Lady Gertrude Eleanor Crawford (née Molyneux) (1 July 1868 - 5 November 1937) was a British munitions worker and from April to May 1918 the first Commandant of the new

Women's Royal Air Force The Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) was the women's branch of the Royal Air Force. It existed in two separate incarnations: the Women's Royal Air Force from 1918 to 1920 and the Women's Royal Air Force from 1949 to 1994. On 1 February 1949, the ...

. She was also one of the directors of The Stainless Steel and Non-Corrosive Metals Company Limited, formed by Cleone Benest.

Family

She was the eldest daughter and second child of

William Molyneux, 4th Earl of Sefton William Philip Molyneux, 4th Earl of Sefton, (14 October 1835 – 27 June 1897) was a British Peerage, peer. Biography Born Viscount Molyneux, he was the eldest son of Charles Molyneux, 3rd Earl of Sefton and his wife, Mary. He was educated ...

and Cecil Emily Jolliffe (1838–1899), the fifth daughter of

William Jolliffe, 1st Baron Hylton William George Hylton Jolliffe, 1st Baron Hylton (7 December 1800 – 1 June 1876), known as Sir William Jolliffe, Bt, between 1821 and 1866, was a British soldier and Conservative politician. He was a member of the Earl of Derby's first t ...

. On 25 April 1905 she married John Halket Crawford (1868-1936), who rose to be a Major in the 32nd Lancers, Indian Army.

Life

On 26 April she was admitted to the freedom of the

Turners' Company The Worshipful Company of Turners is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Turners' Company is one of the oldest Livery Companies in the City of London. Its origins go back to early medieval times: the first reference to a London ...

and in 1909 she built a goathouse for Lady Arthur Cecil. From 1914 onwards she worked at a munitions factory at

Erith Erith () is an area in south-east London, England, east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent. Since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Bexley. It lies north ...

Crawford 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 Gabrielle Borthwick 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. Crawford was a turner of wood and

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...

. She was a member of the

Red Rose Guild The Red Rose Guild was a guild based in Manchester, with the aim to promote British arts and crafts. It was “regarded as the most influential national outlet for makers” in Britain during the first half of the twentieth century. The Guild was ...

Death

Lady Crawford died on 5 September 1937 in

Lymington Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest (district), New Forest district of Hampshire, England. The town faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to which there is a Roll-on/roll-off, car ferry s ...

, Hampshire. She was pre-deceased her husband John Halket Crawford, who died just less than a year earlier on 23 September 1936.

Legacy

The

History of Science Museum The History of Science Museum in Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street, Oxford, England, holds a leading collection of scientific instruments from Science in the Middle Ages, Middle Ages to the 19th century. The museum building is also known as the ...

in Oxford hold a collection of turned ivory and other objects made by Lady Crawford. The Worshipful Company of Turners offer an annual prize in her name, the ''Lady Gertrude Crawford Competition'', one of three prizes "in honour of three great exponents and patrons of ornamental turning"

References

1868 births 1937 deaths Women's Royal Air Force officers Daughters of Irish earls Member of Red Rose Guild {{UK-noble-stub