Jessy Blackburn
Jessy Blackburn | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Tryphena Jessica Thompson 20 April 1894 Cradley |
| Died | 14 May 1995 Eastbourne |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | Jessica Blackburn |
| Known for | Aviation pioneer |
Jessy Blackburn (20 April 1894 – 14 May 1995) was an aviation pioneer and one of the first women to fly a British monoplane.
Biography
Born Tryphena Jessica Thompson on 20 April 1894, Cradley, Worcestershire, England she was left an orphan while young. Her father, Wesley Thompson, was a doctor. He and his wife Catherline died when Blackburn was three. She was raised by her older brother Clarence and later by her sister Eugenie. Blackburn was sent to Ecole d'Etrangers in Brussels in 1910. She met her husband, the Yorkshire engineer Robert Blackburn, in 1912 and he introduced her to his love of aviation. The couple married in 1914.[1][2][3]
The Blackburns founded
Personal life
Blackburn had three sons and two daughters. Her youngest, Peter, spent two years in Switzerland with tuberculosis. Another son, Rob, was killed in an accident in 1935 when he was hit by a car while riding his bike. Her marriage ended the following year.[4] Blackburn married again in 1941 to Group Captain Jack Noakes but again the marriage ended in divorce. She went on to marry Stanley Barton in 1953. Again this marriage did not last. Blackburn returned each time to using her first married name.[1][2][3]
She celebrated her 100th birthday in the Grand Hotel in Eastbourne and died in 1995, aged 101.[1][2]
Sources
- ^ a b c d "Obituary: Jessica Blackburn". The Independent. 22 October 2011. Archived from the original on 2022-06-08.
- ^ ISBN 0787675857.
- ^ a b c "Jessy Blackburn". Women of Eastbourne.
- . Retrieved 2021-04-02.