Aileen Preston

Aileen Preston
Born1889
County Armagh, Ireland
Died1974 (aged 84–85)
Northallerton, Yorkshire, England
OccupationChauffeur for the Women's Social and Political Union
Known forDriving Emmeline Pankhurst, being the first woman in history to qualify for the Automobile Association Certificate in Driving, and being head of the first autonomous British women’s ambulance unit in France
MovementSuffragettes
SpouseJohn Graham-Jones

Aileen Preston (1889–1974) an Irish chauffeur and suffragette.[1] She was the first woman in history to qualify for the Automobile Association Certificate in Driving.[2]

Early life

Preston was born in 1889 in County Armagh, Ireland.

Career

Preston put an advertisement in the classified columns of the Morning Post and Votes for Women newspapers,[3] looking for work as a ‘Lady Chaffeuse’ and qualified motor mechanic. The secretary of Emmeline Pankhurst, the leader of the suffragette movement, contacted her for an interview.[4] Preston was appointed as Pankhurst's chauffeur in April 1911,[5] and was paid £1 a week.[6] Her family thought she was going "straight into the dark arms of Hell" as the driver for "that dreadful woman", but she loved the job.[7]

Preston drove Pankhurst in a large Wolseley car that had been donated to the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) by the heiress Mary Dodge.[7] Motor cars were still quite new and a risky method of travel, and during a single journey through the Lake District she had to fix five tyre punctures.[1] The car was also under Police surveillance.[8]

She was succeeded as the driver for Mrs Pankhurst by Vera Holme, then in 1913, Preston set up the first driving school for women in London.[4]

During the First World War, Preston joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment's Watson Unit.[9] In 1916, she became the head of the first autonomous British women’s ambulance unit.[1][10] This was based at a field hospital in northern France.

Personal life

She married army doctor John Graham-Jones in 1915 and they had two children.[4]

She died in 1974.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Chauffeurs - Aileen Preston". National Motor Museum. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  2. ^ Pugh, Martin (31 December 2013). We Danced All Night: A Social History of Britain Between the Wars. Random House. p. 253. ISBN 978-1-4481-6274-1.
  3. ^ Atkinson, Diane (2019). Rise Up, Women!: The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 259. ISBN 978-1-4088-4405-2.
  4. ^ a b c "Suffrage Stories: Aileen Preston: Mrs Pankhurst's first 'lady chauffeuse'". Woman and her Sphere. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  5. ^ Bach, Eric. "Emmeline Pankhurst - Suffragette Movement". British Heritage. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  6. ^ Pugh, Martin (31 December 2013). The Pankhursts: The History of One Radical Family. Random House. p. 228. ISBN 978-1-4481-6268-0.
  7. ^ a b Purvis, June (2 September 2003). Emmeline Pankhurst: A Biography. Routledge. pp. 157–158. ISBN 978-1-134-34191-7.
  8. ^ Crawford, Elizabeth (2 September 2003). The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866-1928. Routledge. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-135-43402-1.
  9. ^ Medal card of Preston (Mrs Graham-Jones), Aileen, Corps: Voluntary Aid Detachment. Kew, Surrey: The National Archives. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  10. ^ Gregory, Adrian; Paseta, Senia (23 November 2002). Ireland and the Great War: 'A War to Unite Us All'?. Manchester University Press. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-7190-5925-4.

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