Malcolm Campbell

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Sir Malcolm Campbell

Born 11 March 1885(1885-03-11)
Chislehurst, Kent, England
Died 31 December 1948 (aged 63)
Reigate, Surrey, England
Burial place St Nicholas Church, Chislehurst, Kent
Nationality British
Occupation Racing motorist, journalist
Spouse (?)
Dorothy Evelyn Whittall, 2 children
(?)
Children Donald Campbell (1921-1967)
Jean Campbell (1923-)

Sir Malcolm Campbell (11 March 1885 – 31 December 1948) was an English racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times during the 1920s and 1930s using vehicles called Bluebird. His son, Donald Campbell, was killed in 1967, attempting to repeat his achievements.

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[edit] Early life

Malcolm Campbell was born in Chislehurst, Kent in 1885.[1], the only son of a Hatton Garden diamond seller. He attended the independent Uppingham School. In Germany, learning the diamond trade, he gained an interest in motorbikes and races. Returning to England, he worked for two years at Lloyd's of London for no pay, then for another year at one pound a week. Between 1906-8, he won all three London to Lakes End Trials (motorbike races). In 1910 he began racing cars at Brooklands. He married but divorced two years later. He christened his car Bluebird, painting it blue, after seeing the play The Blue Bird by Maurice Maeterlinck at the Haymarket Theatre . He remarried to Dorothy Evelyn Whittall in 1920 in Westminster and his son Donald was born in 1921, and he had a daughter Jean in 1923. They divorced in 1940. He served in World War Two in the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment. He married Betty Nicory in 1945 in Chelsea. He was knighted in 1931.

[edit] Grand Prix career

He competed in Grand Prix motor racing, winning the 1927 and 1928 Grand Prix de Boulogne in France driving a Bugatti T39A.

[edit] Land speed record

He broke the LSR for the first time in 1924 at 146.16mph at Pendine Sands near Carmarthen Bay in a 350HP V12 Sunbeam. Malcolm broke nine land speed records between 1924 and 1935, with three at Pendine Sands and five at Daytona Beach. His first two records were driving a racing car manufactured by the Sunbeam Car Company in Wolverhampton.

He set his final land speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah on September 3, 1935, and was the first person to drive an automobile over 300 miles per hour (301.337 mph).

[edit] Water speed records

He set the water speed record four times. His highest speed was 141.740 mph in the Bluebird K4. He set the record on August 19, 1939 on Coniston Water in Great Britain.

[edit] Death

He died after a long illness in 1948 in Reigate, Surrey, aged 63 years.[2] He was one of the few land speed record holders of his era to die of natural causes, as so many had died in crashes. His versatile racing on different vehicles made him internationally famous.

His son Donald died 19 years later in an attempt to break the water speed record.

[edit] Awards

[edit] Miscellaneous

He was a Vice President of the Middlesex County Automobile Club.

He became interested in the search for buried treasure in the Cocos Islands.

Campbell was also involved in politics. He stood for Parliament without success at the 1935 general election in Deptford for the Conservative Party.

Campbell was depicted by Robert Hardy in a BBC dramatisation of the attempt on the land speed record with Bluebird II.

[edit] References

  1. ^ GRO Register of Births: JUN 1885 2a 409 BROMLEY - Malcolm Campbell
  2. ^ GRO Register of Deaths: MAR 1949 5g 833 REIGATE - Malcolm Campbell, aged 63

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Campbell, Sir Malcolm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Racing motorist
DATE OF BIRTH 1885-03-11
PLACE OF BIRTH Chislehurst, Kent
DATE OF DEATH 1948-12-31
PLACE OF DEATH Reigate, Surrey