Marguerite Wilson
Personal information
Full nameMarguerite Wilson
Born(1918-03-04)4 March 1918
 England
Died1972[1]
Team information
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Amateur teams
?–1937Bournemouth Arrow CC
1938West Croydon Wheelers
Professional team
1939–1941?Hercules[2]
Major wins
1939 — Land's End to John o' Groats

Marguerite Wilson (1918–1972) was a record-breaking cyclist from Bournemouth. In 1939 she broke the Land's End to John o' Groats and 1,000-mile (1,600 km) records. When World War II stopped her efforts in 1941 she held every Women's Road Records Association (R.R.A.) bicycle record.[3] For her achievements she was celebrated in the Golden Book of Cycling[3] and received the Bidlake Memorial Prize.[4]

Career

Wilson started racing in 1935, when she was 17.[5] She broke three records riding as an amateur in 1938.[3] Then in 1939 she turned professional[5] and broke 11 records (including two of her own from 1938). The pinnacle of her year was completing the End to End ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats in 2 d 22 h 52 min, continuing to complete the 1,000 miles in a record 3 d 11 h 44 min. When World War II stopped her efforts in 1941 she held all 16 Women's R.R.A. bicycle records.[3] In her career she won over 50 medals and trophies,[6] including the Frederick Thomas Bidlake Memorial Plaque for her End-to-End record.[5]

Palmarès

1935
21/07/1935, 10 Mile Solo Record — 29 min 14 s[7]
1936
26/07/1936, 10 Mile Solo Record — 28 min 54 s[7]
05/09/1936, 10 Mile Solo Record — 28 min 02 s[7]
1937
06/06/1937, 10 Mile Solo Record — 27 min 57 s[7]
1938
19/06/1938, 10 Mile Solo Record — 27 min 15 s[7]
1939
29/08/1939–2/09/1939, Land’s End to John O’Groats in 2 d 22 h 52 min[3]
29/08/1939–2/09/1939, 1,000 miles in 3 d 11 h 44 min[3]

Honours

In 1939 she received the annual Bidlake Memorial Prize that has been awarded from 1934 until the present in honour of Frederick Thomas Bidlake. Her citation says:

Marguerite Wilson for her bicycle records, Land’s End to John O’Groats in 2 d 22 h 52 min and 1,000 miles in 3 d 11 h 44 min accomplished in one ride, 29th August – 2nd September 1939.[4]

On 30 April 1947 her achievements were celebrated in the Golden Book of Cycling.[3]

Personal life

Marguerite Wilson was a stewardess for British Overseas Airways Corporation (B.O.A.C) in 1948, working Short Flying boats from the Marine Airway terminal, Solent, Southampton, Hampshire.[8][9]

References

  1. ↑ "Marguerite Wilson". Cycling Archives. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  2. ↑ Spoke — Quarterly Magazine of the Meridian CC, September 2008
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Road Records Association — Marguerite Wilson page from The Golden Book". Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
  4. 1 2 Bidlake Memorial Recipients — 1939 — Marguerite Wilson
  5. 1 2 3 The Bicycle, UK, 5 March 1941, p11
  6. ↑ Museum of American Heritage archive — Social history of the bicycle Archived 6 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Cycle Time Trials — South DC — Records
  8. ↑ Journal, Fellowship of Cycling Old-Timers vol 143 p9
  9. ↑ British Pathe library 1249.07 | Airways Girl (1:08:21:00 - 1:09:29:00) 05/07/1948 - 14 images (and 68 second film clip) of Marguerite Wilson as B.O.A.C. stewardess and track cyclist. Archived 12 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.