| Birth: | Mar. 7, 1885 | | Death: | Feb. 17, 1912 | 
Aviation Pioneer. He learned to fly in the autumn of 1909 when he was in Paris, shortly after Wilbur Wright's visit to that city, and bought a two-seater Bleriot monoplane which he flew back over the English Channel and called "Big Bat". He then joined the Boxkite Company as a demonstration pilot. His many feats included: flying over Hampton Court at a height of 200 feet; flying up the Thames to Henley Regatta with his landing-wheels touching the water; dive-bombing both the Oxford and Cambridge crews during the University Boat Race until he ran out of fuel and was forced to make an emergency landing on a nearby cricket field; and, allegedly, flying beneath Tower Bridge in a biplane. The Royal Aero Club suspended his certificate, but this did not deter him, and he continued to fly until his untimely death. The inscription is very difficult to make out; but, on the front (East) reads: 'David Gilmour, born 5th. July 1842, died 8th. March 1907. Margaret Jane Gilmour, born 12th. September 1849, died 2nd. December 1910. "She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. Her children arise up and call her blessed; her husband also and he praiseth her."' (taken from the Book of Proverbs, Chapter 31, Verses 12 and 28); and, on the right-hand side (North); "Douglas Graham Gilmour, born 7th. March 1885, killed in an aeroplane accident at Richmond, 17th. February 1912." (bio by: Iain MacFarlaine)
Search Amazon for Douglas Gilmour | | | Burial:
St Michael Churchyard
Mickleham
Surrey, England |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Record added: Jul 27, 2005
Find A Grave Memorial# 11432051 |
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