Eleanor Trehawke Davies

Eleanor Josephine Trehawke Davies (1880 – 1915) was an English aviator and the first woman to fly across the English Channel and to have "looped the loop" in an aircraft. She described the latter experience as "a grand, whirling delight".

Early life Davies was born in 1880 in St Pancras, London, the daughter of Eleanor Rosa (née Springbett) and Frederick Trehawke Davies. Her father was an Alderman with Marylebone Council and a solicitor's clerk, her mother the owner of a high end millinery business based at 293 Regent Street, London.

Aviator Davies who was known as "Miss Trehawke Davies" was never a pilot but known at the time as an "air companion" to a number of early aviators. In August 1911 she chartered Horatio Barber to fly her from Hendon to Brighton and back. The flight, hampered by cloud and high winds, took two days.

In April 1912 she flew with Gustav Hamel on a flight from Hendon Aerodrome near London to Paris, gaining the distinction of being the first woman to fly the English Channel. although her death was not announced until January 1916, at her own request.