‘Secret life’ of Amy Johnson to be revealed in talk by Hessle Road historian
‘HESSLE ROAD TOMBOY’: Amy Johnson
By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor
The “secret life” of Hull’s pioneering aviation heroine Amy Johnson will be the subject of a talk by historian Dr Alec Gill MBE on Friday.
The free event, at Wrecking Ball Music and Books in Whitefriargate, is part of the Heritage Open Days programme.
The talk is based on Dr Gill’s book, Amy Johnson: Hessle Road Tomboy – Born and Bred, Dread and Fled, and will consider “many issues Amy herself wanted kept secret”.
The introduction to the event says: “Amy Johnson iis world famous – thanks to her solo flight to Australia in May 1930.
“Famous people, however, rarely live simple lives. They often have a hidden, private side that can lead to their downfall.
“Amy’s triumph is that she clambered out from under the wreckage of her self-inflicted disaster and went on to great success. Hull’s world-famous aviator – who died mysteriously over eighty years ago after coming down in the Thames during World War Two – successfully concealed many aspects of her origins from the media and public.
“Amy boasted about being a ‘lifelong fertile liar’. For historians, her life and death raise more questions than answers.”
Questions the talk will cover include:
Why did Amy lie about where she was born and bred – in Hull’s Hessle Road community?
Was she ashamed that her family’s wealth came purely from Hull’s fish docks?
Did the British shoot Amy down because she was carrying a German spy (lover) in 1941?
Why did the Johnson family, years after Amy’s death, never donate her memorabilia to Hull?
The introduction concludes: “Although Amy was born and bred in Hull’s Hessle Road fishing community she was in dread of being associated with the Johnson family’s fish dock business and so fled the port.
“This is the first publication to probe deeply into Amy’s fishing roots or the Johnsons’ fish trade wealth that financed her solo flight to Australia (although she kept this sponsorship quiet). Over eight years after her death it is now time to explore the true origins of a Hessle Road tomboy, and still rejoice in the life of ‘Amy, Wonderful Amy’.”
The talk begins at 1.30pm on Friday, September 13.