Constance Leathart (1903 - 1993)

Born 7 Dec 1903 in Low Fell, Gateshead, Durham, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Philip Gale [send private message]

Biography

Constance was born in 1903^[1].

In 1911, she was 7 and living with her parents in Low Angerton, Northumberland ^[2]

She passed away in 1993^[1].

"Constance Ruth Leathart (Connie) was born on 7 December 1903 in Low Fell, Gateshead. Connie was the only child of Thomas Headley Leathart and Janet Ruth Grant Tennant. The Leathart’s had made their fortune as lead manufacturers on Tyneside. Connie’s grandfather, James Leathart, owned a large art collection and was a known patron of artists including James Whistler and the Pre-Raphaelites.

When Connie was 3 years old the family moved to Mill Greens, Low Angerton, Northumberland. She had a privileged education, and in May 1914 enrolled at Cheltenham Ladies College aged 10 years and 8 months. Connie boarded at Sidney Lodge boarding house and remained there until the summer of 1918. She then attended Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate in York until 1921.

In 1925, Connie started flying lessons at Newcastle Aero Club, and is said to have written her name as “C. R. Leathart” on the application form in order to disguise her gender. She had her first flying lesson in the aeroplane Novocastria [G-EBLX] in September 1925, and her Pilot’s Log Book records that she was in the air for 15 minutes. On 24 February 1926, her log book states that she conducted her first solo flight but unfortunately crashed on landing. Connie was resilient and was back in the air again on 1 March for a 30 minute flight. In 1927 she received her flying licence and became the first British female pilot outside London to achieve this. At this time, she was one of only 20 female pilots in the whole of the UK.

Connie became part of a group of flying socialites and participated successfully in many air races both in this country and throughout Europe; her photograph albums contain numerous photographs to support this. She held a Royal Aero Club of Great Britain Air Tourist’s Identity Card allowing her to be exempt from landing, take-off and garage fees for a period of 48 hours in several European countries. Connie travelled so regularly that she had a special locker cut into the fuselage of her Comper Swift to accommodate her picnic hamper.

In the 1920’s Connie set up the Cramlington Aircraft Ltd. company at Cramlington Aerodrome with her lifelong friend Walter Leslie Runciman (later Viscount Runciman II). The company repaired and overhauled aircrafts and many of the aeroplanes they serviced were flown in competitions such as the Kings Cup and the London to Newcastle Race. As well as flying aeroplanes, Connie was possibly the first woman to fly an experimental glider at Cramlington in 1930.

In 1939, when working in the map department at Bristol Airport, Connie joined the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA). The ATA was a civilian organisation tasked with ferrying warplanes between factories, maintenance units and front-line squadrons. Pilots were based at Ferry Pools at various locations. Connie’s flying was described as reliable and steady, and she was cleared for Class 4 (advanced twin engined) aircraft from 1942. In 1943, she achieved the rank of Flight Captain, flying heavy bombers as well as fighters. Her pilot logs show that during her time in the ATA she flew Spitfires, Oxfords, Ansons, Tigers and Wellingtons. Unfortunately, after a run of ill health, Connie was grounded and offered an administrative contract as an Assistant Operations and Maps and Signals Officer. As her passion was flying, she felt unable to accept this, so sadly her contract was terminated in June 1944.

After World War Two, Connie went to work with the United Nations on relief efforts in the Mediterranean. As a UN Special Representative, she helped distribute food and medical supplies. In 1950, she received an award of merit from the International Union of Child Welfare.

Connie’s photograph albums contain numerous images of friends she had throughout her life. Two of her closest friends were Walter Leslie Runciman and Eleanor Isabella Slade, who was always known as Susan.

Connie met Susan at Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate, and the girls remained friends after their education ended. The school magazine followed the journeys of former pupils, and in 1921 reported that Constance Leathart had been touring England and Scotland by car with Susan Slade; Connie’s albums document their travels. [School magazine information provided by Christine Pearson, Archivist, Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate].

Susan was also a member of the ATA and attained the rank of Flight Captain. She tragically lost her life on 13 July 1944 after crashing soon after take-off at Little Rissington in Gloucestershire. Susan selflessly crashed her plane into a field after swerving to miss the village. She is buried in the village of Stokenchurch in Buckinghamshire.

Walter Leslie Runciman was the eldest son of politician Walter Runciman, and grew up at Doxford Hall in Northumberland. He trained as a pilot and was Commanding Officer of No. 607 (County Durham) squadron of the Auxiliary Air Force. As well as being business partners in Cramlington Aircraft Ltd., Connie and Walter attended numerous flying events, competitions and social gatherings together. In 1946, he was awarded an OBE for services to war and on his father’s death in 1949, he succeeded to the title of Viscount Runciman of Doxford. Connie and Walter remained friends until Walter’s death in London in 1989.

By 1956, Connie had stopped flying. The last entry in her pilot log book is dated 12 November 1956. She devoted her life to farming a small number of animals at Little Bavington. Her farm accounts, beginning in May 1953, show that she owned heifers, bullocks and sheep. Connie also cared for two rescue donkeys that she adored.

On 4 November 1993, Connie died aged 89. She wished to have a simple service with the minimum of fuss. She requested her final resting place to be in Thockrington churchyard, in an unmarked grave with no headstone. Connie’s request was granted, but her friends took a stone from her unheated swimming pool, that had been used as a step, carved upon it the initials ‘CRL’, and placed it upon her grave. This stone stands today in the churchyard as a simple but touching mark of respect to an extraordinary lady."^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVZZ-D8ZS : 4 September 2014), Constance Ruth Leathart, Nov 1993; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death Registration, Northumberland West, Northumberland, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
2. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1911," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XWM5-5M2 : 11 July 2019), Constance Ruth Leathart in household of Thomas Hedley Leathart, Low Angerton, Northumberland, England, United Kingdom; from "1911 England and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 14, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
3. ↑ [1] Constance Leathart: A Life in the Clouds from Northumberland Archives website

See also:

• Wikipedia page for Constance Leathart
• Constance Leathart: The forgotten 'aviatrix' of WW2 on BBC website The Constance Leathart's story was aired on Inside Out on BBC One, North East and Cumbria, at 7:30pm on 12 October 2015.
• Clip on BBC iPlayer