Henry Segrave
| Sir Henry O'Neil de Hane Segrave | |
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Segrave at the Grand Prix Sunbeams 1921, 1922 TT
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| Born | 22 September 1896 Baltimore, Maryland |
| Died | 13 June 1930 (aged 33) (lake) Windermere, Cumbria, England |
| Cause of death | crash during water speed record attempt |
| Education | Bilton Grange then Eton College |
| Occupation | Speed record holder |
Sir Henry O'Neil de Hane Segrave (22 September 1896 – 13 June 1930) was an early British pioneer in land speed and water speed records. Seagrave, who set three land and one water record, was the first person to hold both titles simultaneously and the first person to travel at over 200 miles per hour (320 km/h) in a land vehicle. He died in an accident in 1930 shortly after setting a new world water speed record on Windermere in the Lake District, England. The Segrave Trophy was established to commemorate his life.
Segrave, who was a British national, was born on 22 September 1896 in Baltimore, Maryland to an American mother and an Irish father. He was raised in Ireland and attended Eton College in England.
In 1914 he gained a commission in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. In January 1916 he joined the Royal Flying Corps where he served as a fighter pilot (he retained his commission in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment). He sustained wounds in 1915 and 1916. Segrave became a flight commander as a temporary captain in July 1916. After the war, he transferred to the Royal Air Force Administrative Branch in 1919 but soon resigned his commission due to his war injuries.
After the conclusion of the war, British motor manufacturers were starting to build more reliable and faster vehicles. Although motor racing was in its infancy, Segrave would soon become a championship winning driver.
In 1921 Segrave won the first long-distance car race to be run in Britain. The 200-mile Race, which was organised by the Junior Car Club for 1,500 c.c. light cars, was held at Brooklands in Surrey. Segrave won in a Darracq-made Talbot that were marketed as Talbot-Darracqs. In the same year Segrave competed in his first ever French Grand Prix, Darracq was reorganised as part of the S.T.D. Motors conglomerate. To impress Breton automobile designer, Louis Coatalen, in order to gain a place in the formidable Sunbeam-Talbot-Darrac Works team, Segrave, changed fourteen covers on his Talbot, a rebadged highly advanced straight eight dual overhead camshaft (dohc) 1921 Sunbeam Grand Prix. In the 1922 1922 French Grand Prix, Segrave was forced to retire in his Grand Prix Sunbeams 1922 because of chemical burns.
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