| Sir Malcolm Campbell | |
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| Born | 11 March 1885 Chislehurst, Kent, England |
| Died | 31 December 1948 (aged 63) Reigate, Surrey, England |
| Resting place | St Nicholas Church, Chislehurst, Kent |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Racing motorist, journalist |
| Spouse(s) | 1) Marjorie D. Knott (Jul 1913-1915div.) 2) Dorothy Evelyn Whittall (1920-1940div) 2 children |
| Children | Donald Campbell (1921-1967) Jean Campbell (1923-) |
Sir Malcolm Campbell (11 March 1885 – 31 December 1948) was an English racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times during the 1920s and 1930s using vehicles called Blue Bird. His son, Donald Campbell, carried on the family tradition by holding both land speed and water speed records.
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Malcolm Campbell was born in Chislehurst, Kent in 1885[1], the only son of William Campbell, a Hatton Garden diamond seller. He attended the independent Uppingham School. In Germany, learning the diamond trade, he gained an interest in motorbikes and races. Returning to England, he worked for two years at Lloyd's of London for no pay, then for another year at one pound a week. Between 1906-8, he won all three London to Lakes End Trials (motorbike races). In 1910 he began racing cars at Brooklands. He christened his car Blue Bird, painting it blue, after seeing the play The Blue Bird by Maurice Maeterlinck at the Haymarket Theatre. He married Marjorie D. Knott in 1913 [2] but divorced two years later. He served in World War I in the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment and in the RAF. He married Dorothy Evelyn Whittall in 1920 in Westminster [3] and their son Donald was born in 1921, and they had a daughter Jean in 1923. He was knighted in 1931. They divorced in 1940. He married Betty Nicory in Aug 1945 in Chelsea [4].
He competed in Grand Prix motor racing, winning the 1927 and 1928 Grand Prix de Boulogne in France driving a Bugatti T39A.
He broke the LSR for the first time in 1924 at 146.16 mph (235.22 km/h) at Pendine Sands near Carmarthen Bay in a 350HP V12 Sunbeam. Malcolm broke nine land speed records between 1924 and 1935, with three at Pendine Sands and five at Daytona Beach. His first two records were driving a racing car manufactured by the Sunbeam Car Company in Wolverhampton.
On February 4, 1927 Campbell set the World Land Speed Record at Pendine Sands covering the Flying Kilometre in a mean average of 174.883 m.p.h. and the Flying Mile in 174.224 m.p.h. on the Napier-Campbell Blue Bird. [5]
He set his final land speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah on 3 September 1935, and was the first person to drive an automobile over 300 miles per hour (301.337 mph (484.955 km/h)).
He set the water speed record four times. His highest speed was 141.740 mph (228.108 km/h) in the Bluebird K4. He set the record on 19 August 1939 on Coniston Water in Great Britain.
He died after a series of strokes in 1948 in Reigate, Surrey, aged 63 years.[6] He was one of the few land speed record holders of his era to die of natural causes, as so many had died in crashes. His versatile racing on different vehicles made him internationally famous.
He was a Vice President of the Middlesex County Automobile Club.
He became interested in the search for buried treasure in the Cocos Islands.
He stood for Parliament without success at the 1935 general election in Deptford for the Conservative Party.
He had links to the British Union of Fascists. He carried a fascist flag at a fascist rally[7] and adorned his car, Blue Bird, with fascist insignia.[8]
Campbell was depicted by Robert Hardy in a BBC dramatisation of the attempt on the land speed record with Bluebird II.
In 1937, he became the first president of the Sutton Model Engineering Company, which is still in existence.
   | Find-A-Grave profile for Malcolm Campbell - Malcolm Campbell (1885 - 1948) - Find A Grave Memorial |
| | Newspaper articles and pic of 1935 land speed record - sir malcolm campbell |
| | www.SirMalcolmCampbell.com - sir malcolm campbell |
| | www.racingcampbells.com - dedicated to the memory of Campbell and his son Donald - The Racing Campbells - Donald & Malcolm Campbell |
| | Biography - SIR MALCOLM CAMPBELL'S RACING CARS: CAPTAIN CAMPBELL AND DONALD CAMPBELL SON OF SIR MALCOLM CAMPBELL SPEED ACES ON LAND AND WATER |
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