In memory of Victor Halliwell aged 31 who died in 1930 whilst on Miss England II attempting to break the World Water Speed Record. Victor was my husbands grandfather.
Percival Conrad Victor Halliwell was born on the 7th June 1899. He won a scholarship to Bristol University at the age of 15 in 1914. At aged 18 (1917)
Victor left his studies and signed up with the Royal Flying Corps finishing up as a lieutenant with the newly formed RAF. He returned to Bristol University and finished his studies where he graduated with a BSc. In 1925 he joined Rolls Royce where he joined the Experimental Staff there.
Victor rose to be Chief Experimental Tester for the aero engine department of Rolls Royce. He was also involved in working on the cooling system for Miss England II a racing boat designed and built to attack the World Water Speed Record of 92.86 mph and driven by Sir Henry Segrave. Miss England II made 11 powered runs which included 3 runs on June 13th 1930. Victor kept his role on the boat a secret from his parents as his brother Reginald had drowned in the the River Thames in the mid 1920s. Segraves window of opportunity was narrowed as the time keepers were heading to the Isle of Man on the 14th for the TT races. After two attemptts at 96.4 mph and 101.11 Segrave wanted to go all out to see what the boat could do.
On the third run at an estimated 120 mph Miss England II swerved violently and turned over to starboard. Victor, who was on the port side, was flung off the boat and died instantly on impact with a broken neck. His wife Gertrude and his 3 year old son Richard were watching.
His body was recovered 2 days later. Victor was buried in Portishead, North Somerset a few paces away from his mother, father and sister, with a headstone and plaque paid for by the sponsor of the race attempt Lord Wakefield.
Supplies for both layouts
Simple FotoBlendz Template Album No 2_3 Template No 2_11_9
Product Name
ArtPlay Mini Palette Biblio (back ground Paper, transfers, brushes)
Product Name
APP_Patriarch (brushes, embellishments)
Product Name
Multimedia Patriarch No 1
Product Name
Button Threadz No 1
Product Name
My own scans of Miss England II
Process
Using templates from Simple FotoBlendz Album I added them to a 12x12 canvas then added my chosen background paper.
Photographs and memorabilia were added (i made a brush from illustrations of Miss England II on both pages, also an extraction of the plaque on Victors grave)
Transfers were added and recoloured I also used most of the stains that came with the template.
Finally I added journaling
Thanks for looking
Viv
