HEDON AND DISTRICT LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY

On 5 January 1941, Hull's pioneer aviatrix Amy Johnson - in 1930 the first woman to fly solo to Australia - crashed in the icy waters of the Thames estuary. In his new e-book, Amy Johnson: Hessle Road Tomboy , written to mark the 75th anniversary of Amy's death, local author and historian Dr Alec Gill MBE offers an intriguing insight into her life and seldom acknowledged Hessle Road roots - her fishing family heritage; the 'cod farm' business, Andrew Johnson Knudtzon Ltd, founded by her Danish grandfather in 1881 and still operating today; her early homes; the schools where she was ostracised by her classmates, played truant, and was often in trouble with the Head; and her abandonment of Methodism for fishing folklore superstitions. Dr Gill also covers her aimless years of celebrity after the Australian flight, her unluckiness in love, the mystery of her death, and the previously unheralded role of Hull trawlerman Harry Gould in her attempted rescue. DON'T MI

Discover more of one of Hedon's hidden treasures - the Church of Ss Mary & Joseph - with society member Tony Hay . Originally a mission at Nuthill supported by the Metcalfe family and protected by the Constables, the Church of Ss Mary & Joseph was constructed in Baxtergate in 1803 -  behind two much earlier cottages - some twenty years after the Gordon riots and more than a quarter of a century before the Emancipation Act of 1829 finally ended over two centuries of persecution and discrimination against the Catholic minority.   All welcome! Join at any meeting . £15 p.a.   Venue: Church Room , Magdalen Gate, Hedon HU12 8JP , 7.30 p.m. For more information : contact hedon.history @gmail.com   COMING SOON: 2017 14 March: Dr Alec Gill MBE , 'Amy Johnson: Hessle Road Tomboy' 11 April : Jo Dunn , 'The Wilson Family of Tranby Croft' 9 May : Valerie Wood , 'My Holderness' 13 June : Evening Visit, Londesborough 11 July : Vis