1. Hilda Beatrice Hewlett was an early aviator and aviation entrepreneur.
17 Facts About Hilda Hewlett
1. 2.
Hilda Hewlett was the first British woman to earn a pilot's licence.
3.
Hilda Hewlett founded and ran two related businesses: the first flying school in the United Kingdom, and a successful aircraft manufacturing business which produced more than 800 aeroplanes and employed up to 700 people.
4.
Hilda Beatrice Hewlett was born in Vauxhall, London on 17 February 1864 to Louisa Herbert nee Hopgood and George William Herbert, a Church of England vicar.
5.
Hilda Hewlett specialised in three skills which served her well in her later aviation engineering career: woodwork, metalwork, and needlework.
6.
Hilda Hewlett married barrister and writer Maurice Henry Hewlett on 3 January 1888 in St Peter's Church, Vauxhall, where her father was the incumbent.
7.
Hilda Hewlett was an early bicycle and motor car enthusiast.
8.
The family acquired a car and Hilda Hewlett learned to drive, and was fined for speeding in May and June 1905 but was considered proficient behind the wheel.
9.
Hilda Hewlett attended her first aviation meeting at Blackpool in 1909.
10.
Hilda Hewlett met aviation engineer Gustav Blondeau and they became business partners.
11.
Hilda Hewlett returned to England with a Farman III biplane, nicknamed the Blue Bird.
12.
In May 1911 Hilda Hewlett instigated the first pilots' strike in history.
13.
On 29 August 1911, at Brooklands, Hilda Hewlett became the first woman in the UK to earn a pilot's licence when she received certificate No 122 from the Royal Aero Club after completing the test in her biplane.
14.
Hilda Hewlett earned a Distinguished Service Order in 1915 and rose to the rank of group captain.
15.
Hilda Hewlett had previously spent nine months touring New Zealand, Rarotonga, and the United States, but it was not until the factory site was sold that she emigrated to Tauranga, New Zealand, with her daughter Pia Richards and Pia's family.
16.
In June 1932 Hilda Hewlett was present at the inaugural meeting of the Tauranga Aero and Gliding Club.
17.
Hilda Hewlett died on 21 August 1943 in Tauranga, North Island, New Zealand.