill Williamson. If Bill tired during the race, Ken (who was also an official of the meeting...) would take over and drive until either the finish or when Bill was ready to go again.

In the event, much to Ken's chagrin, Bill just kept going round and round and he never got his drive. Which was to be the last drive of his racing career.

So he never raced again... went fox hunting and other things... never went back to a circuit as far as I know.

Shortly after the war, he brought a daughter into the world. As she grew, she heard nothing about his racing. Not a word, not a photo, not a cup or sash... mind you, there were some in the family albums somewhere! Like this one...

Posted Image

So without any knowledge of that background, the daughter later took it upon herself to go go kart racing!

#9 Hieronymus

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Posted 16 November 2004 - 07:28

Jackie

I shall check my files on pre-WW2 racing in South Africa tonight. I am sure that I'll have something on Eileen.

Was Eileen not featured in Sammy Davis's book "ATALANTA" that deals with women racing drivers?

#10 Hieronymus

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Posted 16 November 2004 - 09:05

I have some free time, so no need to wait untill tonight. Here is what Sammy Davis wrote about Eileen in his book "Atalanta - Women as Racing Drivers":

"Then there was Eileen Ellison who did so well at Brooklands and was so silent that many thought her to be an Austrian with a certain diffidence in talking English. As a matter of fact Eileen is entirely British and her remarkable silence at Brooklands was due largely to a preference for watching carefully what other people were doing without comment. That she could drive as fast as anyone car for car is shown by her remarkable record in the long difficult hill-climbs on the Continent in which her handling of a Bugatti is talked about with bated breath still by those drivers who were present, by her excellent performance in the Limerick race when she was dropped of a place only by trouble in the final stages through no fault of her own. And at Brooklands in 1932 during a meeting attended by the Duke and Duchess of York she won the Duchess of York's race for women drivers by a matter of yards with her famous Bugatti.

Just to give an idea of what she could do apart from the Duchess of York's race, she was third after a hectic run on a very wet road up the famous Klausen hill-climb with a 1500cc racing Bugatti against stiff opposition, was fourth in the Albi Grand Prix until two laps from the end when a fuel pipe broke, finished three yards behind the winner, Esson Scott, in the Brooklands Cobham Junior Short handicap, was fourth in the 1500cc racing class in the Grossglockner hill-climb, was put out of the South African Grand Prixd by fuel feed trouble, and had engine trouble after a fine run in the Nancy Grand Prix apart from two amusing runs in the British rally once with her pet Bugatti, another time with a Lagonda. Bugatti and Maserati were her chief mounts in races, hill-climbs and speed trails.

Accompanied by her brother and a friend, who was also a racing driver, she travelled far and wide for meetings, hill-climbs and races with the Bugatti in tow behind another car of the same make loaded with camping and cooking gear as requisite so that the 'Equipe" were self-supporting and freed from such things as hotels.

That sense of fun has survived and no one seems happier than Eileen whether driving a Morris Minor, once supercharged, with great verve, or a kilometre long American car, in and around that marvellously beautiful country near Cape Town (South Africa), enjoying the sunlight and colour on the very doorstep a villa Riviera millionaires would envy, swimming in the Indian Ocean with disregard for sharks. And that early series of adventure with the Bugatti have developed into fullscale trips on Safari in those more savage parts of Africa..."


In front of me I also have the programme of the 2nd South African GP. On page 45 are details and photos of Eileen. I can scan it, if required. Also newspaper clippings from this race. Then there is also an article on Tom Cholmondeley Tapper (Eileen's friend) that also has nice photos of Eileen and some background on their 1936 visit to South Africa.

By the way, Eillen later settled in South Africa, but no further details in this.

#11 wdm

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Posted 16 November 2004 - 09:52

Eileen Ellison (and her brother) both get mentioned in TP Cholmondeley Tapper's "Amateur Racing Driver", although probably not as much as they should. I spoke to "Rivers" Fletcher some time ago, and he suggested that Ellison and Cholmondeley Tapper were a little more than friends. TPCT wrote his memoirs after the relationship broke up and, in "Rivers" Fletcher's words, "his friends were rather upset that he played down her involvement in their racing"

'fraid I know no more...

Willie

#12 Hieronymus

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Posted 16 November 2004 - 11:39

Brud Bishop wrote the following about Eileen Ellison in his book "SOUTH AFRICAN GRAND PRIX":

"... aimed at attracting women spectators to our (South African) races, we agreed to the acceptance of our first woman driver - carvaceous Eileen Ellison, genuine honey-blonde with no help from any chemist. Her eggshell blue Bugatti did not keep for very long in the race, but while it kept firing she bustled around bravely. She was a vast attraction."

#13 Barry Lake

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Posted 16 November 2004 - 12:07

Eilleen Ellison also was featured in the following book. I don't know if it was original material or if it was 'borrowed' from the Atalanta book.


Fast Women John Bullock 2002 Robson Books

#14 Vitesse2

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Posted 16 November 2004 - 14:00

Eileen Ellison merits several mentions in Boddy's "Brooklands". It's worth recording that the Duchess of York's race which she won was a contest between the cream of lady drivers at the time: not only Miss Ellison, but Elsie Wisdom (Invicta), Fay Taylour (Talbot 105) and the up-and-coming Kay Petre (Daytona Wolseley Hornet Special) were involved. Miss Ellison finally won by just five yards from Kay Petre. Boddy also has a 1932 picture of her in the Bugatti, which is described there as white.

#15 humphries

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Posted 16 November 2004 - 17:14

Sorry to be a wet blanket but Miss Ellison was no great shakes as a racing driver. She was brave, as anybody had to be to tackle a mountain climb such as the Grossglockner, but her results were very average. At the mentioned hillclimb her time was 17' 41.87, fast enough for 4th in her class but beaten by many in sports cars. As to her performances on the Continental hills her "friend" and companion, Tapper, does not mention her exploits at all in his bio let alone with bated breath.

Eileen did just lose the race at Brooklands, the first time the BARC allowed women to compete with the men, but Esson-Scott did start 35 seconds behind in a 6 1/2 mile race.

At Limerick, 1936, Tapper made the point that he lapped the Maserati he shared with Eileen Ellison at an average of 2' 23 compared to her 2' 55, which makes you wonder why he did not drive solo. But then again Tapper writes that he entered the Bugatti he shared with her when in fact it was usually entered by Miss Ellison according to the programmes. I wonder who provided the money for the Maserati?

At Nancy back in 1935, Miss Ellison was 3rd and last in the 1500cc class, some 10 laps behind Tapper in Stanley Smith's Bugatti who was 2nd in class. The first six 1100cc sports car finishers in their race had a higher average speed than Eileen. Davis says she had engine trouble but The Autocar did not report the race and neither did The Motor so I do not know of these problems or how severe these problems were. According to L'Actualite Automobile she was last throughout the race.

At Albi, 1935, Eileen finished 11th in Heat 1 as Dudley Froy attacked the straw bails in his little 750cc MG near the end, and Eileen took his place. In the second heat she ran a bit better and after retirements found herself briefly in 4th place before also having problems.

Please do not think I'm just a grumpy old misogynist but I do dislike the patronising waffle as written by Davis. It demeans those women who really were/are " as fast as anyone car for car".

John

#16 Jimmy Piget

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Posted 17 November 2004 - 06:34

Does somebody know her date & place of birth, of death ?

#17 john medley

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Posted 17 November 2004 - 09:11

I agree with John Humphries : Eileen E was probably no great shakes as a driver . I happened to be looking at some 1936 Shelsley Walsh results today and what hit me in the eye was that TP CT was much much quicker up the hill in the 8CM Maserati than Eileen . The % time difference was similar to that quoted by TP CT at Limerick 1936.

She interests me , however , partly because she was something of a rarity in being one who wanted to race nearly everywhere ( and a female rarity at that ) , partly because her car ended up in Australia , and partly because in some photos she bears a remarkable resemblance to my other half ie Her Indoors . There is a photo labeled " Girl in the Pits " on the Brooklands Society website which I think might perhaps be her -- among the many photos around of her .

My other half ie Her Indoors was quite probably a better driver than Eileen E before she Was With Child ( and retired) : in her very first race she battled through from about 10th to 4th , broke her class lap record on all but two laps , scrambled past the class leader on the last corner of the last lap to win her class , beaten only by engines more than twice the size of hers . She's also better looking than EE.

#18 Ray Bell

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Posted 17 November 2004 - 12:06

All of which, John, probably adds up to the conclusion that you might be very smart to keep 'er indoors...

#19 Jackie

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Posted 18 November 2004 - 03:56

Thank you all for the information. I've sent it all to Eileen's second cousin, my son :)

More information would be brilliant! If anyone could scan and send info, I'd be forever grateful!

I'm told that she was born in 1912 and died at the age of 57.

I'd also like to know more about the family relationship with Sir John Whitmore. All I know so far is that George Frederick Whitmore married Edith Emily Ellison in 1886...

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#20 Hieronymus

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Posted 18 November 2004 - 05:45

Jackie

If you wish, send me a PM with your email address and I can then send you the photos, page from race programme (SAGP 1936) and scanned copies of period newspaper articles.

I am not able to post it on this thread, unfortunately.

#21 Jackie

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Posted 19 November 2004 - 02:52

Thanks so much H! I've PMed you :)

#22 Jackie

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Posted 01 May 2005 - 02:46

Wonderful stuff H, a belated thank you :)

I read here that Eileen 'became Mrs Fargus'. I'm told, I don't know how true this is, that this isn't the case.

Evidently she married an RAF pilot, Brian Lane, in 1940. He wrote a book about his wartime experiences under the pen-name BJ Ellan. He was shot down and killed in 1942. The War Graves Commission site says his widow was Eileen Mary Lane but I have no way of proving that this was Eileen Ellison. But it sounds likely...

He was shot down in the summer of 1942 but in December he was officially declared dead - the body was never found.

Shortly thereafter, Eileen moved to South Africa where she became the mistress of Owen Fargus, but they never married.

I'm told that she died thirteen years later of jaundice (?) shortly after returning to the UK and that her death is registered as Eileen Lane, not Ellison or Fargus.

Does anyone have any more information?

#23 raoul leDuke

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Posted 20 July 2007 - 05:03

I have recently received more information about Eileen Ellison and have updated her bio on historicracing click on the link to view historicracing.com - Eilee Ellison

Apparently she actually died of cancer. At the time it was almost taboo to even mention the word. When she returned from South Africa she was already very ill and had to be helped from the plane. She claimed to have eaten too many oranges and was suffering from jaundice. She refused to consult a doctor and would not visit a hospital - until the end which came quite quickly.

#24 LotusElise

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Posted 20 July 2007 - 09:39

Jaundice could have been from cancer of the liver. I knew she wasn't overly old when she died.
My own assessment of Eileen's performance in a car is that she was very enthusiastic and capable of driving very quickly indeed, but was often hamstrung by car trouble and a lack of the consistency needed to really "finish the job off". She showed a good attitude though, and was a really interesting character.

#25 milavia

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Posted 15 November 2009 - 19:12

Wonderful stuff H, a belated thank you :)

I read here that Eileen 'became Mrs Fargus'. I'm told, I don't know how true this is, that this isn't the case.

Evidently she married an RAF pilot, Brian Lane, in 1940. He wrote a book about his wartime experiences under the pen-name BJ Ellan. He was shot down and killed in 1942. The War Graves Commission site says his widow was Eileen Mary Lane but I have no way of proving that this was Eileen Ellison. But it sounds likely...

He was shot down in the summer of 1942 but in December he was officially declared dead - the body was never found.

Shortly thereafter, Eileen moved to South Africa where she became the mistress of Owen Fargus, but they never married.

I'm told that she died thirteen years later of jaundice (?) shortly after returning to the UK and that her death is registered as Eileen Lane, not Ellison or Fargus.

Does anyone have any more information?



#26 milavia

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Posted 15 November 2009 - 19:14

I just found out that my son's great aunt, or second cousin or something (I'm hopeless at family relationships) was Eileen Ellison - who competed in the 1936 South African Grand Prix.

This is all I know about her, although if you Google her, you'll find a fabulous photograph of her in a Bugatti.

Does anyone know anything about her?


Hi jackie are you still interested in Eileen Ellison. Brian J E Lane was my uncle John William Lane's Grandson. Let me know if I can assist you in any way.
Milavia

#27 milavia

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Posted 27 November 2009 - 17:50

I just found out that my son's great aunt, or second cousin or something (I'm hopeless at family relationships) was Eileen Ellison - who competed in the 1936 South African Grand Prix.

This is all I know about her, although if you Google her, you'll find a fabulous photograph of her in a Bugatti.

Does anyone know anything about her?


Hi jackie are you still interested in Eileen Ellison. Brian J E Lane was my uncle John William Lane's Grandson. Let me know if I can assist you in any way.
Milavia

#28 Graham Clayton

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Posted 09 May 2011 - 01:17

According to "Fast Ladies: Female Racing Drivers 1888 to 1970" by Jean Francois Bouzanquet, (Veloce Publishing Ltd, 2009), Eileen Ellison was born at Great Shelford in 1910, and died at Jersey in the Channel Islands in 1967. According to the book, she was married to Owen Fargus.

#29 john medley

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Posted 11 May 2011 - 04:55

I found the name of the book:
"Eileen Ellison: the love of speed"

and the author:
Antony Whitmore

described as " Eileen Ellison's last surviving relative"

Was it ever published? What is the connection with Jackie, of TNF?

I have also found film of 1935 Grossglockner, splendid stuff visually and audibly, with 1930s supercharged racing cars at speed. I assume the white Bugatti was one of these

I havent yet found, or found mention of, Brian Lane's recently republished book

#30 David McKinney

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Posted 11 May 2011 - 05:58

I have also found film of 1935 Grossglockner, splendid stuff visually and audibly, with 1930s supercharged racing cars at speed. I assume the white Bugatti was one of these

As white was Germany's racing colour, and the event was nearby, I would suspect your conclusion is not necessarily correct :)


#31 john medley

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Posted 11 May 2011 - 07:49

Point taken, David. What I was hinting at was that I think the Eileen/ her brother/ TP ChTapper show was at the Grossglockner Hill that year. Astonishingly the film came up when I searched their names -- with no connection visible, so....

#32 David McKinney

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Posted 11 May 2011 - 08:31

That could be the clincher, though Rudi Steinweg, Willi Seibel and Hans Simons all campaigned 1500 Bugattis, probably white, in the region's hillclimbs in 1935

#33 john medley

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Posted 11 May 2011 - 08:47

Situation not helped by my inability to find the film again.

The cars making THAT noise appeared to be supercharged( 4s and 8s). Not sure if the Eileen Ellison T37 had a supercharger by then. My clumsy wording actually referred to the white Ellison car, not to any white Bugatti appearing on the Grossglockner film

So, no clincher there. Any white Bugatti making THAT noise is more likely to be a non Ellison car