Aviator and aircraft manufacturer. Born Hilda Beatrice Herbert in Vauxhall. The first British woman to earn a pilot's licence, in 1911. Together with her business partner, Gustav Blondeau, she founded the first flying school in the United Kingdom, and ran a successful aircraft manufacturing business which produced more than 800 aeroplanes and employed up to 700 people. After the factory closed down in 1926 she emigrated to New Zealand, where she died in Tauranga, North Island. All this information comes from the excellent sheelanagigcomedienne.
2017: Difficult to believe that the Wikipedia photo (captioned as her pilot's licence photo) depicts the same woman, or any woman from 1911, but if it does, the wig (or hat) deserves comment.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk
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