Lady Margaret Oldham

Margaret on the 1936 RAC Rally

Lady Margaret Oldham was a British rally driver in the 1930s. Having been born in 1878, she was fairly mature when she took up rallying and had been a widow since 1926. 

She favoured larger cars and her first competition car was a Vauxhall Coupe. 

In 1932, she took part in the RAC and Scottish rallies. This was the first year she appears on major entry lists. The 1932 RAC began in Torquay and was one thousand miles long. A newspaper report mentions lady drivers going on special diets to manage it, although it is unclear whether Margaret was one of them. A number of the female entrants were titled ladies; Mary Grosvenor and Iris Capell were peeresses in their own right, but others including Kathleen Countess of Drogheda and Aubretia, Countess Ouvaroff, had married into their titles. Margaret herself was the widow of a life peer.

Margaret's finishing position is not known, although she did reach the end of the rally. She admitted to a Torquay Times reporter that she had found the directions rather badly-marked in the Lancashire towns and had lost her way briefly somewhere near Rochdale. She and her co-driver had an alarm clock set to tell them when to switch seats, and to "ring in the lonely hours of the night to keep them cheerful".

The Scottish event was one of her favourites and she entered in 1933, 1936, 1937 and 1938. She was also fond of the RAC Rally, competing again in 1934 and 1935. By this time, she had acquired an American Hudson 8, which she used again in the 1936 RAC Rally. The Hudson was heavy and more suited to straightforward touring, but its four-litre engine gave it power: 29hp. It was described as one of the largest cars in the rally. One of its first events, the 1935 RAC, was another thousand-mile trial, which 44 women entered as drivers, Margaret among them. The London Daily News gave brief profiles of some of the female drivers, with Margaret summed up as "looks stern. Is loved by all who know her for her great charm."

The Scottish Rally of 1936 was 900 miles long and the car managed it, although it was not one of the quicker ones in the opening hillclimb. The next edition was the Coronation Rally and Margaret won the ladies' award for drivers of closed cars. In 1938, the Scottish Rally was held in conjunction with the British Empire Exhibition and had a ceremonial finish at the exhibition itself, perhaps a more fitting backdrop for a somewhat grand car.

Her rallying exploits were limited to her home country, although she took part in all the big events in England and Scotland. It is occasionally mentioned that she did some Alpine trial driving, but no results are forthcoming.

After her retirement from competition, continued to drive her own car on the road. In 1953, she had an accident in Marylebone and hit some railings, damaging the windows of the house behind. The year before, she got in trouble with the police in London for stopping outside shops on double yellow lines, and complained in the Evening Standard. She died in 1956.

(Image copyright Daily Mirror)

Jackie Astbury

Jackie Astbury was a British driver who rallied from 1933, in the UK and France. She is normally credited as "Miss J Astbury".

She drove a Wolseley Hornet in the 1933 RAC Rally, which was then held in March, and finished 70th in class 2, having started at Bath. In the summer, she used an MG Magna in the Scottish Rally, having started at the opposite end of England in Harrogate. Her first outing in the Singer Nine which became her regular car was the Ulster Rally in August. In December, she tried a lower-paced event, entering the London to Gloucester Trial in the MG. She won a silver medal for keeping 90% of her starting score.

There was more trial action in 1934, when she took part in the Colmore event in a Singer. Again, she was among the second-class award winners. Driving the Magna this time, she won a first-class award in the trial section of the Women's Automobile and Sports Association's Day in the Hills. 

The biggest brush with fame she had in 1934 was not completely related to her performance on the rally stage. She had protested the result of the Ulster Rally, claiming that she had waited for a signal to leave one stage and not received one, making her late for the Bangor time control. Her protest was upheld and she was promoted to third place, winning herself £20 and the Visitors' Cup in the Singer.

In 1934, she finished the RAC Rally in a Singer. Using the same car, she won the Thistle Cup for best Scottish-starting driver in the 1935 Monte Carlo Rally. Her final finishing position was 50th. She also won her class in the RAC Rally. In between, she competed in the JCC's Brooklands Rally, winning a second-class award. She also travelled back to France for the Criterium International de Tourisme Paris-Nice, finishing 13th behind Grand Prix driver Raymond Sommer. She was second in the Coupe des Dames standings and third in the Light Car class.

In 1936, she repeated her Monte Carlo achievements, still in the Singer, improving her final position to 40th. This was in spite of a double spin on a sharp corner, before she even left Scotland. The Coventry Evening Telegraph acknowledged that she "did well",  taking time to praise her "fair curls in immaculate order" and her "smart khaki driving suit adorned with a Scotch thistle". She took the same car to the Brooklands Rally and won another second-class award, and finished another RAC Rally. Back in France again, she entered the all-female Paris-St. Raphael Rally for the first time, and was sixth overall, behind Betty Haig and Enid Riddell.

Jackie occasionally raced on track, including a run in a ladies' race at Donington in 1935. She was second in a Frazer Nash, behind Fay Taylour in a similar car.

Her motorsport career ends in 1936, although she did present a "Perseverence Prize" at the 1937 Scottish Rally. John M Archer was the winner; this award went to a driver who had entered the rally three or more times and had never previously won a prize. A Sketch report from September 1937 says that she had been "very ill indeed", and that "motoring friends crowded round congratulating her on her recovery" at Shelsley Walsh. This would explain her abrupt disappearance.

She may also have played badminton competitively before she began her motoring career.

(Image from the Brian Goodman Collection)

Annie Neil

Annie Neil, alongside her navigating sister Chrissie, rallied in the 1950s. Their first international event seems to have been the 1953 RAC Rally, driving a Morgan Plus 4, which was given to Annie by Peter Morgan, in recognition of her performance in a trial. 

Annie’s given name appears to have been Ines or Innes and she was sometimes known as Andy as well. Chrissie was also known as Kiki. She was awarded a Silver Garter in recognition of her being the “best woman driver in Britain” in 1953, following her Coupe des Dames in the Hastings Rally.

Having been interested in motorsport for a while, Annie entered her first rally and named her sister as her navigator, even though Chrissie could not drive. Her niece Candy says that she had to take a week-long crash course in order to be allowed to compete. They initially rallied mostly in Scotland and in the north of England, including the Morecambe Rally.

Quickly they became popular local media figures and even donned Edwardian outfits for a Glasgow-Largs-Kilmarnock veteran car race in 1957. They were driving a 1912 Vulcan.

As well as the RAC Rally in 1953, the Neil Morgan made an appearance in the Daily Express Rally in November. It had been successfully repaired after a roll on the RAC event.

The sisters competed abroad for the first time in January 1954, driving the Standard Vanguard they would become associated with in the Monte Carlo Rally. The Scotsman described them as being welcomed with flowers by spectators. The Morgan came out again for the MCC National Rally later in the year. 

In 1955, they entered the Monte Carlo Rally again, but retired after a lighting failure on their Standard Vanguard in Belgium. They drove the same car in the 1956 Monte, but appear to have retired again, possibly after missing a time control at Besancon. As ever, the reports of their Monte adventures mentioned their matching tartan-lined ski suits and tartan berets.

They are on the list of finishers for the 1955 Scottish Rally but their final position is not noted.

The Neil sisters were regulars in Scottish rallies until 1957, when Annie retired from major competition to start a family. Her daughter Candy was born in early 1957. Chrissie carried on for a short while, co-driving for her brother-in-law, Annie’s husband Frank Dundas.

Both were involved in motorsport administration as well as competition and were committee members for the Lanarkshire Motor Club. Chrissie even ran a local rally with an all-woman organising team in 1954, calling it “La Flop Des Dames”.

Annie had learned to drive during the War, and after her rallying days were over, ran the family pig farm in Tollcross. She died in 2004 aged 80. Chrissie became a fashion designer. She died in 1991, aged 64.

Listen to a podcast featuring Candy and Donald Dundas here. Photos from the same page.

Female Rally Drivers Before 1950: Part II

Lucienne Radisse, as an actress

Morna Vaughan now has her own profile, as do Katherine Martin, Margaret Oldham, Dorothy Patten and Marie-Jeanne Marinovitch.

“Mademoiselle Mertens” (or Mertëns) – Belgian driver who competed mainly in France, in the 1920s. She was second in the 1925 Monte Carlo Rally, driving a Lancia Lambda. This remains the highest-ever finish for a female driver. Later, she took part in the women’s races and rallies that centred on Paris in the late 1920s. She was a regular at the Journée Féminine de l’Automobile, although not one of the winners, and took part in several of the early runnings of the Paris-Saint-Raphaël Rally. Again, she was not among the class winners. No biographical information about her is readily available, and her given name is never used.

Millicent (Miss M.V.) Milne - drove in rallies and trials in the 1920s and 1930s. Between 1926 and 1928, she is recorded as an entrant in trials in an Austin Twelve. Some of these appear to be Women’s Automobile Sports Association events. Later, in 1932, she appears as a rally driver, although she may have begun this earlier. That year, she drove in the RAC and Scottish rallies, in an Austin. This was replaced by a small Armstrong-Siddeley in 1933, in which she was 74th in the RAC Rally. She also entered the Scottish Rally again. She disappears from the entry lists after that. Her given name is seldom used.

Margaret Montague-Johnstone - winner of the WASA Wakefield Trophy in 1932, in recognition of her performance in the Monte Carlo Rally. She drove a Riley and scored a clean run with no penalties. In 1933, she finished again, in a Riley 9, having started from John O’Groats. She sometimes drove with her husband, Alistair, like on the 1933 Scottish Rally and the 1934 Monte, when they used a Triumph Gloria. Margaret drove the Triumph herself in Scotland in 1934. She and Alistair had been active in Riley club events since at least 1931.

Hélène Morariu-Andriewitsch – early rally driver who competed just before the First World War. She was the first woman to enter the Alpine Trial, in 1912. Her car was a Puch. Unfortunately, she retired on the fifth stage, after hitting a rock. In 2013, she drove the Puch again, competing under her married name of von Stamati-Morariu. She appears to have finished, but not win any of the awards. Away from motorsport, Hélène studied philosophy.

Aileen Moss - British trials and rally driver in the 1920s and 1930s. She often drove a Marendaz Special, but sometimes used other cars, such as the MG Midget she drove in the 1933 Brooklands Rally. The Marendaz was preferred for that year's RAC and Scarborough rallies. Aileen is, of course, the mother of Pat Moss-Carlsson and Sir Stirling Moss.

Doris Le Parmentier - Channel Islands driver who competed in an MG in the 1930s. She was a regular at the beach races held on Guernsey. In 1937, she travelled to the mainland to compete in the Southport Speed Trials, finishing ninth overall, despite only having fifteen minutes of practice. The same year, she raced in Jersey at St Ouen's Bay. At different times, she won the Victoria Trophy in Guernsey and the Duckhams Trophy in Jersey, although details of these events is proving hard to find.

Billie Reece - entered the RAC Rally in a Ford in 1932, starting from Liverpool. She is also recorded as a finisher in the 1933 Ulster Rally. Her car was a Riley this time and her start point was London.

Jean Robertson - entered her first rally in 1932. She drove overland to Monte Carlo from Australia with Joan Richmond, as part of a group of Riley drivers, and was 19th in the Light Car class. She also entered the RAC Rally in the Riley. After her motorsport adventures in 1932, she does not appear to have competed.

Lilian Roehrs (Röhrs?) - competed in European rallies in the 1930s. She drove a Hanomag in the 1931 Coupe Internationale des Alpes and a BMW in the 1934 event. Her navigator in 1934 was Rembach.

Lilian Roper - competed throughout the 1920s and 1930s in the UK. Her first major achievement was the Shelsley Walsh Ladies' Hillclimb record in 1923, driving an AC. Later, she was a regular participant in rallies in the UK. In 1932 and 1933 she used an Armstrong-Siddeley. This was changed for a Triumph in 1936, then an MG VA for the 1938 and 1939 seasons. She does not appear to have competed abroad.

Marie Seeliger – competed in the 1929 Monte Carlo Rally, driving a Mercedes-Benz. She started from Berlin. Starting from Stavanger in Norway this time, she also drove the Mercedes in the 1931 Monte, and seems to have finished. Little other information seems to exist about “Frau Seeliger”. Her title suggests that she was German.

Eva Stackelberg - first seems to have competed internationally in the 1932 Monte Carlo Rally, driving a Hupmobile. She drove the same car in the 1934 Monte, again starting from Umeå.

Eve (Mrs C.S.) Staniland - did at least one season of rallying in the 1930s. She drove a works Riley in the 1932 Monte Carlo Rally, finishing tenth in the Light Car class. Margaret Allan was her navigator. It was presumably the same car that she used to take part in that year's RAC event. Mrs Staniland's given name is not often given.

Muriel Stanton - rallied in the UK and Europe in the 1930s. She first appears on the entry lists in 1932, driving a Riley in the RAC Rally. She returned to the event in 1933, in the Riley, and was 99th, starting in Harrogate. She entered the Riley into the Monte Carlo Rally in 1934, starting at Umeå, and was 48th. This seems to have been her last major rally.

Helene Veniel - competed in and around Paris in the 1930s, mainly in rallies. As well as events such as the Paris-St. Raphael, she entered mixed rallies, including the Tour de France in 1932 and 1933. Her car in 1932 was a Chenard & Walcker, which she had had for some time, winning the Coupe du Journal at the 1930 Journee Feminin de l’Automobile in it. She drove  in the 1933 Tour de France, which also visited Belgium, in a Peugeot 301, which she may also have used in the Journee Feminin, as Peugeot were using female drivers to promote that model.

Lady Patricia Waleran - entered British rallies in the early 1930s. She is recorded as an entrant in the 1933 RAC Rally, driving an Alvis. She stopped competing in 1934, after her divorce from her husband. For the time, she was a very young driver, being only 20 in 1933. She was born in Margaret Patricia Blackader in Canada.

“Miss EV Watson” - rallied in the 1930s. In 1932, she drove a Wolseley Hornet in the RAC Rally, and an Invicta in the Scottish Rally. She used the Invicta in the 1933 RAC Rally too, and was 45th. Driving a Bentley, she won her class in the 1935 RAC Rally. She disappears from the entry lists after this, at least under that name.

Joyce Watson - rallied in the 1930s. She drove a Riley in the RAC and Scottish rallies in 1932. The following year, in an Aston Martin, she was seventh in the Light Car class of the Scottish Rally. After this, she disappears from the entry lists. She may have been related to the Miss Watson above.

Joan Weekes – drove in rallies and trials in the 1930s. She first appears in 1932, driving a Salmson in speed trials at Lewes and Brighton, and winning her class. She also drove a Ford V8 that year, in which she won the Ladies’ Cup in the London-Gloucester Trial. She continued to trial both the Salmson and the Ford, with great success in her class. In 1934, she competed in the RAC Bournemouth Rally, although in which car, it is not quite clear. She won a Second Class award in the Brooklands Rally in 1936, driving a Ford.

Monica Whincop - competed shortly after the Second World War, in the UK. Her most high-profile appearance was in the International Sportscar race at Gransden Lodge in 1947. She won the 1100cc class in her Fiat Balilla. That year, she also drove in the Brighton Speed Trials, presumably in the same car. Photographs exist of her driving at Shelsley Walsh, but no results or dates have come to light. She may have been driving her husband Geoff Whincop’s Bugatti T51.

Violet "Midge" Wilby - rallied a number of cars during the 1930s. In 1933, she was 51st in Class Two of the RAC Rally in a Wolseley Hornet, and she used the same car on the Scottish Rally. Later, she used an Armstrong-Siddeley model and is recorded as a participant in the 1936 RAC and 1937 Monte Carlo rallies. She was sixth in the Monte Carlo Coupe des Dames. Shortly afterwards, she became heavily involved with Atalanta cars, as a patron, company director and works driver. She drove an Atalanta on the 1939 Scottish Rally.

Stella Zagórna – Polish driver active during the 1930s. She competed in the Monte Carlo Rally three times, in 1936, 1937 and 1939. The first two times, she started from Bucharest, and drove a Chevrolet. She was 24^th in 1936, and in 1937, 21^st overall, in a rally of high attrition. In 1939, she changed her start point to Tallinn, still in the Chevrolet, but did not make the finish, having crashed into a telegraph pole just before reaching Monte Carlo. She was unhurt, and returned to rallying in the summer, entering the Liège-Rome- Liège Rally. Unfortunately, she had another accident and ended the event in a ditch.

(Image source unknown)

Kitty Brunell

Kitty with her rally-winning AC

In 1933, Miss Kitty Brunell became the first, and so far only, woman to win Britain's RAC Rally. She was driving a four-seater AC Ace sports car, the precursor to the AC Cobra. Several Aces made it to the finish at Hastings that year, including a Mrs G Daniel in seventh place. She also won the Concours d'Elegance.

In the same car, she entered the JCC’s Brooklands Rally. The results of this event have been lost, but she does not appear to have won. Fay Taylour won the Ladies’ Prize.

Kitty had been rallying since 1929, when she was second lady on the Monte Carlo Rally, behind Lucy O’Reilly Schell. She was driving a Talbot Six. Remarkably, she was only seventeen years old at the time. She had been interested in rallying for some time, and even earlier photographs show a fifteen-year-old Kitty acting as a mechanic on another car.

Her second attempt at the Monte was in 1930. She drove a Talbot again, and was fortieth this time. The Coupe des Dames still eluded her, and it was won by a French driver, Madame Dore, this year.

A change of car to a Bianchi for the 1931 Monte led to a non-finish. At around this time, she is known to have owned a Delage, but it is unclear whether or not she used it in competition.

In 1932 she turned her attention to her home events, and drove an MG F Magna on the Scottish Rally. She was competing in the Large Car class, but was disqualified for having her father as a passenger. Her car for that year’s RAC Rally was a Crossley. The result is unknown. Pictures of her exist which show her rallying a Ford Model A this year, but it is unclear which event this was. She competed in trials that year, including the JCC Open, in which she drove a Triumph, and won a Third Class award for her class. In the Brighton Speed Trials, she drove a Rover, in the 3000cc sportscar class.

In 1933, the same year as her RAC win, she used an Aston Martin on the Scottish event, again as part of the larger 1500cc and over class.

Her name disappears from the entry lists after 1933. She is known to have married a fellow competitor, Ken Hutchinson, at about this time, which may explain her absence. She was the daughter of motorsport photographer, Bill Brunell, which explains why so many photographs of her exist, in comparison to other drivers of the time.

(Image from avaxnews.net)