1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you Missed in History Class from house 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast 3 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:16,000 Speaker 1: I'm debling a chocolate boarding and I'm Scared downy And 4 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:18,760 Speaker 1: a few weeks ago we did an episode on Bessie Coleman, 5 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:21,320 Speaker 1: who was the first African American woman in the world 6 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:24,840 Speaker 1: to earn a pilot's license, and after that, requests for 7 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:28,440 Speaker 1: episodes about other female aviators just started to pour in 8 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:31,520 Speaker 1: from listeners. One of the subjects that really caught my 9 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: eye was, of course, today's subject, Beryl Markham, who made 10 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: a historic solo flight across the North Atlantic Ocean in 11 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:41,760 Speaker 1: ninety six from England to Canada. So that of course 12 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:43,879 Speaker 1: made her the first woman to have flown across the 13 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: Atlantic from east to west, and the first person of 14 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: either gender to have made this trip taking off from England. 15 00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:53,800 Speaker 1: Of course, we all know Markham wasn't the only lady 16 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:56,279 Speaker 1: to have crossed the Atlantic, though. Even if you know 17 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:59,959 Speaker 1: very little about aviation, you probably know that Amelia Earhart, 18 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: who's been in the news again pretty recently because of 19 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:05,000 Speaker 1: the renewed effort to find the wreckage of her plane, 20 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:09,000 Speaker 1: became the first female aviator to traverse the Atlantic solo 21 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:13,399 Speaker 1: in ninety two. But air Heart, of course, was crossing 22 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 1: the ocean in the opposite direction from west to east, 23 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:19,720 Speaker 1: and I was interested to find while researching Markham, how 24 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:23,000 Speaker 1: sources like to point out how she crossed the Atlantic 25 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:27,000 Speaker 1: quote the hard way. Apparently, crossing from east to west 26 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: is much more difficult than the other way around because 27 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: of the powerful headwinds that you have to fly against. 28 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 1: In the northern hemisphere, the jet stream actually travels from 29 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:37,480 Speaker 1: east to west. So this is quite a feat that 30 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 1: Markham accomplished. Yeah, and still, much like Coleman, there are 31 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:43,680 Speaker 1: a lot of people who don't know much about Barrel Markham, 32 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: don't know much about who she was, So we're gonna 33 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: be talking about her historic flight, but also some of 34 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 1: her other accomplishments, because Markham's story doesn't begin and end 35 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:56,600 Speaker 1: with flying, to say the least. There's some horse racing writing, 36 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 1: plenty of controversy, as well as a very eerie apathy 37 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 1: that she received in her youth. And you know, we 38 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: love we love it when our podcast subjects have these 39 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:10,680 Speaker 1: strange prophecies. Beryls was, you will always be successful, but 40 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: you will never be happy. So we're gonna look into 41 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:16,959 Speaker 1: that and see if it comes true how it pans 42 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:18,960 Speaker 1: out for her. But first we have to tell you 43 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: a little bit about Beryl's unusual upbringing, because it really 44 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 1: sheds a lot of light on her unique character and 45 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:28,360 Speaker 1: why she did a lot of things that she did later. 46 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:29,639 Speaker 1: I know that's true of a lot of people, but 47 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:32,360 Speaker 1: I think it's especially true in her case. She was 48 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 1: born Baryl Clutterbuck in Lester, England, on October nineteen o two. 49 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: Her parents were Charles and Clara Clutterbuck. Charles was a 50 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:45,040 Speaker 1: former army officer who had actually been asked to resign 51 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: his commission, probably because of debts. He'd gone into the 52 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: army as a gentleman cadet, but since his father had 53 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:55,160 Speaker 1: died after remarrying and having several more children, he didn't 54 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: come away with that. Charles, that is, didn't come away 55 00:02:57,720 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 1: with as much of an inheritance as he might have. 56 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:02,600 Speaker 1: Up or wise, he was making a meager living for 57 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: himself training horses for fox hunting when Beryl was born. 58 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: Both he and his wife really loved horses, and they 59 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: and he in particular, had a great talent for training them. 60 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 1: So when Beryl was only about two or three, years old, 61 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:19,760 Speaker 1: Charles Clutterbuck moved his family to East Africa, or specifically 62 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:23,080 Speaker 1: to Kenya. And Kenya had come under a British control 63 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: in the late eighteen hundreds and people generally thought of 64 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 1: it as almost another India, and Charles and other kind 65 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 1: of people like him were drawn there by the potential 66 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 1: to purchase really inexpensive land and make a lot of 67 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:39,200 Speaker 1: money farming there, and he hoped that this move for 68 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: his family would ultimately make him very wealthy. So Charles 69 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 1: ended up setting up a farm as well as timber 70 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: meals at Injuro, about eighty miles north of Nairobi, Kenya, 71 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 1: and once things got going, he did see some success 72 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: with these ventures. Family life, however, wasn't working out quite 73 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: the same way. Richard Beryl's elder brother, had always been 74 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:01,800 Speaker 1: sort of sickly, and he got even worse when he 75 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: moved to Africa, so he was sent back to live 76 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:07,840 Speaker 1: in England in September of nineteen o six. Clara Beryl's 77 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:10,840 Speaker 1: mother followed three months later, but she went for very 78 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 1: different reasons. In England, she had been really social, enjoying 79 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:16,760 Speaker 1: going to parties a lot and so forth, and there 80 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:19,960 Speaker 1: just wasn't very much society at all to be had 81 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:22,360 Speaker 1: in their new home. There was increasingly more stuff as 82 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:25,720 Speaker 1: time went on, but still really not enough to satisfy her. Also, 83 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:28,720 Speaker 1: living standards were way below what they were used to 84 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:31,240 Speaker 1: back in England when they first arrived. For example, they 85 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:33,760 Speaker 1: had to live in mud huts rather than real houses, 86 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:36,039 Speaker 1: so there may have been some other reasons to just 87 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 1: besides the standard of living. Many also suspect that Beryl's 88 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:43,599 Speaker 1: mother moved because of a romantic interest in Major Henry 89 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 1: or Harry Kirkpatrick. But either way, it's generally accepted that 90 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:51,400 Speaker 1: Beryl never really forgave her mother for this abandonment. So 91 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:55,360 Speaker 1: Beryl was left in Africa with her father and ended 92 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 1: up being a pretty undisciplined and she had an undisciplined upbringing. 93 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: She was watched over by African house servants, and her 94 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:06,440 Speaker 1: childhood playmates were the kids of Africans who worked on 95 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:08,440 Speaker 1: the farm. You know, a very different upbringing from what 96 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:10,840 Speaker 1: she probably would have had back in England. But she 97 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 1: learned a lot too. She learned several African languages and 98 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: in a lot of ways she grew up almost more 99 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: African than European in her way of thinking. From the beginning. 100 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:22,840 Speaker 1: She was known to be really full of life and 101 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: was always looking for adventure. She learned, for example, how 102 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:28,240 Speaker 1: to hunt wild game with a spear and with a 103 00:05:28,279 --> 00:05:31,120 Speaker 1: bow and arrow when she was just a kid. One 104 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:33,680 Speaker 1: thing that those who knew her tend to reiterate is 105 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:36,559 Speaker 1: how she seemed to have no fear In her barrel 106 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:40,279 Speaker 1: mark and biography Straight until Morning author Mary Lovell relates 107 00:05:40,279 --> 00:05:43,479 Speaker 1: the story of how Beryl and her cousin wants as kids, 108 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: killed a black mamba, which was one of the most 109 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:49,839 Speaker 1: poisonous snakes in Africa, with sticks, and then they just 110 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 1: paraded the snake around the dead snaker on on poles. 111 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:56,159 Speaker 1: Her other cousin said of her quote, she was absolutely 112 00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:59,599 Speaker 1: wild and would try anything, no matter how dangerous it was. 113 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: I looked depth the black mamba to to see what 114 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 1: it looked like. Pretty scary looking, right, very scary looking. 115 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:08,560 Speaker 1: In an addition to being really venomous, they're supposedly very 116 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: very fast, which makes this little incident of attacking one 117 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: with sticks even scarier. But even though Beryl was so 118 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:20,599 Speaker 1: bright and so energetic and so brave, she really didn't 119 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:23,280 Speaker 1: get a lot of formal education, and it was through 120 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: her contact with other expatriate upper class Europeans in the 121 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 1: area that she learned the European manners and what was 122 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:34,080 Speaker 1: you know, learned enough to be able to get along 123 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 1: in European social circles later in her life. She also 124 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 1: learned to read and write from a neighbor, Mrs Lidster, 125 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:44,679 Speaker 1: when she was eight years old. She didn't have much 126 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:48,640 Speaker 1: education beyond that though, despite having a governess. Yeah, that's 127 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 1: because the governess didn't quite work out the way perhaps 128 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:55,280 Speaker 1: her father had planned. He hired Mrs Orchardson to teach Beryl, 129 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:59,120 Speaker 1: probably by about nineteen ten or so, but Beryl really 130 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:01,919 Speaker 1: did not like her and would do whatever she could 131 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:04,719 Speaker 1: to keep from being around her. By this time, the 132 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: farm had a real house made of cedar, but Beryl 133 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 1: didn't want to live under the same roof as Mrs Orchardson, 134 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 1: so she kept living in her own mud hut a 135 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 1: little distance away from the house. She stayed out there 136 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 1: with her animal friends, who were her pet dogs and 137 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 1: other pets that she had, and her feelings here probably 138 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 1: stemmed from jealousy. Looking back on it, Mrs Orchardson and 139 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:26,720 Speaker 1: Beryl's father, it turned out later that they were having 140 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:29,240 Speaker 1: an affair. So and we'll talk a little bit about 141 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:31,840 Speaker 1: Beryl's relationships with her father in a second, so you'll 142 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 1: see how this could have aroused those feelings in her. Yeah. So, 143 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 1: like other kids in the area, though, Beryl was eventually 144 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: sent to school in Nairobi in nineteen fifteen or so, 145 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,679 Speaker 1: but she was expelled after only two and a half years, 146 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 1: probably because she was such a troublemaker and um, she 147 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 1: was going through a lot though. At this time she 148 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:53,640 Speaker 1: found out that her parents were divorcing. Her mother remarried, uh, 149 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,080 Speaker 1: and she also found out that her father intended to 150 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 1: remarry Through everything though, even this going on with Mrs 151 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: Orchardson and her father, and even though he worked constantly 152 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:08,920 Speaker 1: and wasn't really around very much, Beryl did remain very 153 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:11,520 Speaker 1: devoted to her father. She never really stopped loving and 154 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 1: idolizing him. And one said quote, I admire my father 155 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:17,360 Speaker 1: for the way he raised me. People go around kissing 156 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,600 Speaker 1: and fussing over their children. I didn't get anything like that. 157 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 1: I had to look after myself, and then I used 158 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 1: to go off and read by myself and think by myself. 159 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:30,000 Speaker 1: Funnily enough, it made me one thing her father definitely 160 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:32,840 Speaker 1: passed on to Baryl was his love for horses and 161 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:35,560 Speaker 1: his talent for working with them. Horse Racing as a 162 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 1: sport was a really popular social activity with the colonists 163 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:42,320 Speaker 1: in Africa, and of course Charles Clutterbuck became a really 164 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:44,680 Speaker 1: big part of that. He had a stable at the 165 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:47,560 Speaker 1: farm and he kept and trained horses, both his own 166 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 1: and others, and he'd import horses to raise the quality 167 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:53,960 Speaker 1: of the animals available in the area. So he'd import 168 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:57,760 Speaker 1: these great stallions, for example, and bread them with mayors 169 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:01,240 Speaker 1: that were in Africa already and try to create great 170 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:03,920 Speaker 1: race horses out of that. From a young age, Barrel 171 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:06,600 Speaker 1: helped with the grooming and eventually took on the job 172 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:10,199 Speaker 1: of delivering folds. She also had really superb bribing skills 173 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:14,400 Speaker 1: and the uncanny knack for working with the most difficult 174 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 1: wild horses, I mean horses that would put other people 175 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:20,920 Speaker 1: in the hospital. She would somehow work with and be 176 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:24,120 Speaker 1: able to ride exactly. So there you go. But tom 177 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:27,960 Speaker 1: buish as she seemed by the time Barrel was about sixteen, 178 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:30,280 Speaker 1: she really did care a lot about her appearance. She 179 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:33,719 Speaker 1: was considered very beautiful, almost six ft tall. She had 180 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:36,760 Speaker 1: blue eyes and blonde hair, and according to a story 181 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:40,880 Speaker 1: by Gavin Mortimer in The Telegraph, a contemporary once described 182 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 1: her as quote a magnificent creature, very feline. It was 183 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:47,600 Speaker 1: like watching a beautiful golden lioness when she walked across 184 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:51,240 Speaker 1: the room. Kind of an overblown description. Yea, I guess 185 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:54,959 Speaker 1: maybe one that's Africa appropriate lion comparison. It does give 186 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:57,760 Speaker 1: you kind of a picture of her looks. But maybe 187 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:00,400 Speaker 1: that's why, you know, because of those look that when 188 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:04,120 Speaker 1: things started to go south for her dad financially, she 189 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:07,360 Speaker 1: it didn't really take very long for rumors to start 190 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 1: surrounding Beryl's own next step. Around nineteen eighteen or nineteen nineteen, 191 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:15,319 Speaker 1: when Charles Clutterbuck was at the height of his racing successes. 192 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:17,679 Speaker 1: He was winning a lot of races, his horses were 193 00:10:17,679 --> 00:10:19,800 Speaker 1: doing really well, and he was a big name as 194 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:23,160 Speaker 1: a trainer in the area. Drought had his crops pretty 195 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 1: hard and he was unable to meet the government contracts 196 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:28,480 Speaker 1: that he negotiated, so he had to get help from 197 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:31,800 Speaker 1: several people to meet these contracts. And former Scottish rugby 198 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:35,200 Speaker 1: player who was then a neighbor of the Clutterbuck's, Alexander 199 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:38,960 Speaker 1: Jack Purvis was one of them. According to Level's book, 200 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 1: this is only a rumor, but there was a story 201 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:44,559 Speaker 1: going around that Purvis was one of Charles's biggest creditors 202 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 1: and he struck up a deal that he would forgive 203 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:52,680 Speaker 1: Charles's debt if Charles would let him marry Beryl. Kind 204 00:10:52,679 --> 00:10:56,000 Speaker 1: of an unscrupulous founding deal. But regardless of whether this 205 00:10:56,320 --> 00:11:00,240 Speaker 1: is true, Beryl did become engaged to Jack purvo Uson 206 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:03,040 Speaker 1: married him when she was only about sixteen or seventeen 207 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:05,439 Speaker 1: years old. He was about twice her age at the time. 208 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:08,959 Speaker 1: They honeymooned together in India, and then in the meantime, 209 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:12,400 Speaker 1: Beryl's brother Richard came back to live with her father 210 00:11:12,559 --> 00:11:14,959 Speaker 1: and started riding for him again, so it seemed kind 211 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:17,719 Speaker 1: of like the family was coming back together almost. It 212 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:20,920 Speaker 1: didn't last very long, though, Charles was still having a 213 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:24,560 Speaker 1: lot of financial problems, and by November nineteen twenty he 214 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:27,480 Speaker 1: announced he was going to sell everything, including all of 215 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:31,680 Speaker 1: the horses, pack out to Peru, where he accepted a 216 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:35,920 Speaker 1: position as a trainer. But before he left, he talked 217 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:40,079 Speaker 1: to Beryl about her maybe coming becoming a trainer herself, 218 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:43,200 Speaker 1: and soon after that she did become the first woman 219 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:47,719 Speaker 1: in Africa, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, to obtain a racehorse 220 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 1: trainer's license, and started out training just a few horses 221 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:54,319 Speaker 1: out of her old stables, which her husband by that 222 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:57,600 Speaker 1: point owned, and she really had some success early on, 223 00:11:57,679 --> 00:12:00,800 Speaker 1: at least yeah one of her horses even placed second 224 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 1: in the East African Jerby when she was only nineteen 225 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:06,920 Speaker 1: years old, But problems on the home front soon kind 226 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:09,360 Speaker 1: of put the brakes on her training career. She and 227 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:12,560 Speaker 1: Purvis were fighting a lot, sometimes things even got physical 228 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:16,000 Speaker 1: between them. Part of it was probably just her general 229 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:18,840 Speaker 1: and happiness that caused some of this tension at home. 230 00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:21,960 Speaker 1: Her beloved father, as we mentioned, had moved, and not 231 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:25,160 Speaker 1: long after that, her brother Richard, who continued to be 232 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:28,880 Speaker 1: sickly after he moved to Africa he passed away. Another 233 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:32,240 Speaker 1: source of tension between Purvis and Barrel, though, was probably 234 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:36,040 Speaker 1: Beryl's adulterous ways. She had a lot of lovers and 235 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:39,160 Speaker 1: she never really saw a marriage as an obstacle to that. 236 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,520 Speaker 1: According to Lovell, the story was that every time Beryl 237 00:12:42,559 --> 00:12:45,960 Speaker 1: would take on another lover, Purvis would nail a six 238 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:48,680 Speaker 1: inch nail into the post by their front door, and 239 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:51,319 Speaker 1: everybody in the area, all their friends kind of knew 240 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:56,720 Speaker 1: what that stood for. So eventually Beryl went ahead and 241 00:12:56,840 --> 00:13:00,280 Speaker 1: left Purvis entirely. She had no money and had rely 242 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 1: on friends like Karen Blixen, who's the author of Out 243 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:06,880 Speaker 1: of Africa, and apparently Beryl did live with Blixen for 244 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:10,440 Speaker 1: a while after leaving purpose She Blixen was a few 245 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:13,040 Speaker 1: years older than Beryl, but the two of them really 246 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:17,079 Speaker 1: had some sort of close bond, and eventually, after Purvis 247 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:20,360 Speaker 1: and Barrel divorced, she went back to training horses again, 248 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:24,040 Speaker 1: living sometimes in huts or tents. Really was returning to 249 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:27,600 Speaker 1: part of her childhood. It seemed, yeah, she didn't have 250 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:30,040 Speaker 1: a lot of money and didn't really seemed that worried 251 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:32,400 Speaker 1: about it. She was doing what she wanted to do, 252 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:36,440 Speaker 1: training horses. But in n she did marry again, and 253 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:39,640 Speaker 1: this time it was too English aristocrat Mansfield Markham, so 254 00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:41,800 Speaker 1: maybe she did care about money a little bit. The 255 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:44,079 Speaker 1: two of them had a son, Gervais, in England in 256 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:48,560 Speaker 1: nine but Beryl still couldn't shake her old ways and 257 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:51,560 Speaker 1: so this marriage didn't work out much better than her first. 258 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:55,920 Speaker 1: She continued to have affairs, one very scandalous one for example, 259 00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:57,920 Speaker 1: that took place right around the birth of her son. 260 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:01,800 Speaker 1: I think before she had her son, while she was pregnant, 261 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:04,600 Speaker 1: and kind of right after she had him, she was 262 00:14:04,679 --> 00:14:07,640 Speaker 1: having an affair with Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester. That 263 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:10,600 Speaker 1: the crucial time. It's kind of it seems like an 264 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:13,560 Speaker 1: interesting time to choose to have an affair, but she 265 00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:15,800 Speaker 1: did with Prince Henry. He was third in line with 266 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:18,880 Speaker 1: further throne. The Queen found out about it, though, and 267 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:21,960 Speaker 1: eventually gave Beryl an annuity of fifteen thousand pounds to 268 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:25,000 Speaker 1: make her go away, and Beryl continued to receive this 269 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:28,680 Speaker 1: throughout her life. So after that big scandal with the Prince, 270 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:32,160 Speaker 1: Beryl returned to Africa to focus on horses again. But 271 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:35,400 Speaker 1: in the fall of nineteen nine, she discovered something else 272 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:37,640 Speaker 1: that she liked a lot, which was of course flying. 273 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:39,440 Speaker 1: You know, we had to get to it sooner or later. 274 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:42,280 Speaker 1: So she went up for the first time with Dennis 275 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:46,200 Speaker 1: finch Hatton, who was a longtime lover of Beryl's dear 276 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: friend Karen Blixen, who we just mentioned. Uh, he was 277 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:52,400 Speaker 1: at the controls and at this time Blixen and Hatton's 278 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:56,000 Speaker 1: relationship was coming to an end, but still Blixen probably 279 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:59,320 Speaker 1: wasn't that happy about her friend Beryl falling in love 280 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:02,960 Speaker 1: with her long time boyfriend. Sort of a hero worshiping 281 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 1: thing probably went on between Beryl and Hatton, but they 282 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:09,800 Speaker 1: did become lovers for a short time because Beryl was 283 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:12,520 Speaker 1: probably just a kid when she met Hatton through blix 284 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:15,200 Speaker 1: In so he you know, that's where the hero worship 285 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:18,040 Speaker 1: thing came from. But a lot of people actually suspect 286 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:20,800 Speaker 1: that she might have been the reason that Blixen and 287 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:24,240 Speaker 1: Hattan broke up, but it's more likely, as you mentioned, 288 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:27,160 Speaker 1: that they probably were already on their way to breaking 289 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:29,920 Speaker 1: up at least by the time Beryl and he started 290 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:33,000 Speaker 1: things up. So she immediately loved flying and she wanted 291 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:34,960 Speaker 1: to learn to do it herself, so she started taking 292 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:38,800 Speaker 1: flying lessons from a professional pilot, Tom Campbell Black, who 293 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:42,680 Speaker 1: helped establish Kenya's first commercial air service. And flying in 294 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:45,440 Speaker 1: East Africa, though, was no easy proposition, whether you were 295 00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:48,440 Speaker 1: a man or a woman. According to Jacquelin McLean's book 296 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:52,040 Speaker 1: Women with Wings, maps were poor. Runways were basically just 297 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:54,720 Speaker 1: these dirt tracks that were full of holes, and sometimes 298 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:56,800 Speaker 1: there would be wild animals on them when we were 299 00:15:56,840 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 1: trying to land or something. But because the terrain was 300 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:02,880 Speaker 1: rough for automobiles too, and there were a few roads. 301 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:06,280 Speaker 1: People they are really welcomed planes as a potential mode 302 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:08,800 Speaker 1: of transportation for them, so it was a useful scale 303 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:12,480 Speaker 1: for her to to learn. But soon after she started learning, 304 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:15,920 Speaker 1: Baryl got a very hard lesson in just how dangerous 305 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:19,200 Speaker 1: flying in East Africa could be because on May fourteenth, 306 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:22,080 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty one, Hatton was killed while taking off in 307 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:26,400 Speaker 1: his plane in southeastern Kenya. Beryl was really devastated by 308 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:28,880 Speaker 1: this that the event seemed to make her even more 309 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 1: determined to go on and become a pilot herself, and 310 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:35,360 Speaker 1: only two months after hatt Instead, she earned her pilot's 311 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:38,960 Speaker 1: license and then started studying to earn her B license, 312 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:42,200 Speaker 1: which would allow her to become a commercial pilot, you know, 313 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:44,600 Speaker 1: to capitalize on all these people who want to get 314 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:48,880 Speaker 1: to areas that were difficult to reach. And on September eighteenth, 315 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:52,280 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty three, she earned that B license and became 316 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:56,400 Speaker 1: Kenya's first female commercial pilot. When she earned her license, 317 00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:59,120 Speaker 1: Barrel about her first plane and she started taking on jobs. 318 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:01,520 Speaker 1: So we'll kind of give you an example of some 319 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:04,119 Speaker 1: of the jobs that she took. She delivered mail and 320 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:07,680 Speaker 1: supplies to miners and East African gold mines, and these 321 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:11,119 Speaker 1: were extremely difficult flights, she said of them. Quote. The 322 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:15,840 Speaker 1: air strips were pocket handkerchief size and force landing anywhere 323 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:18,919 Speaker 1: on route and then almost certain death from thirst. She 324 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:22,280 Speaker 1: also provided air taxi service to settlers in remote areas, 325 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:26,040 Speaker 1: and she delivered medical supplies and emergencies and flew accident 326 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:30,120 Speaker 1: victims are very sick people to hospitals. She also scouted 327 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:32,439 Speaker 1: game for safari hunters. That was something that came up 328 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:35,359 Speaker 1: a little later on. They realized that she could and 329 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:38,520 Speaker 1: other pilots could maybe spot things like hell elephant herds, 330 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:42,160 Speaker 1: for example, and then direct hunting parties to their location. 331 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:46,040 Speaker 1: In meantime, Barrel also had a new boyfriend. She had 332 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:49,439 Speaker 1: struck up a full blown relationship with Tom Black, and 333 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:52,600 Speaker 1: according to Level's book, both Hatton and Black were really 334 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:56,120 Speaker 1: the two loves of Beryl's life, the only two men 335 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:58,600 Speaker 1: that she kind of had the same amount of respect for, 336 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:01,880 Speaker 1: maybe as her father um Black might have also been 337 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:05,080 Speaker 1: the only man she was ever faithful too. But together 338 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:08,360 Speaker 1: Black and Baryl would talk a lot about flying. They 339 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:11,080 Speaker 1: had that real strong bond in common and they talked 340 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:14,200 Speaker 1: about going after various flying challenges. She did a few 341 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:18,200 Speaker 1: of the smaller challenges. For instance, she made the six thousand, 342 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:21,400 Speaker 1: five hundred mile trip from Kenya to England six times, 343 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:24,520 Speaker 1: four of them solo, which was of course also over 344 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:27,920 Speaker 1: very dangerous terrain. And then Black did a pretty major 345 00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:31,280 Speaker 1: challenge too. He went from London to Melbourne in a 346 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:34,440 Speaker 1: race in nineteen thirty four and one the thing, but 347 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:38,480 Speaker 1: Beryl's joy on his behalf him winning this race didn't 348 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:41,680 Speaker 1: last very long because after the race, she found out 349 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:45,040 Speaker 1: in a newspaper that he'd become engaged to a British 350 00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:49,359 Speaker 1: actress named Ms. Florence Desmond. Her reaction, though, was not 351 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 1: one of of anger, or at least um not for long. 352 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:55,720 Speaker 1: She decided she wanted to win him back, so she 353 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:59,119 Speaker 1: made one of her flights to England in early nineteen 354 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:01,840 Speaker 1: thirty six and stayed there for a little while. And 355 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:03,840 Speaker 1: it was while she was in London at a dinner 356 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:06,480 Speaker 1: party that she got the inspiration she needed to take 357 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:09,440 Speaker 1: on her biggest flying challenge yet. She had been telling 358 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:13,240 Speaker 1: an acquaintance, John Carberry, about a wild goal of hers 359 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:16,000 Speaker 1: to be the first woman to fly the Atlantic from 360 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:18,040 Speaker 1: east to west and to be the first take off 361 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:21,680 Speaker 1: from England. By this time, Earhart had her achievement under 362 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:24,800 Speaker 1: her belt, and Scotsman Jim Mollison had flown the Atlantic 363 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:27,960 Speaker 1: from east to west, but he'd started from Ireland, which 364 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:31,560 Speaker 1: was a shorter route, probably just to test how serious 365 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:33,639 Speaker 1: she was. We're not really sure what was behind it, 366 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:36,800 Speaker 1: but Carberry told her that if she'd fly NonStop from 367 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:39,600 Speaker 1: England to New York, he'd let her use his brand 368 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:43,359 Speaker 1: new Vega Goal monoplane, which was then under construction, and 369 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:46,640 Speaker 1: she of course accepted this challenge right away. The plane, 370 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:49,960 Speaker 1: which would be named the Messenger, wouldn't be ready until August, 371 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:52,439 Speaker 1: and so Beryl used this time in the interim to 372 00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:57,119 Speaker 1: train both physically and mentally, studying maps and routes and 373 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:01,280 Speaker 1: plans of past crossings, both successful and otherwise, and Jim 374 00:20:01,359 --> 00:20:04,760 Speaker 1: Mallison even helped her plan her trip. So by September four, 375 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:08,919 Speaker 1: Barrel was ready to start the trip, and there was, 376 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:11,200 Speaker 1: of course, as you can imagine, a lot of hype 377 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:13,359 Speaker 1: surrounding what she was about to do, and the press 378 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:17,600 Speaker 1: made a big deal about her being quote a society lady, 379 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:20,879 Speaker 1: which is a funny way to categorize her if you 380 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:25,159 Speaker 1: consider her upbringing in mud huts and um. Beryl herself 381 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:27,520 Speaker 1: read a letter that was published in a newspaper the 382 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:30,320 Speaker 1: day after she left, and it said, quote, I failed 383 00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:32,719 Speaker 1: to see what an accident of birth has to do 384 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 1: with flying the ocean, so bam, there you go. But 385 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:40,680 Speaker 1: the messenger was ready by the time Barrel was engaged 386 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:43,840 Speaker 1: in the defense of her upbringing, and it was specially 387 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:48,280 Speaker 1: designed to fly very long distances without stopping. The body 388 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:51,800 Speaker 1: was longer and wider than standard planes, and it was 389 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:55,159 Speaker 1: custom fitted with extra fuel tanks. There were two tanks 390 00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:57,280 Speaker 1: in the wings, two in the center, and two more 391 00:20:57,320 --> 00:20:59,600 Speaker 1: in the cabin. So with all of this that had 392 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:02,760 Speaker 1: the path city to fly around three thousand, eight hundred 393 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:07,560 Speaker 1: miles without stopping to refueling. Perfect for record breaking, however 394 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:11,960 Speaker 1: not so perfect for taking off. So Beryl's initial challenge 395 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:14,159 Speaker 1: was just getting off the ground with all of that 396 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:16,920 Speaker 1: fuel in her plane. The runway in Abington, which is 397 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:19,479 Speaker 1: where she took off, was a mile long, and Baryl 398 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:21,320 Speaker 1: really wasn't sure at first if she was going to 399 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:23,800 Speaker 1: be able to take off in that distance and if 400 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:25,800 Speaker 1: she did if she'd be able to get the heavy 401 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:28,600 Speaker 1: plane over the tree line. After that, she did manage 402 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:30,680 Speaker 1: to get off the ground and in only six hundred 403 00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:34,159 Speaker 1: yards and was off on her journey. When she was 404 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:37,440 Speaker 1: in the air, though, she had problems right from the start. First, 405 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:40,199 Speaker 1: she lost her chart of the Atlantic. A gust of 406 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:42,280 Speaker 1: wind blew right out of her hands and out of 407 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:45,240 Speaker 1: the cockpit window, turning the plane around. I know it 408 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:48,000 Speaker 1: would be too imagine. I mean, it's already hard enough 409 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:49,440 Speaker 1: for us in the day and age to think about 410 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:53,520 Speaker 1: doing something like this without GPS, but to think the 411 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:58,480 Speaker 1: one little map that you have is suddenly right away. Well, 412 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:01,040 Speaker 1: the conditions weren't good either. Another thing that made it 413 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:04,200 Speaker 1: a very difficult trip. There was low visibility. That was 414 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:07,359 Speaker 1: an issue pretty much the entire time because the weather 415 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:10,879 Speaker 1: was very bad. There were clouds driving rain, a thirty 416 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:15,959 Speaker 1: mile headwind, and Baryl basically flew blind for nineteen hours 417 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:18,720 Speaker 1: and had to rely on the plane's instruments to guide her. 418 00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:21,960 Speaker 1: The messenger didn't have a radio, despite being so stated 419 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:24,040 Speaker 1: of the art with fuel tanks, it didn't have a radio, 420 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:26,840 Speaker 1: so she had no way to contact anybody if she 421 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:30,400 Speaker 1: got into trouble. The worst parts, though, as she recalled them, 422 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:33,679 Speaker 1: were the loneliness and the fatigue. All she had to 423 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:37,680 Speaker 1: eat were some coffee and some nuts. A particular low 424 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:39,760 Speaker 1: point that she remembered as when she went to grab 425 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:44,160 Speaker 1: her last flask of coffee and the plane suddenly lurched, 426 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:47,280 Speaker 1: and then the coffee spilled everywhere, and she was just 427 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:49,640 Speaker 1: devastated in that moment. She said it was her lowest 428 00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:52,360 Speaker 1: point and it was the closest that she came to tears. 429 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:55,119 Speaker 1: Losing her coffee wasn't the worst thing that could have happened, 430 00:22:55,119 --> 00:22:57,760 Speaker 1: though after that. Later on in the trip, something really 431 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:01,280 Speaker 1: scary happened. Her engine started to off and die because 432 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:03,240 Speaker 1: the fuel tank right out and the other one didn't 433 00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:05,679 Speaker 1: kick in right away, so her plane actually dropped to 434 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:08,840 Speaker 1: blow three hundred feet before that new tank kicked in 435 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:11,560 Speaker 1: and reached the engine well. And also that fuel tank 436 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:14,359 Speaker 1: was her last one, and the gates said that it 437 00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:18,040 Speaker 1: would last another eleven hours, but only nine hours later 438 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: the engine started to fail again, and she couldn't figure 439 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:23,440 Speaker 1: out what was going on because she should have had 440 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:25,879 Speaker 1: more than enough fuel to reach New York City and 441 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:29,280 Speaker 1: things were looking pretty dire. She later wrote, quote I 442 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:32,520 Speaker 1: watched that tank getting emptier and emptier, and still saw 443 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:36,520 Speaker 1: nothing but sea and clouds and missed so in these moments, 444 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,720 Speaker 1: you know, preparing for a crash into the ocean. She 445 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:42,400 Speaker 1: took a couple of swigs from her flask of brandy, 446 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:44,840 Speaker 1: and then just as it seemed like the plane was 447 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:47,399 Speaker 1: going to come down in the water, she saw land, 448 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:50,639 Speaker 1: which was the coast of Nova Scotia, and later said, 449 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:54,600 Speaker 1: I've never seen land so beautiful. She picked a grassy 450 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:58,080 Speaker 1: spot and was able to bring the plane down onto it. 451 00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:01,919 Speaker 1: It wasn't just picture perfect though. Misjudged the landing spot. 452 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:05,359 Speaker 1: What she thought was grassy ground was actually a moth 453 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,359 Speaker 1: covered bog, so it was a rough landing. When she 454 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:11,119 Speaker 1: brought the plane down, it tipped up on its nose 455 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:13,720 Speaker 1: and she hit the windshield and got a huge gash 456 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:16,639 Speaker 1: on her forehead. But overall she was very lucky. Just 457 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:19,400 Speaker 1: that gash and some bruising, she was able to walk 458 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:22,880 Speaker 1: away safe. She had to trudge for three miles though, 459 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:26,119 Speaker 1: through waste hime mud, until she came across two fishermen 460 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:29,360 Speaker 1: who took her to a farmhouse and got her medical attention. 461 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:33,160 Speaker 1: She greeted them by saying quote I'm Mrs Markham. I've 462 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:37,120 Speaker 1: just flown from England. Beryl was initially afraid after this point. 463 00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:39,160 Speaker 1: I mean, she was probably relieved just to be alive, 464 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:42,200 Speaker 1: but she was afraid and sad that she had failed. 465 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:43,960 Speaker 1: She didn't make it to New York, and she was 466 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:46,560 Speaker 1: really upset about that. She couldn't figure out why. She 467 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:48,720 Speaker 1: kept trying to evaluate. You know, I didn't have in 468 00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:51,560 Speaker 1: a fuel. It turned out later we should mention that, 469 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:56,240 Speaker 1: or at least technicians assumed that what happened was that 470 00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:59,040 Speaker 1: her fuel tank froze and that's why the rest of 471 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:01,840 Speaker 1: the fuel didn't make it to the engine, and maybe 472 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:06,240 Speaker 1: why it was slow transitioning between the tanks exactly. So. 473 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:09,640 Speaker 1: She soon learned, though, that people were applauding her accomplishment. 474 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:11,800 Speaker 1: Nobody else was disappointed that she didn't make it to 475 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:13,920 Speaker 1: New York. People were glad that she was alive, and 476 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:16,119 Speaker 1: they thought that she had done something great. She was 477 00:25:16,119 --> 00:25:18,560 Speaker 1: a heroine, and so she was suddenly a star in 478 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:22,439 Speaker 1: America and across the pond Aviator. Newspapers dubbed her quote 479 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:25,840 Speaker 1: the beautiful Lady in Blue, and a US Coast Guard 480 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:28,280 Speaker 1: plane brought her to New York, where she was celebrated, 481 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:30,520 Speaker 1: and she even wrote in a motorcade throughout the city. 482 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:34,679 Speaker 1: Lots of cool folks gave her kudos and various publications. 483 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:38,520 Speaker 1: Earhart said, I am delighted beyond words that Mrs Markham 484 00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:41,520 Speaker 1: should have succeeded in her exploit and has conquered the Atlantic. 485 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:43,760 Speaker 1: It was a great flight. It's a pretty nice thing 486 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:47,359 Speaker 1: to say from the fellow aviator. So Tom Black also 487 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:50,159 Speaker 1: praised her. He said, amazing. I thought she'd do it, 488 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:52,800 Speaker 1: but the weather on what is always a tough cross 489 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:56,840 Speaker 1: thing seemed appallingly bad. Um. But girl might have been 490 00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:00,639 Speaker 1: hopeful at this point that her great feet had also 491 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:03,800 Speaker 1: done the double task of winning Black back to her. 492 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:06,440 Speaker 1: But before she even set fail for England, she got 493 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:08,800 Speaker 1: the terrible news that Black had been killed in a 494 00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:12,679 Speaker 1: freak accident. Another plane had landed on top of his, 495 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:16,879 Speaker 1: and she was of course entirely devastated by this. She 496 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:18,879 Speaker 1: lived in England for the next few years, but she 497 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:21,000 Speaker 1: didn't really take up flying again. I was sort of 498 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:24,360 Speaker 1: surprised by that that after something like this she put 499 00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:26,399 Speaker 1: it a fight for for a bit. She moved to 500 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:30,359 Speaker 1: California nineteen thirty nine, and apparently there were plans for 501 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:33,480 Speaker 1: the story of her transatlantic flight to be made into 502 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:36,119 Speaker 1: a movie, but this never really panned out. Again, like 503 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:38,960 Speaker 1: Bethy Coleman, they're two great movies now that could be 504 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:42,320 Speaker 1: made about these women. She did, however, get an offer 505 00:26:42,359 --> 00:26:45,320 Speaker 1: to write about her experiences, and she produced the book 506 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:48,080 Speaker 1: West with the Night, which was published in nine two. 507 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:52,000 Speaker 1: In ninety two, she also officially divorced to Mansfield Markham 508 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:55,000 Speaker 1: finally they hadn't lived together for years, and married her 509 00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:58,960 Speaker 1: third husband, Ral Schumacher, a writer and a journalist who 510 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:01,199 Speaker 1: helped her write her book Book and the book was 511 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:04,399 Speaker 1: well received at first, but eventually sales declined and people 512 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:06,240 Speaker 1: just sort of forgot about it. I mean, this was 513 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:09,480 Speaker 1: during World War two two, so there are more important 514 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:12,280 Speaker 1: things going on perhaps for people to focus on. But 515 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:16,600 Speaker 1: like her other relationships, Beryl's marriage to Schumacher eventually ended 516 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:20,080 Speaker 1: unhappily and she returned to Kenyan in nineteen fifty so 517 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:23,440 Speaker 1: for the last thirty some odd years of Beryl's life, 518 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:27,280 Speaker 1: she returned to her first profession and her true childhood love, 519 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:29,880 Speaker 1: which was horse racing. She became one of the most 520 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:33,560 Speaker 1: successful trainers in Kenya, winning the Top Trainers Award five 521 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:36,760 Speaker 1: times and the Kenya Derby six times, and continued to 522 00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:41,800 Speaker 1: train horses into the early eighties. Then in two she 523 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:44,879 Speaker 1: became a well known personality again for a different reason, 524 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:48,119 Speaker 1: kind of re emerged from the past. Almost yeah. A 525 00:27:48,119 --> 00:27:51,040 Speaker 1: man named George Gudkuntz, who was a friend of Ernest 526 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:55,080 Speaker 1: heming Away's son Jack Hemingway, had read through ernest correspondence 527 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:57,720 Speaker 1: and found a letter to as editor in which Hemingway 528 00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:01,240 Speaker 1: had called Beryl's book West with the Knight a quote 529 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:04,760 Speaker 1: bloody wonderful book. Hemingway just as in a side a 530 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:07,840 Speaker 1: side note to this. Hemingway had met Beryl in their youth, 531 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:11,520 Speaker 1: I think in the nineteen thirties, late nineteen twenties, and 532 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:14,600 Speaker 1: he had apparently hit on her, but she wasn't into it. 533 00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:17,680 Speaker 1: He was one of the few people she actually rebuffed, 534 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:20,960 Speaker 1: which was a below to Hemingway's reputation. Absolutely, it was 535 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:23,000 Speaker 1: kind of well, sort of unusual for both of them. 536 00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:26,520 Speaker 1: But that's just a little side note there. But this 537 00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:28,840 Speaker 1: man he got a publisher to reissue the book and 538 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:31,360 Speaker 1: it became a huge success and made six figures through 539 00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:34,600 Speaker 1: its sales, appeared on best seller lists again, and inspired 540 00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 1: a TV documentary about Beryl's life. So she did make 541 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:40,360 Speaker 1: the money, got a little notoriety again toward the end 542 00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:42,760 Speaker 1: of her life, but she was still very lonely. And 543 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:46,040 Speaker 1: that brings us back to that prediction the clairvoyant had 544 00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:48,880 Speaker 1: made when she was only sixteen, that you will always 545 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:52,320 Speaker 1: be successful, but you will never be happy. Um. I 546 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:56,400 Speaker 1: don't know how how much that's true, I know. I mean, 547 00:28:56,760 --> 00:29:00,920 Speaker 1: happiness is such a hard thing to define. Else happy enough, yeah, 548 00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:03,280 Speaker 1: I mean sometimes people just say they're happy because it 549 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:05,400 Speaker 1: sounds good. And I mean I think she definitely had 550 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:09,320 Speaker 1: fleeting moments of success and of happiness. But who can 551 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:12,840 Speaker 1: really say if the some of all of that equals 552 00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:15,880 Speaker 1: a happy life or not. So. Beryl died in nineteen 553 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:20,000 Speaker 1: six at the age of eighty four, but the controversy 554 00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:22,959 Speaker 1: did not end with her death. Some people don't believe 555 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:25,400 Speaker 1: that she actually wrote West with the Night. They think 556 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:29,760 Speaker 1: that her third husband, Raoul Schumacher wrote it. Errol Trasbinski 557 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:33,160 Speaker 1: wrote a biography about Beryl in the nineteen nineties that 558 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:37,760 Speaker 1: made exactly this claim. Yeah, some possible evidence that might 559 00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:40,800 Speaker 1: support this idea that she didn't write it. For example, 560 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:43,960 Speaker 1: friends recalled them saying that they were writing it together, 561 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:46,760 Speaker 1: but some who knew Beryl say that they always assumed 562 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:50,080 Speaker 1: that she hadn't written it because she was basically literate 563 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 1: or didn't like to read or write, which I don't 564 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:55,840 Speaker 1: know from what we've seen through our research. She did 565 00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:57,880 Speaker 1: actually like to read when she was younger, so I'm 566 00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:00,480 Speaker 1: not really sure if that she wasn't exactly literate. I 567 00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:03,880 Speaker 1: guess that's what I'm trying to say. It's a little 568 00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:06,720 Speaker 1: bit of an overstatement. Another example that people give is 569 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:09,640 Speaker 1: that it contains literary references that people think had to 570 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:13,560 Speaker 1: have come from Schumacher, and uh, conversely, errors and descriptions 571 00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:17,560 Speaker 1: about flying that Beryl would have never made. Also, much 572 00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:21,600 Speaker 1: of the original manuscript was in Raoul's handwriting. Mary Lovell, 573 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:25,280 Speaker 1: though whose bioe mentioned earlier, spent a time with Baryl 574 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:28,760 Speaker 1: before her death and seemed absolutely convinced that she was 575 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:31,520 Speaker 1: the sole author of this book. Either way that it 576 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:34,600 Speaker 1: sounds like an interesting read, it does. I I haven't 577 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:37,280 Speaker 1: picked that up. I did read Level's book straight on 578 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:39,800 Speaker 1: till morning, which was I mean, it's really hard to 579 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:45,080 Speaker 1: put down. Um, it's written kind of interestingly, but it is. Uh, 580 00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:47,960 Speaker 1: it's one of the better biographies I've read recently, which 581 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:50,719 Speaker 1: is saying a lot because every lot of biographies nowadays, 582 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:53,800 Speaker 1: But she was really I think, I guess I say 583 00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:56,280 Speaker 1: why I think it's it's written in an interesting way 584 00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:59,640 Speaker 1: is because you can tell the affection almost the Level 585 00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:02,600 Speaker 1: house for Beryl throughout that book, and she did spend 586 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:06,080 Speaker 1: six weeks with her before before writing this book and 587 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:09,520 Speaker 1: shortly before Beryl's death. Maybe a little bit like Mrs 588 00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:13,640 Speaker 1: Gaskell Charlotte Bronte biography, you know, a biography that's clearly 589 00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:17,120 Speaker 1: influenced by knowing the person personally, which would have to 590 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:19,320 Speaker 1: have you know, that would certainly make you take a 591 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:24,440 Speaker 1: different take on writing about somebody's life. Absolutely, and you know, 592 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:28,120 Speaker 1: Level says in her introduction to the book that it 593 00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:30,720 Speaker 1: was Beryl's influence that actually kind of gave her the 594 00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:34,320 Speaker 1: courage to quitter day job and become a full time writer. 595 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:36,800 Speaker 1: So she was an inspiration to her in that way. 596 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:39,240 Speaker 1: And I would encourage people, even if you don't have 597 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:41,920 Speaker 1: time to read the full book, to read the introduction 598 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:43,760 Speaker 1: because it is kind of moving in that way, and 599 00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:46,280 Speaker 1: you learn a lot about Beryl's personality, especially as an 600 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:48,800 Speaker 1: older woman, from that. And I thought I would share 601 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:54,040 Speaker 1: the inspiring quote that Speryl gave to Lovell. She said 602 00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:58,360 Speaker 1: to her when she heard about level struggles with wanting 603 00:31:58,360 --> 00:32:00,320 Speaker 1: to give up her job and debating about coming a 604 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:03,320 Speaker 1: full time writer. Her advice was, never look back. You've 605 00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:06,400 Speaker 1: got to keep looking forward. Something will always happen if 606 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:09,480 Speaker 1: you try to make it happen. So I think that's 607 00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:12,600 Speaker 1: a nice note to end on with Baryl's story. Well 608 00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:15,520 Speaker 1: in a nice quote from an aviator to where you're 609 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:18,479 Speaker 1: not going to turn around just because your chart blows up, 610 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:22,760 Speaker 1: You're gonna keep going straight on to novas. Very true. 611 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:25,960 Speaker 1: So that was a listener request. If you guys have 612 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:28,680 Speaker 1: any more requests of aviators, we might do maybe one 613 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:31,360 Speaker 1: or two more episodes along these lines and maybe make 614 00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:33,680 Speaker 1: a little mini series out of it. Feel free to 615 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:35,680 Speaker 1: write us and let us know what your suggestions are. 616 00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:39,000 Speaker 1: We're at History Podcast at Discovery dot com or you 617 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:41,280 Speaker 1: can look us up on Facebook and we're on Twitter 618 00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:43,160 Speaker 1: at mist in History. And if you want to learn 619 00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:45,840 Speaker 1: a little bit more about another subject we mentioned on 620 00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:49,240 Speaker 1: today's podcast, Amelia Earhart, we do have an article called 621 00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:52,680 Speaker 1: why can't we Solve the Amelia Earhart Mystery? Maybe an 622 00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:55,560 Speaker 1: article that might need an update one of these days. 623 00:32:55,800 --> 00:32:58,160 Speaker 1: It might not be relevant. We'll see it on our 624 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:02,640 Speaker 1: editorial calendars. Probably that I will know the story is 625 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:05,760 Speaker 1: really going forward, So if you want to check that out, 626 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:10,000 Speaker 1: search for Amelia Earhart on our homepage. It's www dot 627 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:16,160 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. Be sure to check out 628 00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:19,360 Speaker 1: our new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. Join how 629 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:21,920 Speaker 1: Stuff Work staff as we explore the most promising and 630 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:26,400 Speaker 1: perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. The house Stuff Works iPhone app 631 00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:29,080 Speaker 1: has a ride. Download it today on iTunes.