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.

Morna Vaughan

Morna with her Standard in 1933

Morna Vaughan was a British rally driver from the 1930s onward. She is mostly remembered for her drives in the Monte Carlo Rally between 1931 and 1952, which were often eventful rather than strictly successful.

Morna was born Morna Lloyd Rawlins in India, in 1882. Rallying was very much a second career for her; she was one of the first wave of women to qualify as medical doctors, and worked as an Army surgeon during the First World War. This made her one of the first female surgeons in the UK. After the war, and her 1917 marriage to Francis Vaughan, she continued to practise. She was the head of the “Female VD” department (genito-urinary medicine) of Guy’s Hospital in London from 1917, until at least 1935. In addition to this, she was a consultant surgeon to several London hospitals, specialising in women’s GU medicine.

She began driving in 1924, when she was forty-two. Her first major competition experience seems to have been in 1930, when she entered the JCC Half-Day Trial, in a Standard. She was one of the “First Class” award winners. Trials were something to which she would return throughout her career, with some success. That year, she drove a Wolseley Hornet at Shelsley Walsh, making the climb in 80.8 seconds.

Her first Monte Carlo Rally was in 1931, and she drove a Riley. She does not appear on the lists of finishers, but there are no reports of her getting involved in any particular accidents or other drama.

In 1932, she was sixth in the Light Car class of the Monte Carlo Rally, driving a Triumph Nine. This year, she also won her only Monte Coupe des Dames. This was in spite of a lengthy stop close to the end of the rally, when Morna and her co-driver, Charlotte Nash, a medical student, stopped to help another crew. They set several broken legs and gave extensive medical assistance, giving up any chance of a good final time, but still hanging on to the Ladies’ prize.

The following year, she drove a Standard on the Monte, with Elsie Wisdom as her navigator. They started from Tallinn in Estonia. Later in the year, Morna did the RAC Rally in a Wolseley Hornet. Her co-driver’s name is not recorded, and she may not have finished.

After 1933, she took a break from international competition. That year, she entered the Colmore Trial for at least the second time, winning a third class award in the Standard. Between then and 1937, she was an active and enthusiastic member of the Women’s Automobile and Sports Association (WASA), the British women’s motorsport association. She took part in their trials, which often seemed to be held in the Cotswolds, in the Standard.

Her fourth Monte was in 1937. Driving the Standard, she did not make the finish this time, due to accident damage. Her last pre-war event was the 1939 Monte, still driving the Standard. She finished in 48^th place, trailing Yvonne Simon and Louise Lamberjack for the Coupe des Dames.

Unusually, she resumed her motorsport activities after World War II. By this time, she had retired from medical practice and was well into her sixties. In 1951, she returned to the Monte Carlo Rally, in an AC Ace, but did not finish.

Her last major rally was the 1952 Monte. In classic style, this was an eventful test for Morna, now 69. In an interview at the start, she professed not to remember how many rallies she had taken part in. She completed the greater part of the event in a decent time, but unfortunately ran out of petrol near Paris. Despite terrible winter weather, she managed to refuel, with the help of a passerby, and get on her way again. However, somewhere near Clermont-Ferrand, another car ran into the back of her Jowett Javelin, which burst into flames. She was not seriously hurt.

After her retirement from medicine, she lived on a smallholding. She died in 1969.

Morna’s collection of trophies and newspaper cuttings is now held at the National Motor Museum. Their online summary of its contents was a great help in writing this article.

(Image copyright http://www.motoringpicturelibrary.com/)

Lola Grounds

Lola, on the right, with Doreen Reece and their Ford Popular, 1952 RAC Rally

Lola Grounds was one of the Rootes team’s female driver roster in the 1950s. She acted as both a driver and a navigator, initially for her husband, Frank. She is normally credited as “Mrs F. Grounds”.

She was born Lola Elsa de Sena in 1918, to a Spanish father and English mother. Her first home was Sheffield, but she spent most of her life in Warwickshire, England. She married Frank Grounds in 1937.

Her rally career began in 1950. Eschewing the traditional route of a small local rally in a production car, as a first step, she joined Frank’s team for the Tulip Rally. He was initially against the idea, having little faith in women having the requisite stamina, but she talked him round. Lola was under five feet tall and was described as “dainty”, but she enjoyed the challenge of driving for long stretches, and would later become fond of special stages.

As co-driver to her husband, she competed in the Tulip Rally at least four times, in a Jaguar XK120 and a Jowett Javelin. In the early 1950s, she drove in British rallies herself: she won the Coupe des Dames in the 1952 London Rally in a Morris Minor, and took part in the 1954 MCC National Rally, in a Ford Anglia. 1952 also saw her in the RAC Rally, driving a special-bodied Jowett Jupiter with Doreen Reece. Her first big international rally, as a driver, seems to have been the Monte Carlo Rally in 1953, in which she drove an Austin A40, with Cherry Osborn and Rosemary Wareham.

In 1955, she navigated for Nancy Mitchell, in Nancy’s Daimler Conquest. They were 17^th in the Monte Carlo Rally, among others. Lola also drove herself in some European rallies, including that year’s RAC event. She and Doreen Reece crashed out, turning over Lola’s Ford Anglia on a slippery Welsh slope. The Anglia was replaced with a Triumph TR2 for the Tulip Rally, a few weeks later. Lola and Cherry Osborn just managed to finish in 141^st place, despite another crash on a wet hairpin bend. The car hit a wall, which stopped it from falling down a steep drop.

The following year, she co-drove in the Standard ladies’ team, often with Cherry Osborn. Their first event together in the Standard Eight was the Monte, with Cherry driving. They also drove as a team in the Tulip Rally. Jo Ashfield and Mary Handley-Page drove the other Standard ladies’ car. The 1956 radio interview with Lola, referenced earlier, says that the Tulip was her fifth rally of the year

After a gap, she was back to co-driving for Frank in 1957. They took part in the Tulip Rally together, in a Morris Minor.

Her time in the Rootes team began in 1958. To start the year, she finished the Monte Carlo Rally in a Sunbeam Rapier, alongside Mary Handley-Page and Doreen Reece. Lola and Mary then did the Alpine Rally together, in a Sunbeam. The pair also contested Lola’s favoured Tulip Rally, in the Sunbeam, and were 21^st overall. During her career, she entered this particular event eight times. In a 1956 interview, she described her “soft spot” for the Dutch classic, and for its high-speed sections. This year, she was busy at home and abroad, as she was the Lady Mayoress of her adopted hometown of Sutton Coldfield, as well as an international rally driver. Unusually, she was Mayoress to her mother-in-law, Minnie Grounds, who was Mayor.

After Lola’s season as a Rootes driver, both she and Frank drove Ford cars in 1959. Another visit to the Monte led to another finish, driving a Ford Zephyr as part of a three-woman team with Nancy Mitchell and Anne Hall. All three were experienced drivers, and it was something of a reunion for Nancy and Lola. They were 78^th overall. For the Tulip Rally, Frank and Lola competed together again, in another Zephyr. They were 25^th.

Throughout the 1950s, she also drove her own cars in British rallies. These cars included an MG Y-Type, which she used in the 1956 RAC Rally, Ford Popular, and Morris Minor, which she drove in the London Rally with Anne Hall in 1957.

Her career, and that of her husband, seems to finish here. The early 1960s saw rallying move from being focused on navigation and driving tests, to high-speed special stages.

She died in 2004. She was survived by three children, including Robert Grounds, a motorsport photographer.

(Image from https://www.flickr.com/photos/robertgrounds copyright Birmingham Post & Mail)

Paddie (Eirane) Naismith

Eirane Naismith, always known as Paddie, began her circuit racing career inauspiciously as part of Barbara Cartland's set-up race for "Society Ladies" in 1931. Billed as an erstwhile chauffeur to the Prime Minister, she either won or came third in the “Brooklands Society Ladies’ Handicap”, depending on which account one reads.

This was her first race on a circuit, although she had driven in some trials organised by the Women's Automobile and Sports Association. She was one of the drivers in its first London to Exeter Trial and although she took her sport seriously, apparently had a cocktail bar in the back of a car and a folding bed for her sister, along for the ride, to sleep on. Her car was a Ballot which she owned jointly with her sisters Jill and Sheila. Paddie entered the Ballot into the 1930 event too, as well as a series of Councours d'Elegance.

She drove an 8hp Avon Standard in the 1931 Ulster Rally and won her class. This time, her brother was her co-driver, although she drove the entire 500 miles herself.

Despite the dubious beginning to her on-track career, she actually became a decent racer. The following year, having lived down the Cartland débacle successfully, she won a bona fide Ladies' Handicap at Brooklands. There were ten entrants, including Fay Taylour and Elsie Wisdom, who had won the 1000 Mile race earlier in the year. She was driving a Salmson and nailed a close finish, crossing the line 20m before Fay Taylour.

In 1934, she was third in two challenging Long Handicap races: the BARC First Long Handicap in July, and the First Kingston Junior Long Handicap in October. Her car was a supercharged Salmson, which belonged to her lover, Sir Derwent Hall-Caine. This was her last Brooklands appearance, following a fine and a race exclusion for running over the lines at the track edge.

In the intervening period, she drove in the 1932 RAC Rally, in a Standard. She almost did not finish after crashing into a telegraph pole on an icy aroad section, with her sisters in the car. Never to be deterred, she drove over a hundred miles in a damaged car before organising overnight repairs and rejoining the rally.

The following year, she entered the event again in the same car, finishing 93rd in Class 3.
In between her racing exploits, she found time to gain her pilot’s license and aviation increasingly took up her time. The high point of her career as an aviatrix was her flight to Australia in 1934, as part of the Centenary Air Race. As well as piloting her own aeroplanes, she also flew as a stewardess professionally.

Incidentally, the story of her being a chauffeur to the Prime Minister appears to be true. She drove Ramsey McDonald on many occasions, as well as other dignitaries.

Paddie was primarily an actress by trade, as were Jill and Sheila. Paddie appeared in both small and leading parts in a British feature films and in various popular stage productions from around 1928. She is most famous for being the image first transmitted as a colour television picture in 1940. John Logie Baird thought that her distinctive red hair would show up well on screen.

Her acting skills meant she was in demand a a promotional hostess or spokesperson. She spoke at the Standard Car Club's 1933 meeting at Southsea, where she extolled the virtue of rallying. Earlier, she had been the face of Nu Swift fire extinguishers and toured the country demonstrating their product by putting out burning cars.

She moved to America with her husband Wing Commander John Towers Mynors in 1942, where she intended to train as a ferry captain, although by 1945 the Mynors were back in London where their daughter Mary was born. Sadly, Mary died shortly afterwards.

Paddie herself died in 1963, probably aged 60 although she often claimed to be younger than she was during her life.

(Picture from http://www.historicracng.com/)

The Belles of Brooklands

Ivy Cummings

The Brooklands circuit in Weighbridge was the UK's first purpose-built full racing circuit, and was in operation between 1907 and 1939, when it was partially demolished and used as an aircraft manufacturing centre for the war effort.

The Brooklands organising club, the BARC, only sanctioned two races open to women there before the First World War: the 1908 Ladies' Bracelet Handicap and a match race between two of its leading competitors, Muriel Thompson and Christabel Ellis. This was in spite of the presence and influence of Ethel Locke King, wife of the circuit's owner, Hugh. She herself raced in the Bracelet Handicap.

Other clubs that used the circuit allowed women to race, either against other women, or against men.

During the 1920s, the various motor clubs that ran races at Brooklands relaxed their attitudes to women drivers, and during the 1930s, the BARC followed suit. Female racers were a common addition to meetings, winning some titles in the process.

Below is an alphabetical selection of the previously unprofiled ladies who raced at Brooklands, and some of their achievements.

Daisy Addis Price – raced at Brooklands in the 1920s. Her first major result was a second place in the JCC Ladies’ Handicap in 1920. This was one of the first women’s races held since 1908. Her car was a Douglas, which she continued to race until at least 1923, when she entered it into the JCC 200 Mile race. In 1922, she did take part in a “lesser race” in the Douglas, but further details are not forthcoming. Other drivers sometimes raced Miss Price’s Douglas on her behalf, and she commissioned and designed coachwork for at least one car.

Psyche Altham – raced at Brooklands in 1933, finishing third in a Ladies’ Mountain Handicap in an MG Magnette, behind Rita Don and Kay Petre. Earlier in the year, she won her class in the Brighton Speed Trials, in a Magnette, and entered a hillclimb at Shelsley Walsh. She did not record a time, due to a problem with the Magnette’s carburettor. After the 1933 season, she disappears from the motorsport scene. Away from the track, she was a dancer and actress. In contemporary reports, she is referred to as “the London dancer, Psyche Altham.”

“Mrs G. Briggs” – raced a Riley 9 Brooklands at Brooklands itself in 1936. Her first race was the First Mountain Handicap at the March Handicap meeting, in which she was unplaced, but only a month later, she won the First Easter Sports Handicap. At the Whitsun meeting, she was second in the First Short Handicap. Despite her obvious skill, and the praise she received from the likes of Motor Sport, her last race seems to have been the Second August Short Handicap, in which she was unplaced. Her husband, whose car the Riley was, also disappears from the entry lists.

“Miss D.M. Burnett” – drove in the 1930 Brooklands Double Twelve, sharing her own Aston Martin with Goldie Gardner. They did not finish, due to a broken valve spring. This was not her first foray into motorsport; she was disqualified from a Ladies’ Race at Brooklands in 1929 for jumping the start. Even earlier, in 1928, she entered the JCC’s High Speed Trials at the Weybridge circuit, driving an Alvis. Later, in 1932, she attempted the JCC 1000 Mile race in a Riley 9, partnering P.R. Mitton-Waterfield. They did not finish.

“Miss D Chaff” (Dinah?) – raced a Fiat Balilla at Brooklands. In 1936, she led an all-female team of Balilla drivers to fourth place in the LCC Relay, with Elsie Wisdom and Mrs Lace. She first appears on the Brooklands entry lists in 1935, as an entrant in the Ladies’ Mountain Handicap, although her finishing position is not given. In March 1936, she took on the Mountain circuit again in an open race, but does not seem to have finished. She also raced at Donington, but retired with a broken trackrod. Her given name is never used.

Cecil Christie (often credited as “Mrs. C. Christie”, although Cecil was apparently her given name) - South African driver who raced at Brooklands in the 1920s, although not in any of the major races. She was a member of Southport Motor Club and drove in the their beach race in 1926, using a Vauxhall. The previous year, she had won a beach race at Skegness, also in the Vauxhall. 

Dorothy de Clifford (“Lady de Clifford”) - initially a Brooklands hanger-on, who later became a race and rally driver. She first appears in Barbara Cartland’s 1931 “Society Ladies’ Private Handicap” film hoax, as riding mechanic to Princess Imeretinsky, who appeared to win the staged race. In 1932, she raced an MG in the Duchess of York’s race for lady drivers, at the Guys Gala at Brooklands. Also that year, she entered the RAC Rally, driving a Lagonda. Her finishing position is not recorded.

Violette Cordery - most famous for her record-breaking exploits in Invicta cars in the late 1920s and early 1930s. She set records for speed and endurance around the world, sometimes assisted by her sister, Evelyn. In the 1920s, she won a number of club races at Brooklands, also in Invictas, but was forbidden to take part in major events. Later, she was tenth in the Large Car class of the 1933 Scottish Rally, driving an Essex Terraplane.

Rita Don - winner of a ladies’ race over the Brooklands Mountain circuit in 1933, defeating the favourite, Kay Petre. She was driving a Riley 9 belonging to Freddie Dixon (sometimes described as her brother, which he was not). Dixon acted as her riding mechanic, and stories abound of his pricking her with her hatpin when she needed to go faster. Photographs of her in 1934 appear to show her ready to race, at Brooklands, chatting to Kay Petre, and she did indeed race a Marendaz, a Lea-Francis and the Riley that year. She entered the Ladies' Mountain Handicap again, but was unplaced. She was the sister of Kaye Don, and her married name was Livesey.

Bessie Duller - raced at Brooklands and in the south of England in the 1920s. In 1923, at Brooklands, she won an "Impromptu Handicap for Any Car or Motorcycle", then in June, she won one of the Surbiton Motor Club's Brooklands races, both in an Amilcar. In 1925, she appears on the start list for a ladies’ race in Kent, driving a Lancia. In 1926, she raced an Austin Seven at Brooklands, in the Surbtiton 150 Mile race. She was often credited as “Mrs. George Duller”.

Colleen Eaton – Australian racer who competed at Brooklands and Le Mans, occasionally as an MG works driver. She was Margaret Allan's team-mate for MG at Le Mans in 1935, and they were 26th.

Marjorie Eccles - raced between 1934 and 1939, often alongside her husband, Roy. She was an occasional entrant in Brooklands races of the time, driving a Singer, or the "Eccles Rapier" Lagonda special, which she also raced at Brooklands in 1935, and Crystal Palace in 1936. After 1936, her profile becomes higher. She partnered Roy at the Ards Tourist Trophy in a Singer that year, then drove at Le Mans in 1937 in a Singer Nine, with Freddie de Clifford. They did not finish. Later, she turned to rallying exclusively, after Roy's untimely death early in 1938. In 1938 and 1939, she entered the RAC Rally. Her car in 1939 was a Daimler.

Mamie Frazer Nash - raced a GN in the Brooklands ladies’ races in the early 1920s. She was one of three women who entered the BARC’s second official ladies’ event in 1920. She raced the GN again in 1922, in another ladies’ race, but did not finish. She may have also competed in hillclimbs. Mamie, born Alice, was married to Archie Frazer Nash of the eponymous car company, who also owned GN. Mamie became a director of Frazer Nash in 1932.

“Miss G" (Geraldine) Hedges – raced in and around Brooklands in the 1930s. She first appears in the entry lists in the JCC’s High Speed Trial, in 1932, driving a Riley, but she was most associated with Talbot cars, one of which she owned jointly with Patricia McOstrich. In 1932, she scored her first Brooklands win, in a Talbot 90, the Sports Long Handicap at the Inter-Club Meeting. Other notable results include a second in the Cobham Long Handicap in 1933, and third in a 1933 Lightning Short Handicap. Later on, she raced a Singer and a Frazer Nash-BMW, in which she was part of a Frazer Nash team with Kay Petre, for the Light Car Club Relay in 1936. She was also active in rallying in the UK, with Patricia McOstrich and Lady Iris Capell. She had been an ambulance driver during WWI and worked as a "motor consultant", advising her customers on car purchases, modifications and repairs. She opened her London garage in 1935 by holding a well-publicised party in it.

Joyce Houldsworth - raced a Bugatti at Brooklands and in hillclimbs. She first raced in 1933, in the Ladies’ Mountain Handicap. In 1934, she was second in the novice class of the Bugatti Owners’ Club hillclimb at Lewes. That year, she also raced the Bugatti at Shelsley Walsh, and in a second Ladies’ Mountain Handicap at Brooklands. She returned to Shelsley Walsh in 1935, driving a Houldsworth Special. Her husband, John, was also a racing driver. Joyce continued to compete in his car after his death in an accident in 1934.

Henrietta (Mabel) Lister – owned and raced an Aston Martin in the 1920s. Pictures of her in racing garb, next to a car at Brooklands, exist from 1924, but no race results. In 1925, she was second in two editions of the Essex Long Handicap. Similar pictures show her car in action at meetings of the Essex and Middlesex Motor Clubs. In 1928, she was one of the entrants in a Surbiton MC Ladies’ Race. There is some confusion about when exactly Henrietta competed, as other drivers often used her car, and she was named as the entrant. The car itself was sometimes looked after by Jack Waters, who would later find fame as the actor Jack Warner. After her time as a racing driver, she married William Burrill-Robinson and took up watercolour painting, exhibiting regularly in Yorkshire. She had previously been a ballet dancer, using the name "Henrietta Listakova".

"Miss MJ Maconochie" (Margaret?) - winner of the first official BARC race for lady drivers at Brooklands, in 1927. Her car was a Salmson. She had previously won gold medals in high-speed reliability trials, and continued to race after her 1927 appearance. In 1928, she took an Amilcar to Boulogne for the Coupe Georges Boillot.

Patricia Oxenden – Jersey-based driver who raced at Brooklands, as well as on short tracks in Midget cars, and on Jersey itself. Her usual car for Brooklands was an Alta, in which she won a Ladies’ Mountain Handicap in 1935. As well as races, she also occasionally competed in trials at Brooklands, in the Alta. Another of her cars was an SS90, which she has said to have used in Jersey. As well as motorsport, Patricia (sometimes referred to as “Dot”) was involved in the early surfing scene in the UK, alongside her husband, Jeremy.

Winifred Pink - raced a number of cars in the UK in the 1920s. She was an expert at beach racing and competed at Skegness in 1926, driving an AC, and at Southsea in 1923. One of her earlier cars was a Horstman, in which she won BARC Ladies’ races at Brooklands in 1922 and 1923. She used this car in hillclimbs at Shelsley Walsh, Caerphilly and other venues. Later in her career, she hillclimbed an Aston Martin and an Alvis. In the late 1920s, she wrote quite extensively on the motor racing for women, claiming that most women were not strong enough to drive the fastest cars. She suggested smaller touring cars instead. In 1927, she was elected President of the Ladies’ Automobile Club.

Part 2

(Thanks to Naomi Clifford for information on Geraldine Hedges)

(Image copyright Octane)