John Moore-Brabazon, 1st Baron Brabazon of Tara
Encyclopedia
John Theodore Cuthbert Moore-Brabazon, 1st Baron Brabazon of Tara, GBE, MC
, PC (8 February 1884 – 17 May 1964) was an English
aviation
pioneer and Conservative
politician. He was the first Englishman to pilot a heavier-than-air machine under power in England, and he served as Minister of Transport
and Minister of Aircraft Production
during World War II
.
to Lieutenant-Colonel John Arthur Henry Moore-Brabazon (1828–1908) and his wife, Emma Sophia (d. 1937). He was educated at Harrow School
before reading engineering at Trinity College, Cambridge
, but did not graduate. He spent university holidays working for Charles Rolls
as an unpaid mechanic, and became an apprentice at Darracq
in Paris
after leaving Cambridge. In 1907 he won the Circuit des Ardennes
in a Minerva.
He learned to fly in 1908 in France
in a Voisin biplane. He became the first resident Englishman to make an officially recognized aeroplane flight in England on 2 May 1909 on the Isle of Sheppey
with flights of 450 ft, 600 ft, and 1500 ft. On 4 May 1909, Moore-Brabazon had his picture taken outside of the aero club Mussel Manor, now known as Muswell Manor, alongside the Wright Brothers
, the Short Brothers
, Charles Rolls
, and many other early aviation pioneers. In 1909 he sold his Voisin biplane, Bird of Passage, to Arthur Edward George
(who learned to fly in it at the Royal Aero Club
's flying-ground at Shellbeach) and bought a Short Brothers
Wright biplane. A documentary, A Dream of Flight, was made in 2009 to celebrate the centenary of his achievement on the Isle of Sheppey.
On 30 October 1909, flying his Short Brothers aircraft, he flew a circular mile and won a 1,000 pound prize
offered by the Daily Mail
newspaper. On 4 November 1909, as a joke to prove that pigs could fly, he put a small pig in a waste-paper basket tied to a wing-strut of his airplane. This may have been the first live cargo flight by airplane. With Charles Rolls, he would later make the first ascent in a spherical gas balloon
made in England by the Short brothers.
On 8 March 1910, Moore-Brabazon became the first person to qualify as a pilot in the United Kingdom and was awarded Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate number 1; his car also bore the number-plate FLY 1. However only four months later, his friend Charles Rolls was killed in a flying accident and Moore-Brabazon's wife persuaded him to give up flying.
. He served on the Western Front
where he played a key role in the development of aerial photography
and reconnaissance. In March 1915 he was promoted to captain and appointed as an equipment officer. On 1 April 1918, when the Royal Flying Corps merged with the Royal Naval Air Service
to form the Royal Air Force
, Moore-Brabazon was appointed as a staff officer (first class) and made a temporary lieutenant-colonel.
Moore-Brabazon finished the war with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel
, had been awarded the Military Cross
, and had become a commander of the Légion d'honneur
.
Member of Parliament
(MP) for Chatham
(1918-1929) and Wallasey
(1931-1942) and served as a junior minister in the 1920s. In 1931 and 1932 he served as a member of the London County Council
. In Winston Churchill
's wartime government, he was appointed Minister of Transport
in October 1940 and joined the Privy Council, becoming Minister of Aircraft Production
in May 1941. As the Minister of Transport he proposed the use of Airgraphs to reduce the weight and bulk of mails travelling between troops fighting in the Middle East and their families in the UK. He was forced to resign in 1942 for expressing the hope that Germany
and the Soviet Union
, then engaged in the Battle of Stalingrad
, would destroy each other. Since the Soviet Union was fighting the war on the same side as Britain, the hope that it should be destroyed, though common in the Conservative Party, was unacceptable to the war effort.
as Baron Brabazon of Tara
, of Sandwich
in the County of Kent
, in April 1942. In 1943 he chaired the Brabazon Committee
which planned to develop the post-war British aircraft industry. He was involved in the production of the Bristol Brabazon
, a giant airliner that first flew on 4 September 1949. It was then and still is the largest aeroplane built in Britain.
A keen golfer, Moore-Brabazon was captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, the governing body of golf
, from 1952 to 1953. At the age of 70 he was still riding the Cresta Run
.
Moore-Brabazon was president of the Royal Aero Club
, president of the Royal Institution
, chairman of the Air Registration Board, and president of the Middlesex County Automobile Club
from 1946 until his death in 1964. In he was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in 1953.
On 27 November 1906, he married Hilda Mary Krabbé, with whom he had two sons. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Derek
.
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
, PC (8 February 1884 – 17 May 1964) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
pioneer and Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician. He was the first Englishman to pilot a heavier-than-air machine under power in England, and he served as Minister of Transport
Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors...
and Minister of Aircraft Production
Minister of Aircraft Production
The Minister of Aircraft Production was the British government position in charge of the Ministry of Aircraft Production, one of the specialised supply ministries set up by the British Government during World War II...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Early life
Moore-Brabazon was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to Lieutenant-Colonel John Arthur Henry Moore-Brabazon (1828–1908) and his wife, Emma Sophia (d. 1937). He was educated at Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
before reading engineering at Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, but did not graduate. He spent university holidays working for Charles Rolls
Charles Rolls
Charles Stewart Rolls was a motoring and aviation pioneer. Together with Frederick Henry Royce he co-founded the Rolls-Royce car manufacturing firm. He was the first Briton to be killed in a flying accident, when the tail of his Wright Flyer broke off during a flying display near Bournemouth,...
as an unpaid mechanic, and became an apprentice at Darracq
Darracq
Automobiles Darracq S.A. was a French motor vehicle manufacturing company founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq.Using part of the substantial profit he had made from selling his Gladiator bicycle factory, Alexandre Darracq began operating from a plant in the Parisian suburb of Suresnes...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
after leaving Cambridge. In 1907 he won the Circuit des Ardennes
Circuit des Ardennes
The Circuit des Ardennes was an auto race held annually at the Circuit de Bastogne, Bastogne, from 1902 to 1907. It was the first major race to run on a closed course instead of from one city to another.- Winners of the Circuit des Ardennes :...
in a Minerva.
Pioneer aviator
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in a Voisin biplane. He became the first resident Englishman to make an officially recognized aeroplane flight in England on 2 May 1909 on the Isle of Sheppey
Isle of Sheppey
The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England in the Thames Estuary, some to the east of London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale...
with flights of 450 ft, 600 ft, and 1500 ft. On 4 May 1909, Moore-Brabazon had his picture taken outside of the aero club Mussel Manor, now known as Muswell Manor, alongside the Wright Brothers
Wright brothers
The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903...
, the Short Brothers
Short Brothers
Short Brothers plc is a British aerospace company, usually referred to simply as Shorts, that is now based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Founded in 1908, Shorts was the first company in the world to make production aircraft and was a manufacturer of flying boats during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s...
, Charles Rolls
Charles Rolls
Charles Stewart Rolls was a motoring and aviation pioneer. Together with Frederick Henry Royce he co-founded the Rolls-Royce car manufacturing firm. He was the first Briton to be killed in a flying accident, when the tail of his Wright Flyer broke off during a flying display near Bournemouth,...
, and many other early aviation pioneers. In 1909 he sold his Voisin biplane, Bird of Passage, to Arthur Edward George
Arthur Edward George
Arthur Edward George was an accomplished sportsman, an aviation pioneer, aircraft designer, racing driver, engineer and businessman...
(who learned to fly in it at the Royal Aero Club
Royal Aero Club
The Royal Aero Club is the national co-ordinating body for Air Sport in the United Kingdom.The Aero Club was founded in 1901 by Frank Hedges Butler, his daughter Vera and the Hon Charles Rolls , partly inspired by the Aero Club of France...
's flying-ground at Shellbeach) and bought a Short Brothers
Short Brothers
Short Brothers plc is a British aerospace company, usually referred to simply as Shorts, that is now based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Founded in 1908, Shorts was the first company in the world to make production aircraft and was a manufacturer of flying boats during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s...
Wright biplane. A documentary, A Dream of Flight, was made in 2009 to celebrate the centenary of his achievement on the Isle of Sheppey.
On 30 October 1909, flying his Short Brothers aircraft, he flew a circular mile and won a 1,000 pound prize
Daily Mail aviation prizes
Between 1907 and 1925 the Daily Mail newspaper, initially on the initiative of its proprietor Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, awarded numerous prizes for achievements in aviation. The newspaper would stipulate the amount of a prize for the first aviators to perform a particular task in...
offered by the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
newspaper. On 4 November 1909, as a joke to prove that pigs could fly, he put a small pig in a waste-paper basket tied to a wing-strut of his airplane. This may have been the first live cargo flight by airplane. With Charles Rolls, he would later make the first ascent in a spherical gas balloon
Balloon (aircraft)
A balloon is a type of aircraft that remains aloft due to its buoyancy. A balloon travels by moving with the wind. It is distinct from an airship, which is a buoyant aircraft that can be propelled through the air in a controlled manner....
made in England by the Short brothers.
On 8 March 1910, Moore-Brabazon became the first person to qualify as a pilot in the United Kingdom and was awarded Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate number 1; his car also bore the number-plate FLY 1. However only four months later, his friend Charles Rolls was killed in a flying accident and Moore-Brabazon's wife persuaded him to give up flying.
World War I
With the outbreak of War, Moore-Brabazon return to flying, joining the Royal Flying CorpsRoyal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
. He served on the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
where he played a key role in the development of aerial photography
Aerial photography
Aerial photography is the taking of photographs of the ground from an elevated position. The term usually refers to images in which the camera is not supported by a ground-based structure. Cameras may be hand held or mounted, and photographs may be taken by a photographer, triggered remotely or...
and reconnaissance. In March 1915 he was promoted to captain and appointed as an equipment officer. On 1 April 1918, when the Royal Flying Corps merged with the Royal Naval Air Service
Royal Naval Air Service
The Royal Naval Air Service or RNAS was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of the First World War, when it merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps to form a new service , the Royal Air Force...
to form the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
, Moore-Brabazon was appointed as a staff officer (first class) and made a temporary lieutenant-colonel.
Moore-Brabazon finished the war with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel
Lieutenant-Colonel (UK)
Lieutenant colonel is a rank in the British Army and Royal Marines which is also used in many Commonwealth countries. The rank is superior to major, and subordinate to colonel...
, had been awarded the Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
, and had become a commander of the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
.
Conservative MP
Moore-Brabazon later became a ConservativeConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Chatham
Chatham (UK Parliament constituency)
Chatham was a parliamentary constituency in Kent which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
(1918-1929) and Wallasey
Wallasey (UK Parliament constituency)
Wallasey is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
(1931-1942) and served as a junior minister in the 1920s. In 1931 and 1932 he served as a member of the London County Council
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
. In Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
's wartime government, he was appointed Minister of Transport
Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors...
in October 1940 and joined the Privy Council, becoming Minister of Aircraft Production
Minister of Aircraft Production
The Minister of Aircraft Production was the British government position in charge of the Ministry of Aircraft Production, one of the specialised supply ministries set up by the British Government during World War II...
in May 1941. As the Minister of Transport he proposed the use of Airgraphs to reduce the weight and bulk of mails travelling between troops fighting in the Middle East and their families in the UK. He was forced to resign in 1942 for expressing the hope that Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, then engaged in the Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
, would destroy each other. Since the Soviet Union was fighting the war on the same side as Britain, the hope that it should be destroyed, though common in the Conservative Party, was unacceptable to the war effort.
Later life
Moore-Brabazon was elevated to the House of LordsHouse of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
as Baron Brabazon of Tara
Baron Brabazon of Tara
Baron Brabazon of Tara, of Sandwich in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1942 for the aviation pioneer and Conservative politician John Moore-Brabazon. Moore-Brabazon was a descendant through a female line of Edward Brabazon, 7th Earl of Meath...
, of Sandwich
Sandwich, Kent
Sandwich is a historic town and civil parish on the River Stour in the Non-metropolitan district of Dover, within the ceremonial county of Kent, south-east England. It has a population of 6,800....
in the County of Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, in April 1942. In 1943 he chaired the Brabazon Committee
Brabazon Committee
The Brabazon Committee was a committee formed on 23 December 1942 to investigate the future needs of the British Empire's civilian airliner market...
which planned to develop the post-war British aircraft industry. He was involved in the production of the Bristol Brabazon
Bristol Brabazon
The Bristol Type 167 Brabazon was a large propeller-driven airliner, designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company to fly transatlantic routes from the United Kingdom to the United States. The prototype was delivered in 1949, only to prove a commercial failure when airlines felt the airliner was too...
, a giant airliner that first flew on 4 September 1949. It was then and still is the largest aeroplane built in Britain.
A keen golfer, Moore-Brabazon was captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, the governing body of golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, from 1952 to 1953. At the age of 70 he was still riding the Cresta Run
Cresta Run
The Cresta Run is a natural ice 1,212.5 m long skeleton racing toboggan track in the Swiss winter sports town of St. Moritz, and one of the few runs dedicated primarily to skeleton. It was built in 1884 near the hamlet of Cresta in the municipality of Celerina/Schlarigna by Major Bulpett, eventual...
.
Moore-Brabazon was president of the Royal Aero Club
Royal Aero Club
The Royal Aero Club is the national co-ordinating body for Air Sport in the United Kingdom.The Aero Club was founded in 1901 by Frank Hedges Butler, his daughter Vera and the Hon Charles Rolls , partly inspired by the Aero Club of France...
, president of the Royal Institution
Royal Institution
The Royal Institution of Great Britain is an organization devoted to scientific education and research, based in London.-Overview:...
, chairman of the Air Registration Board, and president of the Middlesex County Automobile Club
Middlesex County Automobile Club
The Middlesex County Automobile Club is a motor club based in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire.-Formation:The club has its origins in early 1905, and the club records show that a small group of young businessmen and professionals met at The Fox Hotel, Palmers Green, north London, and decided to form a...
from 1946 until his death in 1964. In he was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in 1953.
On 27 November 1906, he married Hilda Mary Krabbé, with whom he had two sons. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Derek
Derek Moore-Brabazon, 2nd Baron Brabazon of Tara
Derek Charles Moore-Brabazon, 2nd Baron Brabazon of Tara CBE succeeded the title Baron Brabazon of Tara in 1964 with the death of his father, John Cuthbert Moore-Brabazon, 1st Baron Brabazon of Tara, carrying it for just ten years until his death in 1974.He was educated at Harrow School and...
.
External links
- Film trailer of A Dream of Flight a documentary that celebrates the centenary of the first powered flight by a Briton in Britain, JTC Moore Brabazon, in 1909 on The Isle of Sheppey.
- http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/portrait.asp?LinkID=mp00524&rNo=1&role=sitPhotograph by Cecil BeatonCecil BeatonSir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, CBE was an English fashion and portrait photographer, diarist, painter, interior designer and an Academy Award-winning stage and costume designer for films and the theatre...
, 1940] - Portrait in Pastels by Alfred Egerton Cooper, 1958