Beatrice Shilling was born in London Road, Waterlooville in 1909, the daughter of master butcher Henry Shilling and his wife Annie. The family moved to Surrey in 1914, where Beatrice and her two sisters attended the Dorking High School for Girls (Reese, 2020).
In an interview with Woman Engineer Magazine, Beatrice said “"As a child I played with Meccano…I spent my pocket money on penknives, an adjustable spanner, a glue pot and other simple hand tools." (BBC , 2017).
Beatrice purchased her first motorcycle at the age of fourteen. Her interest in engineering developed from taking the bike’s engine apart and reassembling it to improve its performance. In 1934, Beatrice became one of only three women ever to be awarded the Motorcycle Racing Club Gold Star at Brooklands, where she lapped the circuit at over 100mph on her Norton M30. Later, she would swap bikes for racing cars.
In 1929 Beatrice enrolled at Victoria University of Manchester for a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, followed by a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. Beatrice was one of only two women to graduate from the university engineering faculty in 1933 (University of Manchester, 2015).
In 1936, Beatrice joined the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) at Farnborough, where she met her future husband, George Naylor. Whilst working as a leading engineer on aircraft carburettors, Beatrice discovered a fatal flaw with the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine that was costing WW2 pilots their lives, and she endeavoured to find a solution. Engines in the iconic Hawker Hurricane and Spitfire aircraft were prone to misfiring or cutting out when reaching negative gravity in a dive, a manoeuvre often performed in dog fights. German planes did not suffer this problem and were able to out manoeuvre the British planes. Beatrice developed a restrictor, a small brass disc with a central cavity that allowed just enough fuel to pass through to power the engine, without flooding it. Testing during the Battle of Britain was successful, and Beatrice led a team of engineers to airbases around the country (travelling on her Norton),to retrofit the restrictor. The Shilling’s Penny as it was affectionately known, was retrofitted from March 1941 until a modified carburettor was available in 1943. Beatrice also worked on other inventions, including the Mark XIV bomb sight that helped to improve the accuracy of bombing raids. Beatrice was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her wartime service.
After the war, Beatrice continued to pioneer work in aeronautical engineering, which included the development of the Blue Streak Missile. She also helped design and build a bobsled for the RAF Olympic team. Beatrice continued to work at RAE until her retirement in 1969. Shortly afterwards she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Surrey. “Her unquestioned engineering ability, distinctiveness and rare courage made her one of the Royal Aircraft Establishment’s most memorable employees during the war and beyond” (Reese, 2020).
Beatrice died aged 81 on November 18th, 1990. A plaque to commemorate her was unveiled at Waterlooville Library on International Women’s Day 2019, 110 years to the day since her birth. Unveiling the plaque, Havant mayor, councillor Peter Wade, said: ‘Beatrice Shilling OBE was a pioneering woman who was pivotal in the war effort and inspirational for many (The News, 2019).
Blue plaques have also been added to the sites of her former homes in Farnborough (Great British Life, 2024) and Dorking (Hello Dorking, 2023). Shilling Place, a retirement complex in London Road, Waterlooville, close to her childhood home, is named after Beatrice (The News, 2019), and the Wetherspoons in Farnborough is named The Tilly Shilling in her honour (Great British Life, 2024). Beatrice is honoured by several universities who have named buildings after her. At Manchester, where Beatrice studied, she is included in a timeline of Manchester pioneers and a Beatrice Shilling Scholarship is available for women studying undergraduate engineering (University of Manchester, 2015).
Bibliography
BBC. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-40267364
Great British Life. (2024). Retrieved from https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/magazines/hampshire/24110131.beatrice-shillingmotorcycle-sports-car-racer/
Hello Dorking. (2023). Facebook. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/HelloDorking/posts/come-and-celebrate-dorkings-richhistory-with-the-exciting-unveiling-of-a-new-bl/847030763874036/
Reese. (2020). The History Press. Retrieved from https://thehistorypress.co.uk/article/beatrice-tilly-shilling-celebrated-aeronautical-andmotorcycle-engineer/
The News. (2019, 03 06). Retrieved from https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/politics/waterlooville-war-pioneer-beatriceshilling-to-be-celebrated-with-commemorative-plaque-88296?form=MG0AV3
University of Manchester. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/beatrice-shilling--engineer-and-battle-ofbritain-heroine/