Canadian Aviatrix #100 – Nan Dawson (1923-1979)

Elizabeth Corinne Dawson, known as Nan, was born around 1923 in Ontario to Clarence Blair Dawson (a mining engineer) and Rebecca Lena Wylie (Betty).

(I haven’t found the family in 1921 yet.)

On 26 November 1945, Nan passed her flying test and received her PPL, making her the 100th female pilot in Canada. She was 22 years old.

Photo: Winnipeg Free Press (27 September 1947)

Nan was the second woman to get her pilot’s licence after the wartime restrictions on civilian flying ended. She trained with Johannesson’s Flying Service in Winnipeg, alongside Mary Lou Morkin. The two were still flying in 1947. Interestingly, a newspaper article says there were 125 women pilots in Canada by that point.

In 1948, the family moved to Toronto.

Nan married Andrew Jack Baile (a salesman) in 1952 and they honeymooned in Montreal and the Laurentians. The couple had three children.

Nan died in 1979, aged 56.

Note: Nan was listed with an asterisk in No Place for a Lady – meaning the author hadn’t been able to find her. I just had “E.C. Dawson” and the date of her PPL.