Early Life
Mildred Mary Petre was born at Coptfold Hall, Chelmsford, Essex, England on 10 November 1895, the daughter of Jennie Williams, an American actress, and Lawrence Petre, a descendant of Sir William Petre. She was educated at the Convent of Notre Dame de Sion, in Bayswater, London. In 1911, aged 15, she began her passion for motor vehicles by riding her brother’s Matchless motorcycle, travelling around Osterley, west London, with her collie dog in the sidecar. At Hounslow court, she became the first woman to be convicted of a motoring offence in the UK. In 1920, she purchased her first car, an Enfield-Allday, and was prosecuted many times for speeding, including three days running at Bow Street Magistrates' Court.
Read more about this topic: The Hon Mrs Victor Bruce
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“On the Coast of Coromandel
Where the early pumpkins blow,
In the middle of the woods
Lived the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo.
Two old chairs, and half a candle,—
One old jug without a handle,—
These were all his worldly goods:
In the middle of the woods,”
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“The stabbing horror of life is not contained in calamities and disasters, because these things wake one up and one gets very familiar and intimate with them and finally they become tame again.... No, it is more like being in a hotel room in Hoboken let us say, and just enough money in one’s pocket for another meal.”
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