My great-great-aunt Beattie Toms rode a motorcycle. She was, it seems, a bit of a rebel and ahead of her times. Riding a motorcycle isn’t something unusual these days, but 100 years ago it wasn’t really the done thing for a woman.

Born in 1899, the second of six children to Frank and Catherine Toms, Beattie worked as a motorcycle courier sometime in the 1920s and 30s. A woman in such a profession, who wore trousers when it wasn’t common, scandalised some of the family. Her brother-in-law reportedly banned her from wearing them in his house!

Beattie didn’t just ride for work. She was an enthusiastic participant in motor cycle trials and was a member of Sydney’s Harley Davidson Motorcycle Club. Beattie even donated a competition trophy which was named after her – The Miss B. Toms Trophy.

Events in the trophy competition included a “flying quarter-mile” and a hill climb. Flying quarter-miles were races which were not from a standing start. Hill climbs were time trials with bikes heading up a hill from a standing start, either on the road or off-road.

Miss Beattie Toms is a very popular member of the Harley-Davidson M.C.C., who takes more than a passing interest in the doings of the club. She has just donated a handsome silver cup for competition on a point-score basis, and the first event will take place on Sunday morning. This keen and enthusiastic member rides a motorcycle and sidecar herself, but the members are wondering if her enthusiasm will arouse her sufficiently to be on deck on Sunday morning at 6, so as to see the first event for her trophy run.

‘The World of Motoring’, The Labor Daily, 23 May 1935, p. 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article236514869, accessed 6 July 2024.

Motorcycle trial events could be just that, a trial. They were of varying lengths, and some longer distances provided a challenge over multiple days. For one such event, riders travelled a route from Sydney through a series of New South Wales towns including Goulburn and Cowra, over three days.

Travel-stained and weary, but still smiling happily through the dust on their faces, 101 competitors in “The Telegraph’s” record motor cycle reliability trial pulled in at Wentworth Avenue last night. They had travelled nearly 600 miles of city and country roads ….

“The fact that of 127 starters, 101 checked in at the finish, is remarkable. The behaviour of the competitors was excellent.”

From the oldest competitor, W. A. Thomas, to the youngest, A. Jones, from the Bishop’s son, John Moyes, to the lonely lady rider, Miss Beattie Toms, the verdict was the same.

“When’s the next?”

‘Trial A Triumph’, The Daily Telegraph, 29 January 1935, p. 7, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246501927, accessed 6 July 2024.

Sometime before or during World War Two, Beattie packed her belongings in her sidecar and rode more than 900 kilometres from Sydney to Brisbane. There she apparently sold the bike, before travelling further north to the rural town of Ayr, where she married in 1942 and lived the rest of her life.

Selected references

‘Motorcycle Army’, Goulburn Evening Penny Post, 21 January 1935, p. 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article103395865, accessed 6 July 2024.

‘Get Ready!’, The Sun, 27 January 1935, p. 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230275251, accessed 6 July 2024.

‘Trial A Triumph’, The Daily Telegraph, 29 January 1935, p. 7, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246501927, accessed 6 July 2024.

‘The World of Motoring’, The Labor Daily, 7 May 1935, p. 8, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article236508859, accessed 6 July 2024.

‘The World of Motoring’, The Labor Daily, 23 May 1935, p. 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article236514869, accessed 6 July 2024.

‘Have You Heard?’, The Labor Daily, 17 May 1935, p. 10, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article236507536, accessed 6 July 2024.

‘Club Topics’, The Labor Daily, 26 July 1935, p. 13, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article237494698, accessed 6 July 2024.

‘Reliability contest a complete success’, The Daily Telegraph, 6 January 1939, p. 9, ttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article247450322, accessed 6 July 2024.