Dorothy Levitt

Dorothy Levitt
Dorothy Levitt on the frontispiece of The Woman and the Car
Born	Dorothy Elizabeth Levi 5 January 1882[1] Hackney, London
Died	17 May 1922 Age 40[1] 50 Upper Baker Street, Marylebone, London
Nationality	British
Other names	The fastest girl on Earth Champion Lady Motorist of the World
Occupation	Sporting Motoriste, Journalist,
Known for	1903 – Set first water speed record 1903 – First English woman to compete in a 'motor race'. 1903 – First woman to win a motor-race 1905 – Record for the longest drive achieved by a lady driver from London to Liverpool and back. 1905 – Set her first Ladies World Speed record at the Brighton Speed Trials 1906 – Set her second Ladies World Land Speed record at Blackpool Speed trials International motor-boat racer

Dorothy Elizabeth Levitt, (born Dorothy Elizabeth Levi;^[1][2] 5 January 1882,^[1] died 17 May 1922) was a motorina, sporting motoriste and scorcher.^{[Note 1][3]} Levitt was a renowned pioneer of female independence, female motoring, motor racing, the most successful female competitor in Great Britain, victorious speedboat driver, holder of the water speed record, and holder of the Ladies World Land speed record. She was lauded as the first English woman ever to compete in a motor race, even though the French woman Camille du Gast had raced from Paris to Berlin two years earlier.^[4][5][6][7]

Levitt was well known as a motoring writer, journalist and activist, and she taught Queen Alexandra and the Royal Princesses how to drive. In 1905 she established the record for the longest drive achieved by a lady driver by driving a De Dion-Bouton from London to Liverpool and back over two days. Later that year she set the Ladies World Land speed record at Brighton and the following year she increased it to 90.88 mph (146.26 km/h) at the Blackpool Speed Trial. Hence, she received the soubriquets in the press of the Fastest Girl on Earth, and the Champion Lady Motorist of the World.^[4]

I never think of the danger. That sort of thing won't do. But I know it is omnipresent. The slightest touch of the hand and the car swerves, and swerves are usually fatal. But I am a good gambler, and always willing to take the chance.

—Dorothy Levitt. Nov 1906^[8][9]

Her book The Woman and the Car: A chatty little handbook for all women who motor or who want to motor, noted that women should "carry a little hand-mirror in a convenient place when driving" so they may "hold the mirror aloft from time to time in order to see behind while driving in traffic", thus inventing the rear view mirror before it was introduced by manufacturers in 1914.^[10] She also advised women travelling alone to carry a revolver.^[11]

Early life

Levitt was born Dorothy Elizabeth Levi,^[1][2] (sometimes reported as Elizabeth Levi,^[12] Elizabeth Levit,^[13] or Dorothy Elizabeth Levitt.^[2]) in Hackney in 1882 as a Sephardi Jew.^[14] She was the daughter of Jacob Levi, a prosperous jeweller,^[1] tea dealer, and Commission Agent of Colvestone Crescent, Hackney, who, according to the 1891 census, was born in Aldgate, London in about 1851. Jacob had apparently anglicised his name to John Levit by the 1901 census. Dorothy's mother was born Julia Raphael in Aldgate 31 October 1856 (or possibly 1858) and married Jacob Levi in the Seyds Hotel Finsbury in March 1877. Jacob may have retired to the country (poss. Sussex) by c. 1901 or 1906, and died in Brighton in 1934. Julia died in Brighton in 1942.^{[2][8][9][12][14][15][16][17][18]}

Levitt's paternal grandparents were Leman (Lemon) Levi (b. Portsmouth 1804 – d.1895) a Jeweller of 18 Colvestone Crescent, Hackney, London, who married Elizabeth Meyers (1816–1893) in the Great Synagogue Whitechapel in 1833. They had 10 children including Dorothy's father Jacob (who also used the name Jack & John). Dorothy's maternal grandparents, Joseph Raphael (b. 1807 Portsmouth, d.7 November 1893, London) and Elizabeth Sewill (b. 1818 in Liverpool, d.1897 in London), were diamond merchants who after retiring ran a hotel in Duke Street, London.^[1][14]

Levitt had two sisters, Lilly, (b.6 March 1878, London, d.8 April 1879); and Elsie Ruby Levi/Levitt, who was born in 1892 in Islington, married Mark Solomon Clarence Lewis in Willesden in 1917, and died at Montpelier Crescent, Brighton in Jan–March 1942 (sometimes reported as 1959 or 1963).^{[2][14][16][17][18]}

Before her recognition for motoring Levitt was reportedly a noted horse-rider.^[19] Everywoman's Encyclopedia reports that S.F. Edge, the owner of Napier Cars, advised her to enter the automobile profession, and after six months she understood the mechanism of a car.^[20] Dorothy was originally employed as a secretary at the Napier & Son works in Vine Street Lambeth.^[21][22]

At her 1903 court case her address was given as Leconfield Road, London, approximately one mile from the main family address in Colvestone Crescent, Hackney.

In 1913 Levitt was living at Portman Mansions, Chiltern Street, in Marylebone (according to the telephone directory), and by the time of her death in 1922 she was living at 50 Upper Baker Street.^[1]

Pioneer feminist and female motorist

In the book The car and British society: class, gender and motoring, 1896–1939, Sean O'Connell described Levitt as "arguably the best known of the early women drivers" in an age when male prejudices against women drivers were typified by a 1905 item in Autocar that opined the hope that "the controlling of motor cars will be wrested from the hands of ... these would be men". Thus, the preface to the first edition of her book The Woman and the Car: A chatty little handbook for all women who motor or who want to motor, stated that :

The public, in its mind's eye, no doubt figures this motor champion as a big, strapping Amazon. Dorothy Levitt is exactly, or almost so, the direct opposite of such a picture. She is the most girlish of womanly women.^[11][19]

She was described as "slight in nature, shy and shrinking, almost timid". Her book went on to state that "[there might] be pleasure in being whisked around the country by your friends and relatives, or ... chauffeur, but the real intense pleasure only comes when you drive your own car."^[19]

Both Levitt's book and newspaper column in The Graphic described her atypical lifestyle for the Edwardian era: an independent, privileged, "bachelor girl", living with friends in the West End of London and waited on by two servants.^[11][19]

Selwyn Edge – mentor

It is not clear when or how Levitt met her mentor Selwyn Edge (S. F. Edge), as several versions and nuances are reported and both she and Edge appear to have been "orientated towards self-publicity". His influence on her career was enormous, having recognised her spirit he instigated her career in motoring, arranged her training in Paris, provided her cars in order to promote his dealerships and provided her motor boats. She is presumed to have also been his mistress for a time.^[23]

According to a November 1906 interview with the Penny Illustrated Paper Levitt (a member of an old family of some substance) described having been introduced to Edge "when she was twenty", and "five years ago". After advising her to make a career in automobiles, he arranged a six month apprenticeship to a French automobile maker in Paris, where she learned all aspects of building and driving cars. On her return to London she began teaching women how to drive, reportedly teaching Queen Alexandra, the Royal Princesses (Louise, Victoria and Maud), down through Duchesses, Countesses and "plain Americans".^[8][9] It is possible that her time in France was spent at the motor factory of Edge's friend and business partner Adolphe Clément-Bayard who manufactured Clément-Gladiator motorcars (and bicycles) at his "state of the art" factory in Levallois-Perret, northwest Paris.

According to Napier, The First to Wear the Green by David Venables, she was hired for Edge's office in 1902/3 as an "emergency lady type-writer".^[24]

According to Jean Francois Bouzanquet in his book Fast Ladies: Female Racing Drivers 1888 to 1970 she was a member of the Napier staff at Vine Street, Lambeth, London who "caught Edge's eye".

Selwyn Edge, Director of the Napier Car Company and famous racing driver ... spotted Miss Dorothy Levitt amongst his staff, a beautiful secretary with long legs and eyes like pools. In a bid to promote his cars ... Edge decided that she should take part in a race, though first he had to teach her to drive. She surpassed his expectations by winning her class in the 1903 Southport Speed Trial, and proved such a good driver that she was taken on by De Dion for a major publicity stunt. At the Hereford Thousand Miles Trial in 1904, Dorothy posed before members of the press, delighted by her uncommonly glamorous racing outfit, holding a snappy Pomeranian dog that barked ferociously at all the other competitors – who got their own back the following day by sporting hideous toy dogs attached to the bonnets during the races

—Jean François Bouzanquet,^[21]

According to Everywoman's Encyclopedia Selwyn Edge, the owner of Napier Cars, advised her to enter the automobile profession, and after six months she understood the mechanism of a car.^[20]

Levitt was effectively both a works' driver and publicist for Napier cars, owned by Selwyn Edge, plus his dealerships for Gladiator and De Dion.

Motor yachting

In July 1903 (possibly the 12th) Levitt won the inaugural British International Harmsworth Trophy for motor-boats, defeating the French entry Trefle-A-Quatre. The event was officiated by the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland and the Royal Victoria Yacht Club and took place at the Royal Cork Yacht Club at Cork Harbour in Ireland. Levitt set the world's first Water Speed Record when she achieved 19.3 mph (31.1 km/h) in a 40-foot (12 m) steel-hulled, 75-horsepower Napier speedboat fitted with a 3-blade propeller. Selwyn Edge was both the owner and entrant of the boat, and thus "S. F. Edge" is engraved on the trophy as the winner. The third crew member, Campbell Muir, may also have taken the controls. An article in the Cork Constitution on 13 July reported "A large number of spectators viewed the first mile from the promenade of the Yacht Club, and at Cork several thousand people collected at both sides of the river to see the finishes."^{[25][26][27][28]}

On 8 August 1903 Levitt drove the Napier motor-boat at Cowes and won the race. She was then commanded to the Royal yacht Albert & Victoria^[28] by King Edward VII where he congratulated her on her pluck and skill, and they discussed, among other things, the performance of the boat and its potential for British government despatch work.^[9][29][28]

Later in August she went to Trouville, France, and won the Gaston Menier Cup. This was reported as "a very competitive race, 'against the world's cracks'", and she won what was described as the "five mile world's championship of the sea" and the $1,750 prize.^[29]

In October 1903 she returned to Trouville with the Napier motor-boat and won the Championship of the Seas. The French government, like King Edward VII, saw the merit of the design, so went ahead and bought the boat for £1,000.^[8][9][29]

Sporting motoring

1903

In April Levitt was reportedly the first English woman driver to take part in "motor-car competition". Her diary noted: "First Englishwoman to take part in public motor-car competition. Did not win. Will do better next time".^[29]

In May she competed in the Glasgow-London Non-stop run, driving S. F. Edge's 16 hp Gladiator. She scored 994 out of 1,000 points.^[29][30]

On 25 July at the Sun-Rise Hill Climb near Edge Hill, Warwickshire she was the official passenger of S. F. Edge because her Gladiator was a non-starter.^[31][32]

On 2 October Levitt won her class (cars costing between £400 and £550) at the Southport Speed Trials driving S.F. Edge's 12 (or 16) hp Gladiator. The heats were held on Friday 2nd and the finals on the Saturday.^[33][34] shocking British society as she was the first English woman, a working secretary, to compete in a motor race.^[29][35][36] She became noted for racing in a dust coat (a loose coverall coat reaching down to the ankles), matching hat and veil.^[37]

1904

In September Levitt drove an officially entered an 8 horse-power De Dion car in the Hereford 1,000-mile (1,600 km) Light Car Trial, entirely alone, without mechanics. Her diary records that she "did everything myself, Had non-stop for five days." Only mechanical problems on the final day, which she repaired herself, prevented her from winning a gold medal.^[12][22][29]

The Times of 5 September 1904 reported :^[38]

It is satisfactory to note that no cars disappeared from the list, although one of the De Dions – the one driven by Miss Dorothy Levitt – which had up to Saturday afternoon run without any loss of marks, came to a standstill owing to a needle valve in the carburetter[sic] (which regulates the flow of petrol) getting loose and consequently closing. The trouble took more than the official 20 minutes to locate, with the result that not only did the car lose its chance of any non-stop award, but the fellow to it was also cut out, as similar cars have to run as a team. This was hard on both drivers after a week's work.

In October she won two medals at the Southport Speed Trials (Blackpool) driving a 50 horse-power Napier (or 20 hp). (Touring cars £750-£1200, second place behind Leon Bollee Syndicate (40 hp Léon Bolllée).^[29][39]

1905

In February Levitt established the record for the "longest drive achieved by a lady driver". She drove an 8 horse-power De Dion-Bouton from London to Liverpool and back in two days, without the aid of a mechanic but accompanied by an official observer, her pet Pomerainian dog Dodo, plus a revolver. On 29 March 1905 she departed from the De-Dion showroom in Great Marlborough Street London at 07:00, reached Coventry at 11:36 94 miles (151 km),^[40] and arrived at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool at 18:10, having completed the 205 miles (330 km) in a little over 11 hours. The following day she completed the return journey. (Note: Liverpool was the home of her maternal grandmother.)^[41][42] Her diary records that February 1905 – Did Liverpool and back to London in two days, averaging a level 20 miles per hour throughout for the entire 411 miles.^[29]

In May she won a Non-stop Certificate at the Scottish Trials driving her eight horse-power De Dion. In her diary she noted that these trials "Ran over very rough and hilly roads in the Highlands."^[43]

In July Levitt set her first Ladies World Speed record when competing at the inaugural Brighton Speed Trials, in which she drove an 80 hp Napier at a speed of 79.75 miles per hour. She won her class, the Brighton Sweepstakes and the Autocar Challenge Trophy. Her diary records that she "Beat a great many professional drivers .... Drove at rate of 77.75 miles in Daily Mail Cup."^[43]

She also drove a 100 hp (74.6 kW) development of the Napier K5 at the Blackpool Speed Trials.^[5][6]

Her success and skills meant that she was offered a works drive in a French Mors in the inaugural RAC Tourist Trophy Race on the Isle of Man, but she was prohibited from accepting by Selwyn Edge, to protect the reputation of his Napier marque. Ironically the 208-mile (335 km) 1905 event was won by Mr. J. S. Napier in his Arrol Johnson car, ahead of 40 competitors.^[44][45]

1906

The highlight of Levitt's year was at the Blackpool Speed Trial in October when she broke her own Women's World Speed Record (which she set at the Brighton Speed Trials in 1905). She recorded a speed of 90.88 mph (146.26 km/h) (146.25 km/h) over a flying kilometre, driving the 100 hp (74.6 kW) development of the Napier K5-L48. Thus, she was described as the "Fastest Girl on Earth"' and the "Champion Lady Motorist of the World".^[5][6] Her diary recorded:

Broke my own record and created new world's record for women at Blackpool. Ninety horse-power six cylinder Napier. Racing car. Drove at rate of 91 miles an hour. Had near escape as front part of bonnet worked loose and, had I not pulled up in time, might have blown back and beheaded me. Was presented with a cup by the Blackpool Automobile Club and also a cup by S. F. Edge, Limited.

—Dorothy Levitt. October 1906.^[43]

Dorothy's diary records : June 1906 – Shelsey Walsh Hill Climb Worcestershire. Was only sixth at finish. Fifty horse-power Napier. Mine was only car competing which was not fitted with non-skids [tyres]. Car nearly went over embankment owing to this and greasy state of roads.^[8][9][43] In the Open Class she set the Ladies' Record in a 50 hp Napier (7790 cc), making the climb in 92.4 seconds, 12 seconds faster than the male winner and around three minutes faster than the previous record set by Miss Larkins. Her record stood until 1913.^[31][32]

In July she competed at the Aston Clinton Hillclimb, near Tring in Buckinghamshire, finishing third on a 50 horse-power Napier.^[43]

She was unsuccessful in a challenge run against a White Motor Company steam car driven by Frederic A. Coleman of Camden, London.^[46]

In November 1906, after setting her new world record, Levitt was the subject of a full page profile in the national Penny Illustrated Paper that was headlined – The Sensational Adventures of Miss Dorothy Levitt, – Champion Lady Motorist of the World. In the article she described her career and spoke of the sensations of travelling at the "awful pace" of world record speeds.

Wonderful. One can hardly describe one's sensations. There is a feeling of flying through space. I never think of the danger. That sort of thing won't do. But I know it is omnipresent. The slightest touch of the hand and the car swerves, and swerves are usually fatal. But I am a good gambler, and always willing to take the chance. In going that pace, the hardest thing is to keep in the car. Half the time the wheels don't touch the ground at all, and when they do touch you must be prepared to take the shock and lurch, else out you will go. It is far harder work to sit in the car than to ride a galloping horse over the jumps in a steeplechase. When I made the records I was in the car alone. I prefer it.

—Dorothy Levitt, November 1906.^[8]

1907

In 1907 the newly opened Brooklands circuit would not accept her entry, even though she was vouchsafed by S. F. Edge, and it continued to reject women drivers until the following year. Thus, she set her sights on Europe, and achieved great success in France and Germany driving for Napier.^[31]

In May she finished second in the Appearance Competition at the Bexhill on Sea Speed Trial along the sea front. She was driving her Eight horse-power De Dion.^[43][47][48]

In June she won a Gold Medal at the Herkomer Trophy Race (1,818 kilometres) in Germany, finishing fourth out of 172 competitors, and the first of all women in all competitions. Her diary records that she drove a "Sixty horse-power six-cylinder Napier. There were 42 cars with much larger engines than I had."^[43][49]

In October she won her class in the Gaillon Hillclimb in France, driving a 40 hp 6-cylinder Napier.^[31] In her diary she noted that "Won in my class by 20 seconds. Gradient of hill 1 in 10 average."

1908

Her 1908 schedule was hectic and successful and Brooklands began to allow lady competitors. In June she drove a 45 hp Napier to win a silver plaque in the Prinz Heinrich Trophy at the Herkomer Trophy Trial in Germany. Her diary states "Made absolute non-stop run on 45 horse-power Napier. Won large silver placque."^[50]

In July her 60 hp Napier was second fastest of over 50 competitors at the Aston Clinton Hill Climb in Buckinghamshire.^[50]

In August she competed at La Côte du Calvaire hill climb at Trouville, France.^[31][50]

Pioneering aviation

In 1909 Levitt attempted to qualify as a pilot at the Hubert Latham School of Aviation at Châlons Camp Mourmelon-le-Grand, between Châlons-en-Champagne and Rheims in France. ^[51] She attended along with Marie Marvingt and Baroness Raymonde de Laroche, the only woman ever licensed in the difficult to fly Antoinette monoplane. Levitt became a member of The Aero Club of the United Kingdom in January 1910, and was booked to give a talk at the Criterion Restaurant on Thursday, 3 March 1910 about her experiences learning to fly.^[52] According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography she learned to fly a Farman aircraft at a flying school in France in 1910, and by March she was interviewed in the Daily Chronicle about her flying experiences although there is no record of her having qualified.^[1]

Journalism

Levitt became the leading exponent of a woman's "right to motor" and in 1909 published The Woman and the Car: A Chatty Little Hand Book for Women Who Motor or Want to Motor, based on her newspaper column in The Graphic. She also gave many lectures to encourage women to take up motoring.

She tried to counter the clichés about mechanically ignorant females:

I am constantly asked by some astonished people "Do you really understand all the horrid machinery of a motor, and could you mend it if it broke down? ... the details of an engine may sound complicated and look "horrid", but an engine is easily mastered.^[22]

Her book contained many tips, including carrying a ladies hand mirror, to "occasionally hold up to see what is behind you". Thus, she can be said to have pioneered the rear view mirror seven years before it was adopted by manufacturers.

In 1912 she received a 'by line' for a column in the Yorkshire Evening Post on Saturday 3 August 1912 entitled "Motoring for Ladies : Some Commonsense Hints to Amateurs."^[53]

Court appearances

In the vernacular of the 1900s Dorothy Levitt was a Scorcher, a motorist who delighted in exceeding the speed limit and who thereby came to the attention of the police.^[3]

On 6 November 1903, she was summonsed to appear at Marlborough Street Assizes for speeding in Hyde Park. According to the reported statement by the police she was said to have driven at a "terrific pace" and, when stopped, reportedly said that "[she] ... would like to drive over every policeman and wished she had run over the sergeant and killed him." Although she did not appear personally, the magistrate, Mr Denman, fined her £5 with 2s costs. The other six motoring defendants that day were only fined £2 plus costs.^[54]

In November 1903, Dorothy Levitt and her friend Hena Frankton claimed damages against a GPO van driver who had hit their car. In two discrete cases they received compensation of £35 each.^[54][55]

Court Circular appearances

Levitt sometimes mixed at the highest social levels, such that her appearances were reported in advance in the Court Circulars of The Times. To wit her attendance at Major General Sir Alfred Turner's "Salon reception" at the Picadilly Hotel on 14 July 1909.^[56]

Pioneering motoring

Driving instruction

Around 1902 Dorothy Levitt spent six months apprenticed to a French automobile maker in Paris, where she learned all aspects of building and driving cars. On her return to London she began teaching women how to drive. Her pupils included Queen Alexandra, the Royal Princesses (Louise, Victoria and Maud), down through Duchesses, Countesses and 'plain Americans'.^[8][9]

Driver training manual

Levitt wrote a driver training manual aimed specifically at Ladies.

Excerpts from The Woman and the Car: A chatty little handbook for all women who motor or who want to motor by Dorothy Levitt, c. 1909.^[11]

Motoring is a pastime for women; young, middle-aged and – if there are any – old. There may be pleasure in being whirled around the country by your friends and relatives, or in a car driven by your chauffeur; but the real, the intense pleasure comes only when you drive you own car.^[11]

The Car – There are scores of makes, good, bad and indifferent. I tried many cars and have come to the conclusion that the De Dion is the ideal, single cylinder car for a woman to drive. The single cylinder car is the most economical to run. The horse-power is usually 8 h.p. or less. As regards carriage work, the Victoria type of body has the most graceful lines. Such a car as I have described will cost, new, from 230 pounds. The price however is for the car itself, accessories bring up the cost.^[11]

Starting a Car – In the front you will notice a handle. Push it inwards until you feel it fit into a notch, then pull it sharply, releasing your hold of the handle the minute you feel you have pulled it over the resisting point. On no account press down on the handle, always pull it upwards smartly. It if is pressed down the possibility of backfire is greater – and a broken arm may result.^[11][57]

Changing Speed – In changing speed always remember to throttle slightly. Never change from first to top speed without using the intermediate speed. The first speed on these little cars is 0–9 miles an hour, the second is 9–18 and the top is 18–28. I should advise you to thoroughly get used to the steering while on second speed. Bear in mind that when riding or driving a horse, it is only partly under your control, as it has a brain. With a motor-car, you are on your own.^[11]

The Mirror – The mirror should be fairly large to be really useful and it is better to have one with a handle. Just before starting take the glass out of the little drawer and put it into the little flap pocket of the car. You will find it useful to have handy, not only for personal use, but to occasionally hold up to see what is behind you.^[11]

Motor Manners – Pedestrians, according to the law, practically own the highways. Dogs, chickens and other domestic animals at large are not pedestrians, and if one is driving at regular speed one is not responsible for their untimely end. It is advisable to drive slowly through town and villages and especially school houses. Drive slowly past anyone driving or riding a horse and if a lady or child is on top, stop the engine. It is an act of courtesy. Do not fail to sound the hooter and slacken speed when coming to a cross road. Never take a sharp corner at full speed. Never drive the engine downhill. Do not leave the engine running when stopping outside a house.^[11]

Self-defence – "If you are going to drive alone in the highways and byways it might be advisable to carry a small revolver. I have an automatic "Colt", and find it very easy to handle as there is practically no recoil – a great consideration to a woman."^[11]

What to Wear – An all important question is dress. With an open car, neatness and comfort are essential. Under no circumstance wear lace or fluffy adjuncts to your toilet. There is nothing like a thick frieze, homespun or tweed coat lined with fur. Do not heed the cry, 'nothing like leather.' Leather coats do not wear gracefully. One of the most important articles of wear is a scarf or muffler for the neck. Regarding gloves – never wear woollen gloves, but gloves made of good soft kid. You will find room for these gloves in the little drawer under the seat of the car. It is not advisable to wear rings. Indispensable to the motorist is the 'overall,' this should be made of butcher blue linen in the same shape as an artist's overall.^[11]

Personal life

Before her motoring career Levitt was reportedly a noted horse-rider.^[19] She made direct reference to her riding experience in the press: "In going that pace, the hardest thing is to keep in the car ... It is far harder work to sit in the car than to ride a galloping horse over the jumps in a steeplechase."^[8][9]

According to a November 1906 interview with the Penny Illustrated Paper Levitt balanced "the fearful excitement of automobile racing by quietly going fishing, and described trout fishing as her favourite sport. She also described poker as her favourite game and claimed significant expertise at roulette. Outlining her "most wonderful secret system with which she is going this winter to attempt to break the bank at Monte Carlo."^[8][9]

Levitt was noted for her ever-present, yappy, black Pomeranian dog called Dodo. A gift from Mademoiselle Marie Cornelle around 1903, he had been smuggled into England by being drugged and then hidden in the repair box of an automobile.^[8][9]

Death

Dorothy's life after 1910 is undocumented but she was found dead in her bed at 50 Upper Baker Street on 17 May 1922 in Marylebone according to Probate granted to her sister Elsie on 27 September 1922. The death certificate named her as Dorothy Elizabeth Levi, unmarried, and stated that the cause of death was morphine poisoning while suffering from heart disease and an attack of measles. The inquest recorded a verdict of misadventure. Her estate was valued at £224 2s 5d (about £4,750 at 2010 valuation).^[1][2][58]

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

• Dorothy Levitt in the catalogue of pictures at MPL – The Montague Motoring Museum Library
• The Fastest Girl on Earth, Article, Pictures and Video about Dorothy Levitt, by Neil Oliver at The One Show – BBC
• The Fast Girl Program notes and background about Dorothy Levitt for a BBC Radio play by Jerome Vincent.
• Profile of Dorothy Levitt at Google Books – Women and the Machine by Julie Wosk
• Extended profile of Dorothy Levitt at Google Books – Women and the Machine by Julie Wosk
• Dorothy Levitt, How to start a car, 1909
• Woman-Encyclopedia, Profile and image of Dorothy Levitt

Further reading

• The Woman and the Car – A chatty little handbook for all women who motor or who want to motor by Dorothy Levitt
• Profile of Dorothy Levitt at Google Books – Women and the Machine by Julie Wosk
• Sussex Women by Ann Kramer (published Snake River Press, 2007): includes short biography of Dorothy Levitt

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