Gabrielle Borthwick (30 June 1866 10 October 1952) was a pioneering

motorist Driving is the controlled operation and movement of a land vehicle, including cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses. A driver's permission to drive on public highways is granted based on a set of conditions being met, and drivers are required to ...

and

mechanic A mechanic is a skilled tradesperson who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially engines. Formerly, the term meant any member of the handicraft trades, but by the early 20th century, it had come to mean one who works w ...

. She was one of the early wealthy women motorists to set up a garage and a school for teaching men and women to drive cars. She was chairman of the executive committee for the ''Women’s Automobile and Sports Association'' which was associated with the

Royal Automobile Club The Royal Automobile Club is a British private Club (organization)#Country or sports club, social and athletic club. It has two clubhouses: one in London at 89 Pall Mall, London, Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, ne ...

Early life

Hon. Gabrielle Margaret Ariana Borthwick was born on 30 June 1866. She was the eldest daughter of Alice Day and the 19th Lord Borthwick, Cunninghame Borthwick. As a young woman, she had been presented at court but never went on to marry. Borthwick spent time in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

where it was rumored that she had had a lesbian affair.

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

Borthwick was initiated as a member of the

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (), more commonly the Golden Dawn (), was a secret society devoted to the study and practice of occult Hermeticism and metaphysics during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Known as a magical order, ...

in July 1891.

Career

By 1914, Borthwick was involved with establishing Women's unions, including the Society of Women Motor Drivers, an idea which had come from the women's suffrage movement. In 1915, she placed an advertisement for ''The Ladies’ Automobile Workshops'' in the ''Church League for Women’s Suffrage'' paper promising “Ladies trained by ladies. All branches of motoring taught" for her

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

garage. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Borthwick provided training for men who needed to know how to drive and maintain cars, as well as to women who became drivers in various roles such as ambulance drivers in France and Serbia. This was later described as “splendid work during the war in teaching hundreds of girls the mechanism and driving of cars”. Her garage, the ''Borthwick's Ladies' Automobile Workshops'' in Brick Street in

Picadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...

, London was an

RAC RAC or Rac may refer to: Organizations * Radio Amateurs of Canada * RATCH-Australia Corporation, electricity generator * Refugee Action Collective (Victoria), Melbourne, Australia * Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, US * Rent-A-Cent ...

agent into the 1920s. In the early 1920s, the garage featured a restaurant and residential club for chauffeurs. She was elected to the first Council of the

Women's Engineering Society The Women's Engineering Society is a United Kingdom professional learned society and networking body for women engineers, scientists and technologists. It was the first professional body set up for women working in all areas of engineering, pred ...

in 1920, and contributed articles to their journal, The Woman Engineer. Borthwick was also a Director of The Stainless Steel and Non-Corrosive Metals Company Limited, set up in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

in 1922 by Cleone Benest, at that time using the name C Griff. Other directors of the company included Gertrude Crawford, and C. Davis, a former foundry manager. The firm received wide press coverage for being managed by and employing women. Using Benest's colouring method, the company manufactured lamp reflectors, ornaments, railway fittings and other items, before it folded in 1925.

Later life

Gabrielle Borthwick died on 10 October 1952 in

Broadbridge Heath Broadbridge Heath is a village and civil parish in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England. It is about two miles (3 km) west from the historic centre of Horsham. The population of Broadbridge Heath has increased considerably in the f ...

, Sussex.

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borthwick, Gabrielle 1866 births 1952 deaths Daughters of barons Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn People from Sussex Women's Engineering Society Women engineers