Mother: Olive Ellen Beatrice [Farmer], a Hotel Proprietress of 16 Edgecombe Ave, Newquay, Cornwall (d. 1971) Ed. Sutton High School
m. Dec 1937 in Truro Cornwall, Rodney George May, a ladies hairdresser [divorced December 1942: "Mrs. Olive Betty May, now serving in the Air Transport Auxiliary, of the Edgcumbe Hotel, Newquay was granted a decree nisi by Mr Justice Henn Collins in the Divorce Court on Monday on the grounds of the cruelty of her husband, Rodney George May, who did not defend the suit. Mr. and Mrs. May were married in December, 1937, at Kenwyn Parish Church. They lived at Porth, near Newquay, and at the Edgcumbe Hotel, which was owned by the wife's mother. Mrs. May's case was that her husband had a terrible temper, and would swear at her and throw things about. He had kicked and hit her, pinched her and pulled her hair. Once he spent he whole evening nagging and bullying her in front of the guest in the hotel. " - Western Morning News - Wednesday 02 December 1942 ]
prev: ATA from 3 Jun 1942 (Catering, Clerk, MT Driver) [ab initio pilot] [Resigned]
m. Jul 1943 First Officer Henry 'Michael' Andrew Armstrong also of the ATA (daughter Mary Anne b. 1944, son John William Andrew b. 1949)
Henry d. 1984 in Newquay m. 6 Sep 1986 in Truro, Thomas Nelson Gray
"Oh - Get On! is Bettye Gray's book, [2008] recalling 100 years of Cornwall's holiday scene and how one family (her own) helped to shape it"
d. 2011 "Bettye and Michael Armstrong ran the Edgcumbe Hotel during the very successful post war years. Their children each purchased their own hotels - Watergate Bay Hotel and Headland Hotel respectively. The 90 bedroom Edgcumbe Hotel was sold in 1989, and Bettye Gray (as she was then) purchased The Nare Hotel of 40 rooms. She set about substantially refurbishing and making it the most upscale hotel in Cornwall at the time. It has been the highest rated hotel in the county ever since. Bettye Gray, the family matriarch, was the inspiration for The Nare in its current form. She died, aged 94, a couple of days after hosting the weekly Champagne cocktail party." - https://www.narehotel.co.uk/about/a-century-of-inn-keeping
The Edgcumbe Hotel closed its doors in 2015, and has remained derelict since. Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file): |
