Dunstable History Society: pioneer women motorists

The name of Bertha Ringer is not too familiar, but she was a pioneer woman motorist whose influence is still very much alive.

Her achievements were among the exploits of women drivers who were the subjects of a talk by Debbie Land to the May meeting of Dunstable and District Local History Society.

Bertha married inventor Karl Benz and used her dowry to help finance his business. In 1888, despite his misgivings, she drove his prototype automobile on an unauthorised 65-mile journey to prove that it was possible. She overcame a number of problems but completed what has become a celebrated part of motoring history. Her husband’s business prospered and lives on today in the Mercedes-Benz motor company.

Debbie Land’s talk ranged from the story of actress Minnie Palmer, the first woman to own her own car in England, to Gladys de Havilland, who made an epic round-the-world trip in an Austin Seven in 1928. Dorothy Levitt, a land-speed record holder, was the first woman to compete in a motor race as well as being credited with introducing the rear-view mirror to cars. She had previously used her powder-compact mirror for that purpose!

The history society has a break in its series of monthly meetings during the summer but will reconvene on Tuesday, September 10, when it will hear a talk on the British Civil Wars by Stephen Barker, a trustee of the Military Museum at Buckingham.

Meanwhile, the society will have a gazebo at the forthcoming classic car rally in Dunstable’s Priory Gardens on June 8 when its display will include local photos of vintage vehicles as well a commemoration of Dunstable’s part in D-Day. The society will also be represented at the conference of Bedfordshire’s Local History Societies at Linslade on June 22, when there will be a range of talks on local subjects, and at Dunstable’s Around The World Day on August 3.