Aviation

Aviation - She was described as the most famous aviatrix of her time.

Mary Westenra was born in County Monaghan, Northern Ireland in 1990, daughter of Derry Westenra, the fifth Baron Rossmore of Rossmore Castle, who was a described as a famous sportsman and rake - not the kind you scrape up the leaves with.

In 1911, when she was 20, after spending most of her youth hunting, shooting and fishing, and obtaining little formal education, she married South African millionaire Sir Abe Bailey. He was 47.

She then spent a considerable amount of time shuttling back and forth between England and South Africa with a husband much older than she was. Their interest differed, she missed her horses and hounds, and his interests were mainly commercial.

Neither marriage nor motherhood particularly suited her, and five children later, she was determined "to get away from prams" and began to take flying lessons in secret. This at the relatively old age of 36. She took to flying like a duck to water and earned her pilot's licence in 1927. That same year she became the first woman to fly across the Irish Sea. Before long she became one of the world's most celebrated aviators,

She was 38 years old when she made an epic solo flight from Croydon to Cape Town and back. On March 9, 1928, Lady Bailey departed Croyden flying a Standard De Havilland Cirrus Moth (G-EBSF) with a 70-horsepower engine. An extra tank was fitted in the front cockpit giving a range of 10 1/2 hours. She reached Cape Town on April 30 after a journey of 8,000 miles.

The return journey in a replacement Cirrus Moth (G-EBTG), which started in September, was made across the Belgian Congo, along the southern edge of the Sahara and up the west coast of Africa and home across Spain and France. She arrived back on Jan. 16, 1929, after flying some 18,000 miles. That was the first solo flight between London and South Africa by a woman. She said at the time that she saw this act as a gesture of female independence and of faith in light aircraft.

The Britannia Trophy is awarded to the British aviator who accomplishes the most meritorious performance during the previous year. It has been won by several aviators whose names are on Gander's streets including Alcock, Cobham, Mollison and Raynham. It was awarded to Lady Bailey in 1929. The following year, she was made a Dame of the British Empire.

She also flew in many international competitions. An example of which was the King's Cup air race in which she was the only woman entrant for the 540 mile race and the first woman to ever compete.

Lady Mary Bailey died in 1960, she was 70.