Canadian Aviatrix #90 – Laura Treble (1918-1994)

Laura Louise Treble was born on 1 December 1918 in Ontario to Charles Edward Treble (a doctor) and Violet Marion Paterson.

Charles was a Captain in the Army during the first world war and died of natural causes (heart failure) in 1919. Violet died in 1923 of pulmonary tuberculosis.

On 25 September 1941, Laura passed her flying test and received her PPL, making her the 90th female pilot in Canada. She was 22 years old.

Photo: The Ottawa Journal (September 4, 1943)

By 1943, she was working in the control tower at No 10 Elementary Flying Training School near Pendleton. This was a rare position for a woman to hold.

In 1957, it was announced that Laura was engaged to John Donald Tomlinson. However, a week later, the wedding ceremony was “temporarily postponed” – it never went ahead.   

Laura two main interests were dogs and bowling. She was part of the afternoon lady bowlers group and regularly won games, both individually and as captain of the Red Feathers. She owned and operated Tanhardt Kennels in Georgetown where she bred and trained dogs. She showed at many dog shows and won lots of awards. One of her German Shepherds, Kanaka, became a police dog with the Ontario Provincial Police Detachment. He was particularly good at tracking and was involved in the search for clues of a kidnapping in 1969.

Laura died in 1994, aged 75. In her honour, the Guelph & District Kennel Club award the Laura Treble Memorial Trophy annually to the winner of Best in Show on the second day’s show. 

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