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Sophie Peirce-Evans, later known
as Mary, Lady Heath, was born on the 10thof November 1896, in
Knockaderry, Co Limerick, Ireland. From somewhat humble origins
and following a traumatic childhood, Sophie would go on to become
a champion athlete, becoming a founder member of the Women's
Amateur Athletics Association and active campaigner and lobbyist
to the International Olympic Committee for the inclusion of Women's
track and field events in the Olympic programme. Sophie was no
slouch academically, attending Dublin's Royal College of Science
before war intervened. In 1916 she temporarily abandoned her
studies to join the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps, firstly as
a dispatch rider and later as an ambulance driver in France.
But it was as an aviator, or aviatrix as women pilots were known
as back in the day, that Sophie was to become famous for, achieving
world-wide renown for her flying achievements and, for a few
years, becoming one of the most famous women both in Britain
and the USA. Yet, by the time of her early death in 1939, she
had faded into total obscurity. It is only recently that her
remarkable life and achievements have deservedly been given due
recognition. In 1916 she temporarily
abandoned her studies to join the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps,
firstly as a dispatch rider and later as an ambulance driver
in France After her demobilisation
in 1919, Sophie returned to Dublin and resumed her scientific
studies. and duly succeeded in obtaining her degree.
In May 1925, Sophie flew to Prague to address
a conference of the Olympic Congress. It was her first time ever
in an aircraft and she became intoxicated with the whole concept
of flight. By August, she had become one of the first members
of the London Light Aeroplane Club, taking her first solo flight
in October and obtaining a private pilot's licence the following
month. Being a woman, Sophie
found that her pilot's licence did not afford her the same privileges
as that of a man, despite demonstrating her abilities by attempting,
and setting, numerous altitude records and being the first woman
to take a parachute jump from a plane; landing in the middle
of a football pitch whilst a match was taking place. Although
she could compete in air races at frequently held air shows across
the country - often beating the men - as a woman she was not
allowed to take up passengers or otherwise earn a living from
her skill. Women pilots were deemed to be inferior to their male
counterparts purely on the basis of their gender, although some
objected simply as a matter of course as they remained entrenched
in outdated, misogynistic values; the predominantly official
viewpoint being that women were naturally weaker than men and
that this position would be compounded during a menstrual cycle,
thus putting their passengers lives at risk. In July 1928 she became the first woman appointed
as a co-pilot with a civil airline, KLM.Sophie was the first
woman to hold a commercial pilot's licence and the first woman
to appointed as a co-pilot with a civil airline Sophie, never
one to be put of easily, enlisted the help of many powerful people
in her quest for a full licence, such as the MP Lady Astor, and
agreed to be physically tested at any time to assess her flying
abilities, thus effectively dismantling the main argument against
women pilots. Indeed, many men could see the injustice of this
two-tier licensing system and actively supported her claim. Her
lobbying paid off and in 1926, she became the first woman in
Britain and Ireland to hold a commercial pilot's licence.
Now she had the means to make a living
from flying Sophie required her own aircraft and set about finding
herself a husband who would finance her flying. Depending on
one's point of view, she perhaps cynically, or perhaps in a pragmatically
practical way, made a list of the oldest and wealthiest bachelors
in the British Empire, eventually selecting Sir James Heath,
who was over forty years older than her. Polite society dubbed
her a gold-digger, but despite being the subject of London society
gossip the couple married in October 1927. The Avro Avian aeroplane
that Sir James had bought for her was boxed up and sent by ship
to be reassembled in South Africa, where they were on honeymoon
and where Sophie - now known as Lady Mary Heath - planned to
help promote aviation to local flying clubs. Mary, ever the daredevil,
decided that she would fly the tiny Avian back to London solo;
a flight that no-one had yet made. She flew out of Cape Town
in January 1928, although the flight proper didn't begin until
some three weeks later after various technical adjustments to
her plane and the addition of an extra fuel tank. Now fully equipped
for the arduous journey ahead, Mary flew out of Johannesburg
airport and headed for London. Thousands
turned out when finally, on the 17th of May 1928, Mary's small
Avro Avian biplane made a bumpy landing at Croydon aerodrome
- London's main airport at the time - and, as it taxied across
the grass airfield to the arrival area, it became engulfed by
the vast waiting crowd of many thousands. Mary had flown her
aircraft nearly 10,000 miles from Cape Town, maintaining the
aircraft herself and becoming the first person to make a such
a flight. The spectators were used to seeing pilots descend from
their aircraft after landing wearing oil splattered overalls
and goggles; Mary looked more like a fashion model as she stepped
from her plane in her midi-heeled shoes, silk stockings, pleated
skirt, fur coat, pearls and cloche hat. In that moment she had
become the most famous aviator in the world. In 1934 took over
the private aviation services at Kildonan aerodrome, just north
of Dublin and set up her own aircraft company, Dublin Air Ferries
Ltd. She also set up the Irish Junior Aviation Club where some
of the original Aer Lingus personnel got their first taste of
flying. But by this time aviation had moved into a different
phase, with governments now setting up state airlines able to
offer commercial routes all over the world. The days of the pioneering
maverick were over and Mary could no longer make a living out
of flying, either as a pilot or as a business manager.
Partly due to these failings and, in all
probability, still suffering with the long-term effects of an
accident in America, Mary became so increasingly dependent on
alcohol that - like many before her on her mother's side of the
family - she was classed as an alcoholic. In May 1939, Lady Mary
Heath suffered a fall from a tramcar in London. She was taken
to St Leonard's hospital in Shoreditch, London, where she died
from head injuries without regaining consciousness. She was just
42 years of age and classed as having no fixed abode. |
