Malcolm Campbell: Difference between revisions
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'''Sir Malcolm Campbell''' ([[11 March]] [[1885]] – [[31 December]] [[1948]]) was an [[England|English]] racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on [[Land Speed Record|land]] and on [[Water speed record|water]] at various times during the 1920s and 1930s using [[List of Bluebird record-breaking vehicles|vehicles called ''Bluebird'']]. His son, [[Donald Campbell]], |
'''Sir Malcolm Campbell''' ([[11 March]] [[1885]] – [[31 December]] [[1948]]) was an [[England|English]] racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on [[Land Speed Record|land]] and on [[Water speed record|water]] at various times during the 1920s and 1930s using [[List of Bluebird record-breaking vehicles|vehicles called ''Bluebird'']]. His son, [[Donald Campbell]], carried on the family tradition by holding both land speed and water speed records. |
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==Early life== |
==Early life== |
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Malcolm Campbell was born in [[Chislehurst]], [[Kent]] in 1885.<ref>GRO Register of Births: JUN 1885 2a 409 BROMLEY - Malcolm Campbell</ref>, the only son of William Campbell, a [[Hatton Garden]] diamond seller. He attended the independent [[Uppingham School]]. In Germany, learning the diamond trade, he gained an interest in motorbikes and races. Returning to England, he worked for two years at [[Lloyd's of London]] for no pay, then for another year at one pound a week. Between 1906-8, he won all three London to Lakes End Trials (motorbike races). In 1910 he began racing cars at [[Brooklands]]. He married but divorced two years later. He christened his car ''Bluebird'', painting it blue, after seeing the play ''[[The Blue Bird (play)|The Blue Bird]]'' by [[Maurice Maeterlinck]] at the [[Haymarket Theatre]]. He remarried to Dorothy Evelyn Whittall in 1920 in Westminster and his son Donald was born in 1921, and he had a daughter Jean in 1923. They divorced in 1940. He served in [[World War One]] in the [[Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment]] and in the [[RAF]]. He married Betty Nicory in 1945 in Chelsea. He was knighted in 1931. |
Malcolm Campbell was born in [[Chislehurst]], [[Kent]] in 1885.<ref>GRO Register of Births: JUN 1885 2a 409 BROMLEY - Malcolm Campbell</ref>, the only son of William Campbell, a [[Hatton Garden]] diamond seller. He attended the independent [[Uppingham School]]. In Germany, learning the diamond trade, he gained an interest in motorbikes and races. Returning to England, he worked for two years at [[Lloyd's of London]] for no pay, then for another year at one pound a week. Between 1906-8, he won all three London to Lakes End Trials (motorbike races). In 1910 he began racing cars at [[Brooklands]]. He married but divorced two years later. He christened his car ''Bluebird'', painting it blue, after seeing the play ''[[The Blue Bird (play)|The Blue Bird]]'' by [[Maurice Maeterlinck]] at the [[Haymarket Theatre]]. He remarried to Dorothy Evelyn Whittall in 1920 in Westminster and his son Donald was born in 1921, and he had a daughter Jean in 1923. They divorced in 1940. He served in [[World War One]] in the [[Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment]] and in the [[RAF]]. He married Betty Nicory in 1945 in Chelsea. He was knighted in 1931. |
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Revision as of 16:02, 10 October 2008
Sir Malcolm Campbell | |
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| Born | 11 March 1885 |
| Died | 31 December 1948 (aged 63) |
| Resting place | St Nicholas Church, Chislehurst, Kent |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation(s) | Racing motorist, journalist |
| Spouse(s) | Marjorie D. Knott, July 1913, divorced. Dorothy Evelyn Whittall, 1920, 2 children Betty Nicory |
| Children | Donald Campbell (1921-1967) Jean Campbell (1923-) |
Sir Malcolm Campbell (11 March 1885 – 31 December 1948) was an English racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times during the 1920s and 1930s using vehicles called Bluebird. His son, Donald Campbell, carried on the family tradition by holding both land speed and water speed records.
Early life
Malcolm Campbell was born in Chislehurst, Kent in 1885.[1], the only son of William Campbell, a Hatton Garden diamond seller. He attended the independent Uppingham School. In Germany, learning the diamond trade, he gained an interest in motorbikes and races. Returning to England, he worked for two years at Lloyd's of London for no pay, then for another year at one pound a week. Between 1906-8, he won all three London to Lakes End Trials (motorbike races). In 1910 he began racing cars at Brooklands. He married but divorced two years later. He christened his car Bluebird, painting it blue, after seeing the play The Blue Bird by Maurice Maeterlinck at the Haymarket Theatre. He remarried to Dorothy Evelyn Whittall in 1920 in Westminster and his son Donald was born in 1921, and he had a daughter Jean in 1923. They divorced in 1940. He served in World War One in the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment and in the RAF. He married Betty Nicory in 1945 in Chelsea. He was knighted in 1931.
Grand Prix career
He competed in Grand Prix motor racing, winning the 1927 and 1928 Grand Prix de Boulogne in France driving a Bugatti T39A.
Land speed record
He broke the LSR for the first time in 1924 at 146.16 mph (235.22 km/h) at Pendine Sands near Carmarthen Bay in a 350HP V12 Sunbeam. Malcolm broke nine land speed records between 1924 and 1935, with three at Pendine Sands and five at Daytona Beach. His first two records were driving a racing car manufactured by the Sunbeam Car Company in Wolverhampton.
He set his final land speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah on September 3, 1935, and was the first person to drive an automobile over 300 miles per hour (301.337 mph (484.955 km/h)).
Water speed records
He set the water speed record four times. His highest speed was 141.740 mph (228.108 km/h) in the Bluebird K4. He set the record on August 19, 1939 on Coniston Water in Great Britain.
Death
He died after a long illness in 1948 in Reigate, Surrey, aged 63 years.[2] He was one of the few land speed record holders of his era to die of natural causes, as so many had died in crashes. His versatile racing on different vehicles made him internationally famous.
His son Donald died 19 years later in an attempt to break the water speed record.
Awards
- In 1931 on his return from Daytona where he set a land speed record of 245.736mph, he was given a civic welcome and a Mansion House banquet in London, and was knighted by King George V.
- He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990.
- He was awarded the Segrave Trophy in 1933 and 1939.
- He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1994.
Miscellaneous
He was a Vice President of the Middlesex County Automobile Club.
He became interested in the search for buried treasure in the Cocos Islands.
Campbell was also involved in politics. He stood for Parliament without success at the 1935 general election in Deptford for the Conservative Party.
Campbell was depicted by Robert Hardy in a BBC dramatisation of the attempt on the land speed record with Bluebird II.
References
External links
- Land speed record personalities
- Water speed records
- Sporting knights
- International Motorsports Hall of Fame
- Brooklands people
- English racecar drivers
- Grand Prix drivers
- Bugatti
- Old Uppinghamians
- Conservative Party politicians (UK)
- Segrave Trophy recipients
- English motorboat racers
- 1885 births
- 1948 deaths
- BRDC Gold Star winners