The Bertha Murray Miller Collection
Material relating to the career of pilot Bertha Murray Miller.
About Bertha Murray Miller
The De Havilland Biplane
The Bertha Murray Miller Collection covers the flight Ms. Miller undertook from Renfrew to Belfast on 13th April 1934. Little information exists regarding Miller however it is gathered from the collection that she piloted the flight solo from Renfrew to Belfast on Midland and Scottish Air Ferries Ltd which flew a route between the two destinations.
While Amelia Earhart became the first American female aviator to fly a plane, crossing the Atlantic in 1932 and Amy Johnson is regarded as the first British female to fly, completing a solo journey to Australia in 1930, Miller's flight to Belfast occurred at a time of rapid growth and recognition for female aviators.
About the collection
The collection includes a photograph of the plane Miller flew, The De Havilland Biplane. The De Havilland name came from the De Havilland Aircraft Company Limited formed by Captain Sir Geoffrey de Havilland who was a prominent British aviation pioneer and aircraft engineer. The collection also features books owned by Miller, one with her bookplate on the inside cover and another signed by her during the flight in which she writes 'For a Rabbit in the Air', signed on her first flight when over the Atlantic to the West of the Mull of Kintyre and before reaching Ireland.
Bertha Murray Miller signed this book at 10.40am during her flight on 13th April 1934. In addition, the collection also features a telegram in which Miller relays that she had 'a most wonderful flight.'
Telegram, 13 April 1934, in which Miller relays that she had 'a most wonderful flight.'
Finding aid
Please contact Special Collections or 0141 287 2988 if you would like to access this collection.
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