Meeting 14 March - Dr Alec Gill MBE, 'Amy Johnson: Hessle Road Tomboy'

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 MISS IT!

New members always welcome! Join at any meeting - £15 p.a. 

Venue: Church Room, Magdalen Gate, Hedon HU12 8JP, 7.30 p.m.

For more information: please contact hedon.history@gmail.com 

COMING UP:

11 April: Jo Dunn, 'The Wilson Family of Tranby Croft'

9 May: President's Evening - Valerie Wood, 'My Holderness' (Venue: Hedon Town Hall)
13 June: Evening visit, Londesborough
11 July: Evening visit, Houghton Hall
8 August: Evening visit, Tranby Croft
12 September: David Smith, 'The Hohenreins: a Hull Family'
10 October: AGM & Members' Evening
14 November: TBC
12 December: Xmas dinner

Read more at: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/our-yorkshire/heritage/new-book-reveals-hull-heroine-amy-johnson-s-dark-secret-1-7657785

Throughout her life, Johnson rarely acknowledged her Hull roots and Dr Gill believes the perceived stigma of her family’s industrial heritage was something she could not live with. Johnson’s grandfather set up a fish business, Andrew Johnson Knudtzon in Hull in 1881 that still survives to this day, not that its continued existence would have pleased the aviator. “Amy Johnson was born and bred on Hessle Road but often seemed to be embarrassed by her past,” said Dr Gill. “I’m convinced that a lot of that was down to the nature of the family business, rather than the reputation of Hessle Road.

Read more at: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/our-yorkshire/heritage/new-book-reveals-hull-heroine-amy-johnson-s-dark-secret-1-7657785

an intriguing insight into the life and death of a pioneer who in 1930 became the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia in a Gipsy Moth aeroplane.

Read more at: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/our-yorkshire/heritage/new-book-reveals-hull-heroine-amy-johnson-s-dark-secret-1-7657785