Daisy Hampson

 

Daisy in her 120hp Fiat, 1906

Daisy Hampson was known for driving extremely powerful cars in Edwardian beachfront speed trials.

She was a rather enigmatic driver, active in a variety of cars from about 1904. She was from Southport near Liverpool, very wealthy, and could drive from at least 1903. Her first car appears to have been a Lanchester, which she did not race. When she presented trophies at the 1903 Southport Speed Trials, she was described as an “experienced motorist”.

In 1904, she entered the Bexhill Speed Trial, possibly her first big seaside meeting. She drove a 60hp Mercedes in the Touring class and was defeated in her heat by Sidney Girling. It was claimed afterwards in The Motor that she had borrowed the car and was not as familiar with it as she might have liked. It is unclear whether she was driving the same car for the event’s opening “Parade of Motor Vehicles”, although the Bexhill Observer described her car as a “powerful-looking Mercedes.”

The Dublin Daily Express was similarly impressed by the Mercedes when she entered it into the Portmarnock Motor Races shortly afterwards, calling it “the largest car ever driven in a race by a lady.” The results of the Portmarnock races themselves are not forthcoming.

At the end of 1904, she is documented as breaking a women’s endurance record, with a 317-mile journey made in one day in a 60hp Mercedes, although perhaps not the same one she used at Bexhill. She was driving through Wales as part of a 1035-mile tour.

After familiarising herself with racing on asphalt and sampling an actual beach race in Ireland, she set her sights on mastering promenades. Her next British event was the 1905 Blackpool speed trials, in the Mercedes. She is described as an entrant in “Class 4”, but she does not appear to have been among the leaders.

From 1906, she owned an even more powerful car, a 120hp Fiat. A report on the Manchester Motor Show from February 1906 claims that the Fiat was the Gordon Bennett runner-up driven by Felice Nazzaro, which was exhibited by coachwork builders Cockshoot. Further articles suggest that Daisy won some prizes in this car, perhaps in speed trials, but no results are forthcoming. A 1915 article about female motorists in The Gentlewoman mentions an Itala “of large horsepower”, although this may have been a road car, like the Rolls Royce that Daisy enthuses about in the same article. Talking about the Fiat in a 1906 edition of The Car, she does say it is “too speedy” for British roads, which suggests its intended use was touring. In the same interview, she expresses sadness that the Blackpool and Brighton events have been stopped, and states that “I mean to enter any races, however, which may suit my cars and try my luck.”

She is mentioned again in The Gentlewoman in 1917, with the Rolls referenced once more.

Her motoring career also hit a low point during 1906, on the open road rather than the circuit. She was sued for damages by a motorcyclist who was involved in a crash with her car in Southam, Warwickshire. The accident itself happened in October 1905, when a Mr GH Field was knocked off his motorbike, over a bridge and into a field by Daisy’s car, causing serious injuries. She was sanctioned as the owner of the car, but it may well have been her chauffeur driving.

Like Dorothy Levitt who was active at the same time, Daisy’s origins are mysterious and her disappearance from public life abrupt. One clue as to who she was comes from a 1996 edition of the Liverpool Echo, in which a 1963 interview with a “veteran motorist” called John Dickinson was quoted. Dickinson describes the first lady motorist he ever saw, in Ormskirk in 1904. “Her name was Daisy Hampson, and she too hailed from Southport, as did her car, a Vulcan”.

The Vulcan car company was run by brothers Thomas and Joseph Hampson between 1902 and 1916. Research by Nina Baker shows that there was a large Catholic family in the Southport area called Hampson, although she was unable to place Daisy within it. Her given name was probably not Daisy; no records for a “Daisy Hampson” exist.

After around 1917, she stops appearing in the press, save an article in the Sunday Dispatch from 1935, in which Sir Harry Preston describes being driven around Brighton in a “mighty Mercedes” by Daisy in 1905, in preparation for that year’s Speed Trials. Their trip occurred early in the morning, before daytime traffic built up. “She had to go out in her monster at dawn,” he recounts. “I could not appear timid before a good-looking young woman, so I said I would be charmed.”

Daisy had made some modifications to her car, removing the windscreen for greater streamlining. This proved prescient, as a flying detached mudguard whizzed harmlessly over their heads instead of shattering the glass. That said, Sir Harry asks to finish their ride at this point. Sadly, he offers no further information on what she was doing at the point the article was written.

It is possible that Daisy married and started using a different name, but public records provide no supporting information for this.

You can read more of Nina Baker’s research here.

(Image from The Car, 1906, via prewarcar.com)

Maud Manville

 

Maud Manville raced Daimlers in the UK and Europe in 1905 and 1906. 

She was a contemporary and rival to Dorothy Levitt, her equivalent at Napier, although her public profile was not as high.

Her interest in practical motoring dated back to at least 1904, when she drove her Daimler from London to Germany in order to watch the Gordon Bennett races. The same year, she impressed reporters at a meeting of the Ladies’ Automobile Club with her “splendid Daimler carriage” decorated with flowers. In August, she entered the Bexhill Speed Trials and won her heat in an 18hp Daimler. The car was in the well-supported class for cars costing between £2750 and £3750.

She competed in the inaugural Brighton Speed Trials in a 35hp model. She lost out to Claudia Lasell in the main draw, but won a race for 35hp Daimlers against male drivers. A Ladies’ Handicap was also held and she reached the final, losing to Mrs Herbert Lloyd in her own Daimler.

In the same car, she drove in the Herkomer Trial in Germany in 1905 and 1906. She did not finish the 1905 Trial, but won her class the speed trial section, going faster than several larger cars including Willy Poge’s 60bhp Mercedes, which won a later timed section. 

The following year, she finished the event in eleventh place. 

Born Maud Wallis, her husband was Edward Manville, who was the chairman of Daimler, and they competed against each other. In 1906, they were both participants in the Herkomer Trophy. When Maud heard that Edward’s car had suffered a puncture, she reportedly asked the German official observer in her car whether she would be allowed to stop for “a cry”.

Maud was an early member of the Ladies’ Automobile Club, joining in 1903, who encouraged its members to try competitive driving. She drove in at least two of the club’s gymkhanas, winning a “Bomb Race” in 1905.  In 1906, not long after her return from the Herkomer Trial, she was yet again one of the winning drivers in the club’s annual gymkhana, held at the Ranelagh Club. She won the Bending Race and was second in a “Tilting at the Ring” competition. This was a game adapted from an equestrian event where a contestant in a moving car had to catch a hanging ring with a lance or similar. 

The same year, she gave a talk to the club about her experiences in the Herkomer Trophy.

Her motoring career seems to end after 1906. She died in 1909, aged 37. 

(Portrait by Amata Bouwens, 1901)

Jeanette Lindstrom

 

Jeanette Lindstrom was one of America’s first female racing drivers. She was also the first woman in Chicago to earn her driving license, aged only thirteen.

In September 1900, she took part in the International Automobile Meeting in Chicago, held at the Washington Park speedway. She raced a Lindstrom electric car against Miss MA Ryan over two miles, winning by half a mile. Her time was 5:56s.

Miss Ryan challenged her to a rematch the day afterwards, which was thrown open to any other women drivers in electric cars, but it is unclear whether this happened. Some reports suggest that Miss Ryan won. 

According to some newspaper reports, Jeanette learned to drive when she was eleven. At the end of October 1900, she was certified by the city electrician to drive in public, having passed an exam on the workings of an electric car. There was no practical test. Other sources claim she had only been driving for a few months prior to this.

Jeanette’s motoring fortunes were linked to those of her father, Charles, who was an inventor and engineer who founded the Hewitt-Lindstrom electric car company with John Hewitt. Only one model of car was ever produced and this “high-geared runabout” was the car raced by Jeanette. Production ceased in 1901 and the company folded in 1902.

Jeanette disappeared from public life after this. 

(Image from The Western News)

The Ladies' Automobile Club

Millicent, the Duchess of Sutherland, with her daughter

The Ladies’ Automobile Club was Great Britain’s first dedicated motor club for women. It was not exclusively a motorsport association, but it was one of the first bodies to organise motor races for women in the UK.

Talk of a women’s motor club began in 1899. Newspapers described the actress Lily Langtry as one of its first members, and Viscountess Harberton as the founder. Little else was heard for three or four years.

In 1903, it starts to be mentioned in the papers again, with Lady Cecil Scott Montagu was its first acknowledged leader. Between 1903 and 1904, the original club seems to have collapsed. Contemporary reports claim this was due to disagreements about membership criteria. Only ladies in “society” were intended to join. Most of the early members were from the titled classes.

Millicent, the Duchess of Sutherland, became its first president in 1904. She oversaw the first Club event in June, a meeting and group drive from Carlton Terrace in central London to the Ranelagh Club in Barnes, via Pall Mall and the park. Fifty-six cars were involved. Many of the ladies drove themselves, although some relied on their chauffeurs. This fact was did not go un-noticed by observers. Among the observers on the day was Queen Alexandra, who watched the parade from the window at Buckingham Palace.

The club’s first AGM was the following month. Rooms were acquired at Claridges Hotel for the use of members, as well as a garage.

Most of the LAC’s activities were social in nature. Typically, one member would hold a meeting at her house. This was followed by a drive out, often to the Ranelagh or Hurlingham clubs, for tea. In 1904, an engineer was booked to give a series of talks on the workings of the internal combustion engine. From time to time, other talks were given, sometimes by members themselves, on aspects of motoring, or their own four-wheeled adventures. Maud Manville spoke at length about her experiences in the Herkomer Trophy in 1906.

In the beginning, there was ambitious talk of a ladies’ team being assembled for the Gordon Bennett Cup. This died down after the false start of 1903. In 1905, some women-only competitions started to be organised by the club. The first of these seems to have been a Ladies’ Handicap at the inaugural Brighton Speed Trials. The Handicap was for touring cars, and was entered by six women.

Heat 1

1. Mrs Herbert Lloyd (30hp Daimler)
2. Christabel Browne (Cupelle 10hp)

Heat 2

1. Maud Manville (Daimler 35hp)
2. Mrs Nevill Copland (12-14hp Talbot)

Walkover:

Mrs Guy Hardy (10hp Panhard)

Mrs Benett-Stanford (13-17hp Dixi)

Final

1. Mrs Herbert Lloyd
2. Maud Manville

Only a few days later, the LAC ladies were enjoying their first dedicated gymkhana at the Ranelagh Club. The Ranelagh was the venue for Britain’s first women’s motor race, and had hosted a variety of women’s sports in the past ten years, including a bicycle gymkhana and carriage-driving competitions. Eleven members entered the gymkhana, which consisted of three races and two “appearance competitions”. The results of the races were as follows:

Bending Race (8 starters)

1. Christabel Browne (10-12hp Cupelle)
2. Mrs Herbert Lloyd (30hp Daimler)

Crawling Race (7 starters)

1. Mrs Todd Newcombe (16-20hp Richard-Daimler)
2. Mrs Herbert Lloyd (30hp Daimler)

Bomb Race (7 starters)

1. Maud Manville (16hp Daimler)
2. Mrs Todd Newcombe (16-20hp Richard-Daimler)

Another LAC gymkhana was held at the Ranelagh Club in 1906. Details for this event are less forthcoming. One of the races was a “Police Trap Race” where drivers had to do a lap of the grass track in a certain time, without the use of a speedometer or a stopwatch. The closest to the time was the winner. A Mrs Harry Adams won. Her car is not recorded.

The Police Trap Race was one of five driving competitions that day. The others were a Bending Race, Crawling Race, Ball Race and Tilting at Rings. A Mrs C Farrar won the Crawling Race and Tilting at Rings. Again, her car is not recorded.

A further gymkhana may have been held in 1907, or at least some ladies’ races. By then, ongoing problems with waterlogging on the polo pitch that was used as a racetrack meant that events were sometimes cancelled.

The LAC eventually became affiliated to the RAC. Its peak years as an actual motor club were between 1904 and 1910. After that, it becomes more of a social club; ladies did not even have to own a car to be members. It moved to its own premises in 1923.

Winifred Pink, herself an accomplished racing driver on sand, was one of its later presidents, in 1927. As women were admitted into more motor clubs, it gradually became redundant and was eventually absorbed into the RAC.

(Image from Tatler magazine?)

Muriel Thompson

Muriel in her FANY uniform

Muriel Thompson was Brooklands’ first female winner in 1908, when she won the Ladies’ Bracelet Handicap and the Match Race that followed it, defeating Christabel Ellis.

She was a member of the Berkshire Automobile Club from at least 1904. Among her earliest practical motorsport experiences was a run in the club’s Gymkhana in 1904. She drove a Wolseley in a “Legal Limit Race” on a grass track at Hall Place near Maidenhead. She was second overall.

She made another appearance in the Berkshire AC’s Gymkhana in 1905. She was third in the “Bending Race”, a slalom between markers, driving an 18hp Siddeley, belonging to her brother.

Her first motorsport success seems to have been a win in a Blindfold Test at the Berkshire Club’s 1907 Gymkhana. The competitors were required to drive blindfolded towards a flag 75 yards away, from a stationary position facing away from the flag. Muriel got within forty feet of the flag, in 25 seconds.

Her car was an Austin, nicknamed "Pobble", which had belonged to her brother, Oscar, a regular racer. He was a member of the BARC, and as such, was able to enter his car into the first ladies’ event at Brooklands, held in July 1908. Eight ladies entered the Ladies’ Bracelet Handicap, with five making the start. Muriel won comfortably, after the favourite, Christabel Ellis, ran into trouble. Commentators likened Muriel’s upright driving stance to that of “an American jockey”. Shortly afterwards, Muriel and Christabel challenged each other to a match race at Brooklands. Muriel won again.

In 1908, she also went up against Dorothy Levitt in the Aston Hill Climb, driving the Austin. She was eighth overall. Her achievements were reported in Queen magazine.

Opportunities for Muriel to race "Pobble" were quite limited, due to the BARC's ban on women drivers, but she did make some other appearances.

In 1909, she was part of the winning Berkshire Motor Club team in the five-mile Inter-Club Team Trophy, at Brooklands. She was permitted to race due to the meeting being a non-BARC sanctioned event.

The same year, she was appointed by the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) as an official driver. She acted as chauffeur to Emmeline Pankhurst and other prominent suffragettes in the WSPU’s own Austin. She was succeeded as chauffeur by Vera Holme, but was still an active member of the Union in 1912.

In July 1911, at the RAC's Associated Motor Clubs meeting, she won the Declaration Handicap, in the Austin. At the same meeting, she revisited her blind-driving skills, winning another blindfold driving competition.

The following year, she returned to Brooklands for the RAC Associated Clubs meeting once more. She drove Pobble in the Skilful Driving Race. She posted a very fast time in the hillclimb section up the Test Hill, but clipped an obstacle in the reversing section. In yet another blindfold driving competition, she did not live up to her usual high standards and did not stop when she reached the marker.

She later became a decorated war hero, as a WW1 ambulance driver and medic, in the FANY. Among her awards was a British Military Medal, French Croix de Guerre, and from Belgium, the Order of Leopold II and Queen Elisabeth Medal. Muriel commanded convoys and delivered aid to soldiers on the frontline. She took her own Cadillac, named “Kangaroo”, over with her and it was used as an ambulance. Muriel kept a detailed diary throughout the war, which has been useful in piecing together the history of the FANY. Her nickname among her FANY colleagues was “Thompers”.

She continued testing cars occasionally until the 1930s. In 1939, she died of encephalitis lethargica (sleeping sickness), probably contracted during a flu epidemic. She was 65.

(Image from http://www.ocotilloroad.com/geneal/thompson3.html)

Joan Newton Cuneo

Joan in the Knox Giantess, in 1911

Joan was born in 1876, to an industrial family who seemed to have both interest in technology, and a rather progressive attitude towards women’s involvement in it. Before she learned to drive a car, she apparently learned to drive a train; her family operated their own narrow-gauge line. She only got behind the wheel of a car after her marriage to Andrew Cuneo, and probably owned her first car, a Locomobile, in 1902. At first, she was driven around by a chauffeur, but she soon started to drive herself.  This story was recounted by Joan herself to the press, although she sometimes claimed that she had been driving for five years, making the date of her first car 1900.

Her competition career definitely did begin in 1905, almost certainly making her the earliest female motorsport competitor in the USA. The Frenchwoman, Camille du Gast, had tried to enter the New York-San Francisco road race in 1902, but her entry was not accepted. Joan chose the Glidden Cup Tour, a multi-surface, long-distance reliability trial over a thousand miles long, to make her debut. Her car was a White Steam Tourer, the most up-to-date 1905 model with 15 hp. Her team included her husband, and Lou Disbrow, her erstwhile chauffeur, as riding mechanic. She was the only female entrant, and attracted a lot of attention, particularly when she swerved into a stream, in order to avoid another driver reversing out of a dangerous spot. No-one was injured, and Joan carried on, apparently re-lighting the boiler herself, but there were photographers present, and it made the news. Later, despite running well, she was prevented from completing a hill-climbing section of the Tour by the organisers, who decided it was too dangerous for a woman driver. She eventually did the climb, but was not allowed to have her time recognised officially by the organising body, the American Automobile Association. This meant that she was not part of the official, “first class” classification for the Tour.

Later that year, she took part in her first circuit races. The biggest of these was at Atlantic City. This was meant to have been a thrilling match between Joan and another female racer, Mrs. Clarence C. Fitler, who had won races at Cape May. However, Mrs. Fitler pulled out. Joan was third in the one race she entered. Shortly afterwards, she was invited to try dirt track racing at Poughkeepsie, mainly doing demonstration runs.  After her Glidden Cup exploits, she was invited to various tracks and beach courses, and performed quite well. She secured her first win at the Point Breeze dirt oval, in the three-mile race, and was second in a one-mile race for light cars at Ventnor Beach.

Early in 1906, she bought a new car, a Maxwell Speedster. Her first competitive outing was the beach racing meet at Atlantic City, in March. This time, a female opponent was found for her, a Mrs. Ernest Rogers. Joan defeated her in their mile-long match race. She then went on to finish second in a mixed race, then set another ladies' speed record in an exhibition run, in the White. In April , back in the Maxwell, she drove in the Ventnor Beach races, winning the one-mile Trial for petrol-powered cars, and coming second in the one-mile race for that category. She was pleased with the Maxwell, and wanted to enter a second Glidden Tour, but instead, she spent much of the year accompanying her husband on business trips to Europe. There is no concrete evidence that she did any competitive motoring whilst there, although at least one contemporary source claims that she had a match race against the British driver, Dorothy Levitt (named as “Dorothy Revell”). Dorothy was big news in the UK at this time, so it is odd that no British media mention this race happening.

She returned to the States in September, in time do some auto gymkhanas, modelled after equestrian gymkhanas, and some more exhibition races. These included a run at a fairground short-track in Nyack.

For 1907, she acquired another new car, a Rainier touring model. Her first event was a 100-mile dirt track race at Bennings, a horse racing course. The Rainier proved highly unsuited to the short circuit’s corners, and was not quick enough. Joan finished, but in sixth and second-to-last place. The papers still published stories about her nevertheless, some of which were becoming more and more outlandish. The number of speeding tickets she received in the course of her adventures seemed to increase exponentially with every retelling of the story.

The Rainier was a poor choice for dirt-track racing, but its more generous suspension made it a more promising Glidden Tour car. Joan entered again in 1907, and encountered further opposition from the organisers. This time, a rule was made that to be eligible to win, drivers must be a member of an AAA-affiliated club. None of the appropriate clubs permitted female membership, which again excluded Joan from the full classification. She was undeterred by this and carried on anyway, going on to finish the Tour, now 1500 miles long. This was in spite of a series of car problems, including broken suspension, a bent rear axle and various punctures, at least one a full-on blowout. Later, sponsored by the Rainier motor company, she wrote a little book about her experiences during this event.

The Rainier was updated to the most recent spec for the 1908 Glidden Tour. The Tour was now almost 2000 miles long, and Joan was still one of its most newsworthy entrants. She was in the papers yet again after a near miss at a level crossing, where she only just skidded the car out of the way of a passing train. She and her crew were uninjured, and the car was not seriously damaged, unlike the level crossing’s fence. As she was now part of the Chicago Motor Club’s team, she was eligible for points and awards, and achieved a perfect score of 1000, as well as a gold medal from the AAA, and a silver cup for good sportsmanship. The Rainier was subsequently put on display in a showroom for some time, complete with Tour dirt and damage. It was called into action again in September, when Joan entered a two-day “Mechanical Efficiency Contest” around Long Island. Her five passengers were all women, something she often did. Her riding mechanic, Lou Disbrow, also competed, in another Rainier.

1909 saw the start of a partnership with Knox cars. Joan’s newest vehicle was a Knox Giant, with 50hp, a similar power output to the Rainier. She entered the inaugural Mardi Gras races in New Orleans, held in February. Initially, a match race was set up with another lady driver, Alice Byrd Potter, but she never showed up. Joan put her name down for every race for which she was eligible, and travelled to New Orleans with Andrew, Lou Disbrow and her two children. Her first event was a one-mile time trial, in which she was fourth. Later, in a ten-mile trial, she broke her own womens’ speed record. The first of her actual races seems to have been the 50-mile handicap, in which she was a strong second, behind Ralph de Palma. She then went on to win two races the next day: the Amateur Championship and the Klaxon Signal 10 Mile race.

On the third day, she started off with an exhibition speed run, breaking the women’s record again. She was third in the TC Campbell Trophy, then won an amateur five-mile race. The biggest event of the day was a 50-miler, in which Joan struggled, and she was only tenth. However, this did not dent her confidence, and she was second in a ten-mile handicap later in the day.

Despite her triumphs in New Orleans, the AAA were not impressed with Joan, the attention she was getting, or the idea of female racing drivers in general. Within a few weeks, women drivers were banned from all of their sanctioned competitions. She attempted to enter a race meeting in Massachusetts in August, but they held firm. This was the end of her active competition career.

Despite the prohibition on women in organised circuit races, Joan continued to drive the Giant. She did exhibition runs and speed trials throughout 1909 and 1910, continuing to better her own ladies’ speed records. Despite official disapproval, she was still a popular figure and a draw for spectators. She continued to use Knox cars, but not exclusively, and in 1910, she set a record of 112mph in a Pope Hummer, on Long Island. Some of her other cars included a Darracq Bluebird and a Lancia Lampo. Later in 1910, she beat her own record, in the Knox Giant.

In 1911, the Knox factory built her a new Giant, which was christened the “Giantess” in her honour. It was used in demonstrations and record runs, and was also raced by Lou Disbrow.

Joan continued to make appearances and attempt to break records until 1915, by which time, her marriage was failing. She moved to Vermont in 1918 and lived the rest of her life in rural obscurity, close to her son and his family. She died in 1934, aged 56.

For more information about Joan and her life, Elsa Nystrom's book, Mad For Speed: The Racing Life of Joan Newton Cuneo is the most comprehensive source.

(Image from http://blog.hemmings.com/)

The Earliest Women's Races

Ellen Jouanny and a De Dion motor tricycle

Events for women drivers have existed almost since the earliest days of motorsport.

Le Championnat des Chauffeuses

In 1897, the first known ladies’ race was held at the Longchamps racecourse, in Paris. It was billed as the “Championnat des Chauffeuses” (Women Drivers’ Championship), and was held as part of a race meeting for those involved in showbusiness. Among the entrants were a vaudeville actress (Ellen Jouanny) and a costume designer (Léa Lemoine). These events would later become the "Championnat des Artistes". In the early days, they mainly consisted of bicycle races, which some of the "chauffeuses" also entered. It was organised by the Paris Echo newspaper.

Eight women competed, riding De Dion motorised tricycles. The format of the event consisted of three elimination runs, of one lap each, and a final, of two laps. The results were as follows:

Heat 1

1. Léa Lemoine

2. Ellen Jouanny

3. Jane Boié

Heat 2

1. “Bossu”

2. Germaine Doverne

3. Hélène Darbell

Heat 3

1. De Grandval

2. “Hellé”

Final

1.  Léa Lemoine

2.  De Grandval

3.   “Bossu”

The competitors all received prizes, with the winner, Léa Lemoine, being presented with a bracelet.

The Championnat was run at least three times, between 1897 and 1899. Some of the drivers, including Léa Lemoine, returned for all three editions. Later events were open to cyclecars as well as tricycles.

The Ranelagh Automobile Gymkhana

In July, 1900, the first ladies’ race in the UK was held at the Ranelagh Club in Barnes, London. It was part of the Ranelagh Automobile Gymkhana, which comprised of a series of races, challenges and motorised games. The race was run on a course a little less than a mile long, and consisted of a single lap. The results were as follows:

1. Miss Weblyn (6hp Daimler “Parisian”)

2. Mrs. Edward Kennard (De Dion Voiturette)

3. Miss M. Lloyd-Price (4hp Panhard)

DNF: Miss Vera Butler (6hp Panhard)

Vera Butler also took part in the “Starting and Stopping Handicap” later on.

For a long time, there was some confusion around this race, as “Weblyn” was written down somewhere as “Wemblyn”, making it hard to verify her existence.

The Gymkhana was not a one-off, and more ladies’ races were held. In 1904, a ladies' race was organised, but as only one driver, Mrs. George Thrupp, turned up, she was awarded the prize in a walkover. After this, the Gymkhana appears to have become an official event of the Ladies' Automobile Club, the first all-female car club in the UK. They held gymkhanas at Ranelagh in 1905 and 1906, at least.

The USA
The earliest women's race in the USA seems to have been held at Washington Park in Chicago, in September 1900. The track was a mile-long dirt oval. Two women took part, but the make and model of their cars is not recorded. They may well have been electric vehicles, which were considered suitable for female drivers. A driver with the same surname as Jeanette Lindstrom is also recorded in an electric car race at the same meeting. The race was run over two laps.

Results:

1. Miss Jeanette Lindstrom
2. Miss M.E. Ryan

The Brooklands Ladies’ Bracelet Handicap
The original proprietors of Brooklands were not overly keen on female drivers, but in 1908, a Ladies’ Race was put on for them. Ethel Locke-King, one of the leading drivers, was the wife of Hugh Locke-King, the owner of Brooklands, and helped to run the track, despite not being allowed to drive on it competitively. Seven women entered the Handicap, but only five made it to the start.

Results:

1. Muriel Thompson (Austin “Pobble”)

2. Ethel Locke-King (Itala)

3. Christabel Ellis (Arrol-Johnston “Guarded Flame”)

4. Mrs J. Roland Hewitt (De Dion)

5. Nelly Ridge-Jones (Sunbeam)

DNS: Lady Muriel Gore-Brown (Humber)

DNS: Ada Billing (Mors)

Later, at the August Bank Holiday meeting, a Match Race was held between Muriel Thompson and Christabel Ellis, which was again won by Muriel Thompson.

(I am grateful to Grace’s Guide [www.gracesguide.co.uk] for information.)

Victorian and Edwardian racers

Christabel Ellis

This post lists the earliest pioneer female racing drivers not already profiled, who competed between 1897 and 1910. Camille du Gast, Muriel Thompson, Maud Manville, Dorothy Levitt, Daisy Hampson, "Madame Laumaille" and Joan Newton Cuneo have their own posts. American racers from shortly after this period can be found here. The earliest female-only races are discussed here. During this period, there were few opportunities to enter races, so most of these women made only a few appearances at the wheel. Opportunities for motor racing generally increased after the war.

Countess Elsa d'Albrizzi - finished ninth in the 1899 Padua-Vicenza-Thiene-Bassano-Trevisio-Padua Trail, driving a Benz light car. This makes her the first woman to finish in the top ten of a motor race.

Louise Bazalgette – probably the first British female racing driver. She entered the 1000 Mile Trial in 1900, driving a 3hp Benz. She did not complete the whole trial, but was awarded a silver medal for her performance in one of the sections. Even earlier than this, she was featured in the British newspapers for her frequent motoring exploits and enthusiasm for cars. She continued to appear in speed trials occasionally after 1900, including the 1903 Bexhill-on-Sea trial.

“Madame le Blon” (Motann?) – best known as a riding mechanic to her husband, Hubert le Blon, who helped him to sixth place in the 1906 Targa Florio. She also rode with him in hillclimbs, in either a Serpollet, or a Hotchkiss. In 1903, plans were announced in the press for her to race her own Serpollet car. That year, she was third in a beach race at Deauville, out of sixty drivers. Her given name is never used. “Motann” may be a forename, or her maiden name.

Jane Dhasty - raced a Peugeot in France in 1899. She was second in the two-seater touring car class in the Nice-Magagnosc-Nice road race and the Nice-Castellane-Puget Theniers-Nice race the day before. She also entered the Peugeot into concours d’elegance events, an account of which gives the forename “Jane”. She was almost certainly an actress and singer who had risen to fame a few years before.

Gertrude Eisenmann (Rodda) - Anglo-German racer who competed in Weimar Germany. She began as a cyclist, moving to motorbikes with a good deal of success and then cars. In 1905, she won a road trial between Eisenach and Berlin and back again, and in 1906, she competed in the Solitude hillclimb, although both of these may have been in the motorcycle class. She entered the 1908 Herkomer Trial in a Horch car, but her finishing position is not forthcoming.

Christabel Ellis - drove an Arrol-Johnston at Brooklands. She led most of the Ladies’ Bracelet Handicap in 1908, but eventually lost to Muriel Thompson and Ethel Locke-King. Earlier, she competed in hillclimbs and speed trials in a friction-drive GWK cyclecar, alongside her cousin, Mary Ellis. Later, in about 1912, the two may have ridden a motorcycle combination together in hillclimbs. Christabel was certainly associated with motorcycles later; during the First World War, she was a Commandant in the transport section of the Women's Legion, in charge of female motorcyle dispatch riders.

“Mrs Clarence Cecil Fitler” - successful early American racer. In 1905, she won two races at the Cape May beach track. The races were over a kilometre distance, with a flying start. Her car was a 28hp Packard. She was the only female entrant. These were her only two race appearances. Although she was meant to race against Joan Newton Cuneo at Atlantic City, later in 1905, she did not do so. She returned to equestrian competition, in which she had some success.

Victoria Godwin – raced in the UK between 1905 and 1907. In her first year of competition, she took part in the Brighton Speed Trials, driving an Ariel Simplex. She worked for the Ariel factory, and acted as a spokeswoman and works driver. Between 1905 and 1907, she took part in trials for Ariel, including the London-John O’Groats Trial, and an overland journey from Paris to St Petersburg. In speed trials, she set a record of two miles in 1 minute 43 seconds.

Muriel Hind – most famous for racing motorcycles. She was the first British woman to do so, in 1905, having learned to ride in 1902. In 1905, she drove a Gnome in the Brighton Speed Trials, in the Touring class. She often used a Singer Tricar three-wheeler for trials, including the 1906 London-Edinburgh Trial, the Land’s End-John O’Groats Trial of the same year. She raced motorcycles until about 1910, then concentrated on writing. 

“Madame Labrousse” (or Lambrose) - one of the earliest female racing drivers known. She drove in the 1899 Brussels-Namur-Spa race and finished fifth in the three-seater class. Her car was an 8hp Panhard.

June (or Jane) Larkins – drove a 6hp Wolseley in a series of events in 1905. She is principally known for setting the first ladies’ record at Shelsley Walsh hillclimb, making the ascent in about four minutes. The same year, she drove the same car in at least two motor gymkhana events, one at Portsmouth and one at Moseley. These were mostly novelty events, such as towing races, and a “Coach House Race”, in which she was second. She was employed by Wolseley to teach female car buyers how to drive. Like her contemporary, Dorothy Levitt, she started by racing motor boats, again from the Wolseley works.

Claudia Lasell – active, and quite successful, in British motorsport in 1905. She drove a 90hp Mercedes in the inaugural Brighton Speed Trials, winning the Ladies’ Handicap, but losing out to Dorothy Levitt in the Daily Mail Challenge Trophy. She also took part in the Blackpool Speed Trials, in a 120hp Mercedes. At the time, she claimed that she raced for fun, and had no desire to do it professionally. She was an actress and singer of some note. Although she was American, she lived and worked in Europe. Later, in 1913, she caused a small scandal by holding mens’ and womens’ boxing matches at her house parties. 

Léa (or Léo) Lemoine – French woman who was one of the world’s earliest female racing drivers. She took part in three editions of the Championnat des Chauffeuses, the first-ever women’s motor racing championship, and won all three, in 1897, 1898 and 1899. Her usual vehicle was a De Dion-engined Clément tricycle, although she may also have used a cyclecar in 1899. The Championnat was for French ladies of the theatre, and Léa worked with costumes. As well as the Championnat des Chauffeuses, she entered the 1897 Coupe des Motocycles, and finished fifth overall. She also seems to have done some speed runs in Paris parks, and entered the ladies’ race in the 1899 Fête des Automobiles. After 1899, she appears to stop competing. As well as tricycles and cars, she raced bicycles with some success, and took part in roller-skating competitions.

“Mrs Herbert Lloyd” (Elizabeth?) – winner of the Ladies’ Handicap at the 1905 Brighton Speed Trials, driving a Daimler. She beat Maud Manville to the prize. In 1905, she also took part in the Blackpool Speed Trials. In 1906, she won her class at the Longleat Hillclimb, and that year, she was also fifth in the Henry Edmunds Hillclimb in East Sussex. There were ten entrants overall. She does not appear to have raced after 1906.

Eva (Genevra Delphine) Mudge - often described as America’s first female racing driver, Eva Mudge was an actress who became an automotive celebrity in 1900. Mainly, she appeared at motor shows, demonstrating both electric and petrol cars. Her only appearance in a race was the 1901 Dawn of the Century Race, in which cars took on bicycles and runners on a route across New York, between two newspaper offices. Her finishing position is not recorded. The starter for the race was RC Mudge, her father, who worked for the Locomobile company.

“Mrs. H Ernest Rogers” - early American racer who was a rival of Joan Newton Cuneo. She was active throughout 1906, and often drove a 10hp Maxwell, like the one used by Joan Newton Cuneo. At the Ventnor Beach speed trials, she was third in a Gasoline 1-mile trial, won by Joan Newton Cuneo. At the Dead Horse Hill hillclimb, she won three of the trials for stock cars costing under $850 dollars. As well as this, she was invited to more than one match race against Joan Newton Cuneo, one at Atlantic Beach. However, these meetings were usually cancelled at the last minute. After 1906, she seems to disappear. Her given name is never recorded.

Lilli Sternberg - took part in the 1910 Prinz Heinrich Fahrt, driving an Opel. She was said to be the only woman who drove her own car for the full distance. Photographs of her exist in the 1908 trial, accompanied by a male riding mechanic. She was sometimes referred to as Dr Sternberg.

“Madame Bob Walter” - former showgirl who raced in France in the early 1900s. She took part in a match race against a Madame Jolivet in 1902, at Deauville. Her car was a Vinot & Deguingand. She used the same car at the Gaillon hillclimb that year; her time has been lost but she was said to be faster than some of the top drivers of the time. She returned to Deauville in 1903 in a Panhard & Levassor and entered the 500m event. As well as racing cars, “Bob”, real name Baptistine Dupre, was one of the first French women to run a garage of her own. After her racing activities stopped, she used her fleet of hire cars to help in her last enterprise as an arranger of elopements. She died in 1907.

Hélène van Zuylen (Rothschild) - one of the earliest-ever female racing drivers. She entered the Paris-Amsterdam race in 1898, under the nom de course of “Snail”. Her car, whose manufacturer is not usually recorded, broke down very early in the race. Her husband also entered, using the name “Escargot”. In 1901, she and "Escargot" entered a Paris-Berlin race organised by the A.C.F. This is sometimes confused with the "Gordon Bennett" Paris-Berlin race that took place that year, but the route was different, and the drivers a separate group. Again, Hélène did not finish. She had been driving as part of a group which included her husband, and another lady driver, a Madame Gobron.

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Dorothy Levitt

When this post was first written, very little was known about this very early speedqueen. Few pictures of her seemed to exist. What glimpses there were of her life showed her to be a larger-than-life personality, straight from a novel or a TV drama.

In recent years, Dorothy has been the subject of a television programme starring Penelope Keith, which recreated part of a record-breaking promotional journey that Dorothy made from London to Liverpool and back again, in 1905, driving a De Dion-Bouton. This rekindled interest in her and her career, and it is now known that she was born Dorothy Elizabeth Levi in London, in 1882. Her Jewish family anglicised their name to Levitt.

Dorothy probably first came into contact with motorsport through her work; she was employed as a secretary at the Napier motor company. She became acquainted with Francis Selwyn-Edge, a senior figure at the company, and through him, motor racing. It is unclear how their relationship developed, or its precise nature, or why Selwyn-Edge took such an interest in her. He claimed that it was he who arranged for her to learn to drive and maintain a car, possibly sending her to Paris for training. SCH Davis, in Atalanta, claims that Napier apprentice and future racer, Leslie Callingham was the one who taught her to drive. The truth has probably disappeared; both Edge and, in her way, Dorothy, were keen and effective self-promoters, who seemed to have a good relationship with the contemporary press. Dorothy's "authorised" version of this story, written by C Byng-Hall in the introduction to The Woman and the Car, states that she learned to drive at home, "in the West Country", in the car of a visiting friend. They went together to watch a local driving competition, with Dorothy at the wheel, and her motoring prowess so impressed a watching motor company manager, that he asked her to drive one of his company's cars in a competition. This manager could have been Edge, but this story is at best, a simplification.

For a long time, Dorothy’s true origins were obscured. She is sometimes described as a skilled horsewoman, an enthusiastic angler and markswoman, implying that she was from country stock, but her urban upbringing, and her family’s commercial background, do not support this idea of Dorothy as a country lady. She did not live in the West Country, but had grown up in London, and had familial links with the south coast. In her own writings, she never openly acknowledged her time as a typist and secretary.

Dorothy began her high-speed career in motor boat racing. She was quick and competitive. In the first running of the Harmsworth Trophy in 1903, she is widely accepted as the victor, even though Edge, as the owner of the craft, took the credit for the win. He is reputed to have hired Dorothy to skipper the boat for him. That year she also set the first Water Speed Record, managing 19 miles per hour in a Napier-engined speedboat.

By 1903 she was also racing cars, under the tutelage of Edge. Women were never excluded from speed eventing and Dorothy excelled in it, winning her class at the Southport Speed Trial, in a Gladiator. Using a similar car, she competed around Britain in reliability trials. According to her diary, she won one such event in September that year, over 1000 miles. She also claimed to be the first woman to take part in "public motor car competition" in 1903, but omits to name the competition. (This is incorrect: Louise Bazalgette competed in the 1000 Mile Trial in 1900). According to SCH Davis, she finished "quite high in the results" in a 1000-mile trial, but does not mention which one. She was also thirteenth in a London to Edinburgh trial. Her first hillclimb was to be the Rising Sun climb, at Edgehill in Warwickshire, but her car, the Gladiator, was out of order, so she acted as Edge’s passenger instead. Napier were the importers for Gladiator in the UK, as well as selling De Dion-Bouton cars, another marque associated with Dorothy. 

The accounts of her racing are not detailed, but in 1904 she became the first female "works" driver to get to compete. She drove a De Dion in the Hereford 1000 Mile Trial and would have won a gold medal, had it not been for a carburation problem. This particular trial was five days long, and she completed it without any assistance. For this, she received a silver medal. There are also reports of her winning a motor race on the Isle of Wight, although there could some confusion here with a boat race she entered at Cowes. She won her class in the Southport trial again, in a Napier, and also in a Blackpool trial.

The former secretary continued to enter speed events for De Dion and Napier the following season, driving a formidable 80hp car for the latter. Her most high-profile appearance that year was at the inaugural Brighton Speed Trials, where she impressed doubtful onlookers with a competent display of driving. She is said to have won a match race against the pioneer French driver, Camille du Gast, setting a women's speed record in the process, but the official reports from the event make no mention of this. If it happened at all, it was a private race. She also won one of the classes in which she was entered, and the Autocar Challenge Trophy. Contemporary sources mention an actual women's race, but Dorothy did not enter this. It was organised by the Ladies' Automobile Club, of which she was not a member.

In the main speed trial section, she was beaten to the Ladies Prize by Claudia Lasell, driving a Benz. At least five female drivers took part in the event that year. For the Blackpool trials, she drove an even more powerful Napier, with 100hp, but her result is not forthcoming. In a De Dion, she drove in the Scottish Trial, completing each day's section without stopping, and winning an award for the manufacturer.

Following her Brighton exploits, Dorothy was offered a drive in the Tourist Trophy race, for the French Mors team. This was a full race, on a road course, and she was desperate to give it a try. However, Edge vetoed the idea, wanting to protect the Napier company's interest. Dorothy, by now, was a Napier "works" driver, representing the Napier sales department. Officially, she pulled out of the event due to ill-health, but no-one was fooled.

In 1906 she set the Ladies' Record at the Shelsley Walsh hillclimb in a 50hp Napier. She made the climb in 92.4 seconds, around 12 seconds off the winning time and knocking around three minutes of the previous record set by June Larkins. She was sixth overall. The record stood until 1913. As well as the Shelsley record, she set another in the Blackpool speed trial, was third in a hillclimb at Aston Clinton, and broke the world Women’s Land Speed record, all in Napier machinery. In the Herts County Club climb, she defeated her team-mate Cecil Edge, cousin to Selwyn. In a De Dion, she was sixth in the Coventry and Warwickshire hillclimb. This all must have made up somewhat for the disappointments she suffered that season and the last: narrowly missing out on a win in a famous challenge run against Freddie Coleman's steam car, and not being able to take part in her first proper race.

Having proved herself a worthy opponent on British trials and hillclimbs, Dorothy made her appearance on the continental scene in 1907. She won her class at the Gaillon hillclimb in France. This time she also had the prestige of being part of the winning Napier team. Apparently, she was thirteenth or fourteenth in the Herkomer Trial, and first lady driver. Reports also exist of her being the runner-up in a speed trial at Bexhill on Sea, and in some sort of Concours event associated with it. This was in her own De Dion-Bouton, rather than a works Napier, which she used for the trial itself.

The Brooklands racing circuit opened its gates that year, and again Dorothy tried to enter a full race. Although she had the backing of Edge and Napier this time, the Brooklands authorities would not allow it. Her name appears in the race programme as the car's entrant, and it was driven by another Napier works driver. Intriguingly, the photograph above shows Dorothy seated in a racing car, with the Brooklands banking in the background. The occasion on which this picture was taken is unclear. However, Edge set a 24-hour speed record there in 1907, and was supported by two other Napier drivers. Dorothy may have been involved in this in some way, although it would have been somewhat unusual for Napier not to exploit the inherent publicity value of it. Edge's two teams of support drivers were all named in the programmes as regular, male Napier works drivers.

In 1908, she managed a penalty-free run in the taxing Herkomer Trial in Germany and won an award, a silver plaque, in the Prinz Heinrich Trial section. This was for completing the trial without stopping. She was second in the Aston-Clinton hillclimb, and also drove in another climb at Trouville in France. However, only the car owner’s name appears on the entry list. According to her own writings, she was second in the Aston Clinton hillclimb she had entered the year previously. It seems to have been this year that she took part in the South Harting hillclimb, using a Minerva for the first time. The Napier company also imported Minerva cars into the UK.

Dorothy Levitt's motorsport career petered out here, but her interest in motoring remained. She published several books on driving, the most famous being 1909’s The Woman And The Car. In it, she recommends keeping a hand mirror in the tool drawer under the driving seat, to enable the motorist to see behind her when necessary. The idea caught on; this is the first known use of the rear-view mirror.

After her motoring adventures, Dorothy aimed to become an aviatrix, and took flying lessons in France. It is unclear whether she ever qualified as a pilot. After 1911 or so, she disappears almost completely from public life, as a personality and a writer. Her co-operation with Edge was seemingly over; her 1909 book barely mentions his name, despite the huge influence he had on her motoring career. 

During her heyday, Dorothy was often described as being very feminine and modest in her demeanour, as well as physically small and dainty. Although her actual size would be hard to exaggerate, this idea of her as a shrinking violet seems at odds with her actual behaviour, and may well have been down to the Edge publicity machine, again. A shy and demure lady would hardly wish she had run down a police officer who had arrested her for speeding (in 1903), in a public newspaper, or deliberately outshine another female competitor (a Frau Lehmann) at a post-hillclimb reception, in an extravagant dress, as Dorothy is said to have done at Herkomer in 1907. The dress was green, a favourite colour of hers, which often appeared in the paint jobs of her cars.

One of her other recognisable quirks was that she was normally accompanied by her black Pomeranian dog, Dodo, even whilst racing. The dog was said to have bitten at least one official observer during a trial. Male competitors in the 1904 Hereford trial showed up one day with a variety of stuffed and porcelain dogs attached to their cars, to try to ridicule Dorothy. She was not offended, and retaliated by giving them all gifts of dog biscuits, at one of the receptions after the event.

As a nominal member of the Napier sales team, she gave various driving demonstrations of their latest models. She was not averse to the odd publicity stunt, such as driving a taxi in London for a Daily Express feature, despite having no cab license.

Among the other stories attributed to her, was a claim that she made a small living as a society driving instructor of sorts, and that she had taught Queen Alexandra and her daughters to drive. This has never been confirmed or denied, but reports state that the Queen was driving herself around in an electric Victoriette from at least 1901. This was before Dorothy learned to drive, in 1902 at the earliest, therefore I am inclined to disbelieve this story.

The rumours of her carrying a revolver with her on long drives, for self defence, were apparently true. This has been put down to her “hunting background”, which was probably fictitious. Separating fact from colourful story is made harder by the way that Dorothy herself sometimes wrote ambiguously in her diaries and publications, describing “motor events” without separating races, trials and even concours d’elegance. Her 1903 entry, where she describes herself as the first British female racing driver, is a case in point. She also made allusions to competing against other female drivers, such as Camille du Gast, although she may only have been comparing the performances of individual cars they drove.

Following the BBC film, various new snippets of information have surfaced about her. The Radnorian blog has uncovered various other pieces of biographical information, including a date of death in 1922, when Dorothy was still only 39. You can access Radnorian's last Dorothy-related post here.

It is not completely clear why Dorothy died so young, although her long period of reclusiveness before her untimely demise could suggest a debilitating illness of some kind. The official cause of death was morphine poisoning, and some reports state that she had been suffering from measles. Her moderate legacy was left to her sister. Although she was not hugely wealthy at the time of her death, she was far from destitute, which makes her later years that bit more mysterious. It was a sad end for a great character.

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