Millicent Bryant

Millicent Maude Bryant (née Harvey, 8 January 1878 – 3 November 1927) was an early Australian aviator. She was the first woman to earn a pilot's license in Australia, Pilot's Licence No. 71, in 1927.[1]

Millicent Bryant
Died1927
OccupationAviator

Early life

Bryant was born at Apsley, Wellington, New South Wales. Her parents were Edmund George Harvey and Georgiana Sarah Bartlett Harvey. She was one of ten children.[2]

Career

In March 1927, at age 49, Bryant earned a pilot's license from the Australian Aero Club of New South Wales. With Evelyn Follett, she is believed to be the first woman to take a flying lesson in Australia and was the first woman to qualify for a private pilot's license in Australia.[3][4][5][6][7][8]

Personal life

Bryant was married to Edward James Bryant. They had three sons (born 1901, 1903, and 1908). She was widowed in 1926.[9]

Bryant died by drowning in Sydney Harbour in 1927, aged 49 years, one of the victims of the Tahiti-Greycliffe Ferry disaster.[10] Five planes flew over her funeral and dropped a flower wreath in tribute.[11] In the year following her death, her sons established the Millicent Maud Bryant Trophy to be awarded each year to the best all round pilot of the Australian Aero Club of New South Wales.[12]

Bryant's leather flying helmet is in the collection of the National Library of Australia.[13]

In 2001, Millicent Bryant was inducted into the National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame. In 2007, to mark the 80th anniversary of her pilot's license, an official plaque was attached to her tombstone by the Australian Women Pilots' Association.[14]

References
  1. Arnold, Rosemary. "The Names Change But The Sky Is The Same". Love Air. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  2. "Mr. E. G. Harvey" Sydney Morning Herald (17 July 1933): 6. via Trove
  3. "Millicent Bryant – Australia", Centennial of Women Pilots.
  4. "First Woman Air Pilot" Tweed Daily (6 April 1927): 4. via Trove
  5. Powerhouse Museum (2000), Women with wings : images of Australian women pilots, Powerhouse Museum, Ideas in Action, retrieved 12 December 2016
  6. Mann, Sheila; Australia. Department of Aviation (1986), The girls were up there too : Australian women in aviation, Australian Government Publishing Service, ISBN 978-0-644-04154-6
  7. "Women Aviators of New South Wales". Sydney Mail. XXXIX (1010). New South Wales, Australia. 5 August 1931. p. 8. Retrieved 27 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "The Sky's the Limit". The Sun (1527). New South Wales, Australia. 3 July 1932. p. 21. Retrieved 27 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. "Mr. E. J. Bryant" Sydney Morning Herald (16 February 1926): 12. via Trove
  10. "First Woman Aviator: Mrs. M. M. Bryant" Sydney Morning Herald (5 November 1927): 18. via Trove
  11. "Late Mrs. M. M. Bryant; Wreath from the Air" Wellington Times (10 November 1927): 13. via Trove
  12. "IN MOTHER'S MEMORY". The Sun (1314). Sydney. 3 June 1928. p. 39. Retrieved 24 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. Aviator's flying cap worn by Millicent Bryant, 1926, retrieved 12 December 2016
  14. Millicent Bryant plaque, Monument Australia.
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