Muriel Hind

Muriel Hind (27 May 1882 – 3 May 1956) was a pioneering British motorcyclist and motorist described as "the first woman motorcyclist in England". She competed in trials in vehicles with two, three, and four wheels.

Early life Agnes Muriel Hind was born on 27 May in Dorset in 1882, but orphaned at seven years of age. Known as Muriel, she and her brother were raised by relatives in Swanage. She enjoyed playing hockey and became interested in bicycling in the 1890s but reported in 1904 that she found it "too slow" now. Her family were early adopters of motorcycles and her uncle Edward was a pioneering early motorcyclist. Her brother took up motorcycling too and this encouraged the young Muriel Hind to acquire and ride a simple motorcycle between 1901 and 1903.

Motorcycling Hind later said she took up motorcycling because she "thought she would like to".

Involvement in motorsport She gradually increased the horsepower of her motorcycles, and by 1905 she was a member of the Motor Cycling Club and living in London. She drove a Singer Tricar in the 1906 Land's End to John O'Groats Trial, with aviation pioneer Hilda Hewlett as her passenger and mechanic. She also drove a tricar in the twenty-four-hour London to Edinburgh Trial, again with a female passenger, making good time in torrential rain.

In 1907, AW Wall of Roc created a V-twin engined motorcycle to her specifications of a dropped (lady's) frame. She became associated with the motorcycle makers, Rex Motor Manufacturing Co. one of a number of keen to exploit a growing market for lady’s motorcycles. Hind became a demonstrator, works, and test rider for Rex, and by 1910 they had created the Blue Devil for her, the fastest machine she had yet ridden. In 1931, she recalled that she had owned 12 different motorcycles.

By 1930 the couple were living in Wall Hill Hall in Corley, Warwickshire. In 1931, Muriel Lord was the first woman to be elected into the Association of Pioneer Motor Cyclists, membership of which was confined to those who held a license before December 31, 1904.

The Blue Devil motorcycle was acquired by the Murray's Motor Cycle Museum on the Isle of Man in the 1950s, although its engine had been borrowed to power a lawn mower at the Lords' home in the intervening years.

Agnes Muriel Lord died on 3 May 1956 at Whitley Hospital in Corley.