Cicely Ethel Wilkinson
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Cicely Ethel Wilkinson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 5 June 1882/83 Eastbourne, Sussex, England |
| Died | 27 May 1967 Sussex, England |
Cicely Ethel Wilkinson (5 June 1882 – 27 May 1967) was a British pioneer pilot and was possibly the only woman to qualify as a pilot in Britain during the First World War. She also served as chauffeur for the French Red Cross and was possibly employed as an ambulance driver on the Western Front during the war.
Cicely Ethel Wilkinson (née Cardwell) was born in Eastbourne, Sussex on 5 June 1882/1883 to Colonel William Alexander Cardwell and Lilian Cardwell (née Brodie).[1][2] Wilkinson's 1939 register booklet lists her date of birth as 5 June 1882 but her marriage certificate suggests she was born in 1883/1884 (probably 1883); furthermore, her aviation certificate gives her date of birth as 5 June 1888.[2][3][4] On 12 October 1903 and aged 20, Wilkinson married Henry Edward Thornton Wilkinson.[3] In 1911, Wilkinson and her husband were living in Malton, Yorkshire, where their occupation in the 1911 census was described as "private means."[5] In 1919, Wilkinson petitioned the British Divorce Court for the restitution of her conjugal rights with her husband; they were still living together in 1939.[6][7]