Malcolm Campbell

Male 1885 - 31 Dec1948


Personal Information    |    Sources    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name Malcolm Campbell 
    Birth 11 Mar 1885  Chiselhurst, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location 

    Births registered in April, May and June 1885 - Malcolm Campbell
    Births registered in April, May and June 1885 - Malcolm Campbell
    Malcolm Campbells birth was registered in April - June 1885, district
    Bromley, Volume 2a, Page 570

    Birth Record for Malcolm Campbell
    Birth Record for Malcolm Campbell
    Malcolm Campbell, District Bromley, Registered April - June 1885, Volume 2a, Page 409
    Gender Male 
    Census 1891  Chiselhurst, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Family of William and Ada Campbell 

    1891 Census of England and Wales - Kent -Family of William and Ada Campbell.
    1891 Census of England and Wales - Kent -Family of William and Ada Campbell.
    The census shows William, Ada, Winifred and Malcolm Campbell residing at "Rossinire" Chislehurst, Bromley, England
    Biography 22 Mar 2003  [2


    • Sportsman. Born in Chislehurst in Kent, he was educated at Uppingham School in Berkshire, then in Germany for eighteen months and France for a year. His first job was at Lloyd\'s Corporation of Underwriters, where he worked for two years without a salary and for a third on one pound per week, which he used to fund his hobby of motor cycles. At the age of 21, he became a Member of Lloyd\'s and, shortly afterwards, made a considerable fortune by offering insurance for newspapers against libel actions. He made his first flight in 1909, in an aircraft he had built himself in a disused barn. At its first attempt, it crashed; but he rebuilt it and it flew for a hundred yards, making him one of the very first Britons to fly. His first motor race at Brooklands had taken place the previous year. In 1910, he bought a Darracq car which had won the Vanderbilt Cup in America and which could reach 100 m.p.h. Because Maurice Maeterlinck\'s play \"The Blue Bird\" was on at the Haymarket Theatre at the time, he named his car \"Bluebird\" and painted it that colour. It won the race at Brooklands, and all his future vehicles were to be given the same name. In 1912, he suffered the first of several injuries when, at Brooklands, Bluebird lost its front and back wheels on the \"off\" side, almost simultaneously. Campbell had the presence of mind to wrench the car to the edge of the track and to put the hubs on the edge of the concrete. In this way, he managed to keep the car upright and to finish the course, coming fourth. When the First World War broke out, he served as a dispatch rider before being commissioned in the Royal West Kent Regiment, then transferring to the Royal Flying Corps as a ferry pilot; later, a flying instructor. After the Armistice, Malcolm Campbell resumed his motor racing career and won four hundred trophies. In 1923 at Pendine Sands in Carmarthenshire, Wales, he was the first man to reach 150 m.p.h. At Daytona Beach in Florida, he raised ths to 206, then 246, m.p.h. On his return from the latter triumph, in 1931, he was knighted, having already received the M.B.E. for his service in the Great War. Finally, in 1935 at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, he became the first man to exceed 300 m.p.h. After this triumph, he abandoned motor cars for motor boats. As before, all his craft were called Bluebird; and, in 1939 at Lake Coniston, he set up a world record of 141.74 m.p.h. In the General Election of 1935, he contested Deptford, in South East London, as a Conservative, but was defeated. In 1938, his novel, \"Salute to the Gods\" was filmed by MGM as \"Burn \'Em Up O\'Connor\" with Dennis O\'Keefe in the title role; and, in 1979, three decades after his death, the B.B.C dramatised his life in a play called \"Speed King\", with Robert Hardy as Sir Malcolm. This concentrated as much on his prowess in the bed-room as on his skill on the track. In addition to numerous affairs, as mentioned in the play, he was married three times. The second marriage, to Dorothy Evelyn Whittall, produced one daughter and one son, Donald (q.v.) who followed his father\'s career, but who met with an untimely end. Sir Malcolm\'s grave is in the South West of the churchyard. If you enter through the gate on Manor Park Road, turn left and he is in the third row, five graves from the left and just behind the large tomb of Thompson Bonar (q.v.).

      Bio by: Iain MacFarlaine
    Death 31 Dec1948  Reigate, Surrey, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Burial St Nicholas Churchyard, Chislehurst, London, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I225  Tucker Family Tree | Campbell Family Tree
    Last Modified 25 Jan 2018 

    Father William Campbell,   b. 23 Sep 1845, St Pancras, London, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Relationship Birth 
    Mother Ada Westerton,   b. 1864, St Georges, Middlesex ,England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Relationship Birth 
    Marriage Sep 1881  St George, Hanover Square, London, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [3

    Marriage record for William Campbell & Ada Westerton
    Marriage record for William Campbell & Ada Westerton
    William Campbell & Ada Westerton marriage was registered July - September 1881, District St George Hanover Square, Volume 1a, Page: 0669
    Family ID F2918  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Dorothy Evelyn Whittall 
    Children 
    +1. Donald Malcolm Campbell,   b. 23 Mar 1921, Canbury House, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 4 Jan 1967, Coniston Water,Lancashire, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 45 years)  [Father: Birth]  [Mother: Birth]
    +2. Jean Dorothy Campbell,   b. 30 Sep 1923, London, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 25 Jun 2007 (Age 83 years)  [Father: Birth]  [Mother: Birth]
    Family ID F2919  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 18 Mar 2014 

  • Sources 
    1. [S238] UK Census On Line, 1891 (Reliability: 3).
      See attached census document.

    2. [S499] Iain MacFarlaine, 22 Mar 2003 (Reliability: 3).
      See attached biography written by Ianin Macfarlaine on Finad a Grave website (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7471108/cam)

    3. [S236] Catherine Spoors, Sep 1881 (Reliability: 2).
      William Campbell Married Ada Westerton in September1881, in the parish of St George, Hanover Square (still London).
      William was a diamond merchan, Watchmaker and Jeweller.


Home Page |  What's New |  Most Wanted |  Surnames |  Photos |  Histories |  Documents |  Cemeteries |  Places |  Dates |  Reports |  Sources