Canadian Aviatrix #38 – Betty Vance (born 1908)

Elizabeth Hardy Vance (known as Betty) was born on 14 June 1908 in Toronto, Ontario, to William George Vance (a tailor) and Anna Gertrude Hardy.

William had been married before, to Effie Alberta Holland, and they had four children. Sadly, Effie died in 1906 and the children were sent to live with her sister and her husband. William and Gertrude married ten months later.

Around the time of Betty’s birth, William was in court on two charges of fraud. He was accused of “disposing of his property to defraud his creditors and obtaining money under false pretences”. There was an initial case of non-payment of wages to an employee, where William was given a hearing date of June 9. He asked for a postponement “that he might go to Toronto, as his wife was sick”. The hearing went ahead and he was required to pay $40 within eight days. He started getting rid of his property, so his employee couldn’t claim anything. Betty was born on the 14th and on the 15th, William was told he’d be remanded to jail until he was able to make matters right. By the 30th, he had only been able to get $50 to pay the injured parties, which they’d refused. He was released “that he may try to find a way out of his dollarless difficulties”. The case was still ongoing by August.

William and Gertrude never appeared in the census together, but Gertrude and Betty did.

In 1911, even though Gertrude was married and had Betty with her, she was listed as single in her parents’ household. In 1921, Gertrude and Betty appear twice – once with John and Mary (with Gertrude listed as married), but they are also listed in their own household, with Gertrude’s brother and his wife living with them, plus Aunt Emma Corbett (Gertrude’s mother’s sister). In that “solo” census, Gertrude lists herself as widowed, which continues in 1931. By then, she’s a saleslady, earning $500 annually, while Betty is a public school teacher, earning $900. However, William is still alive, at least in 1933, when he’s arrested again – this time for theft, as he took a $10 downpayment for a suit of clothes, then never delivered them. The court was informed that there were “numerous complaints of a similar nature about Vance” and he failed to appear.

Back to Betty! In 1932, she flew from Miami to Nassau on her Easter vacation and “got the flying buzz”. When she enquired about lessons, a young man at the airport talked over her to her male companion. When he realized that she was the one who wanted lessons, he was disgusted, which made Betty all the more determined to learn to fly.

By 1933, Betty had started flying. In the summer, she flew to New York with Arthur Flack (director of the airport), when they flew into a bad storm and had to land in a field outside Buffalo. They got gas from a farmer and returned home just in time for Betty to get to school. By November, she was flying solo. Betty was also president of the Women’s Wing of the Toronto Flying Club – initially set up to entertain the wives and girlfriends of the male pilots while they were out flying. “We get the women interested even though they have no intention of flying.”

On 10 May 1934, Betty passed her flying test and received her PPL, making her the 38th female pilot in Canada. She was 24 years old.

Photo: The Toronto Daily Star (October 10, 1942)

In 1934, Betty drove herself and a couple of friends to New York, stopping off at Syracuse to look at airplanes, then sailing to Havana for a month. In 1935, Betty attended the flying club’s dinner-dance, where she received golden wings for proficiency in flying. She was also interviewed by the Star Weekly, who described her wonderfully: “All my notions that a woman aviator must have a lean, hardbitten, masculine appearance were dispelled when I met Mis Betty Vance. No girl could be more charmingly feminine, and yet with fifty hours or so to her credit, she has much air experience.”

Betty continued to fly and host events all through the 1930s, although her teaching career was taking up more of her time. In September 1942, she was given a leave of absence to engage in war work until June 1943. However, in October, she married Walter Berry, so resigned from her job at the end of the leave.

Unfortunately, then the trail goes cold and I don’t know what happened to Betty. Gertrude died in 1952 and Betty survived her. She may have died in 1979, but I don’t have any proof yet.

Note: Betty 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.H. Vance” and the date of her PPL.