Lot 96: John William Schofield (British d.1944)

Mrs. Cheridah de Beauvoir Stocks
oil on canvas
157 x 113 cm. (61 3/4 x 44 1/2 in.)

Exhibited:
RBA, Autumn Exhibition, 1912.

This is a portrait of Mrs. Cheridah de Beauvoir Stocks, born 1887, of West Coombe, Evercreech, Somerset, and married to submariner Commander David de Beauvoir Stocks. She was only the 153rd certificated British pilot and the 2nd qualified woman, gaining her licence at Hendon on a Maurice Farman on 7th November 1911. She retired from flying just 2 years later following an accident, though she was not at the controls.

We are grateful to Mrs Clare Walker, and to The Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom for their assistance in cataloguing this lot and for providing the accompanying photograph.