THE TELEGRAPH 30 JUNE 2007

Jean Wales, who died on Tuesday aged 83, was the daughter of Sir Malcolm Campbell and the sister of Donald Campbell, the men who between them broke more than 20 world speed and distance records on land and water during the last century.

Donald was killed on Coniston Water in the Lake District on January 4 1967 while attempting to break 300mph in his boat Bluebird K7. Neither he nor the boat were recovered from the lake until 2001. Jean Wales, along with Donald's daughter Gina, provided DNA samples to confirm that the body was his.

Jean Wales had, however, been against the recovery of her brother's body out of respect for his stated wish that, in the event of something going wrong, "Skipper and boat stay together".

When Donald Campbell was buried in Coniston cemetery on September 12 2001 she did not attend the service; nor did she afterwards visit his grave.

Jean Dorothy Campbell was born in London on September 30 1923, two years after her brother. In the year of her birth her father Sir Malcolm bought Povey Cross House, near Horley in Surrey, where the family lived in some style, with a governess, housekeeper, butler, cook, maid, gardeners and more than 20 dogs; there was also a private nine-hole golf course.

In the grounds Sir Malcolm built a summer house where the two children would sleep on summer nights. Jean "adored" her brother, telling an interviewer last year: " We both loved speed and we got into terrible scrapes and trouble because of it. We tore up the asphalt tennis court racing around in our cars. Dad was furious."

"Dad never minded us racing around as long as it was in the driveway, but when he caught us cycling in the lavender garden we were smacked and sent to bed. On another occasion we set fire to the haystacks playing fire engines. Dad had to call the fire brigade."

One Christmas Eve, when they went to bed the children tied a long piece of string between their toes so that when Father Christmas entered their room they would wake up; when Sir Malcolm crept in some hours later he indeed woke them, tripping over the string and sending their presents crashing to the floor.

By the time Jean left boarding school the war was on, and she served as a Land Girl in Surrey. Thereafter she never worked, being fortunate enough to enjoy a private income. She accompanied her father to Coniston in 1947-48 when he was attempting to break a record in a new jet boat, and shortly afterwards married her first husband, Brian Hulme.

Hulme, with whom Jean was to have two sons, was Donald Campbell's best friend and an astute businessman who founded the Sandhurst stationery business, becoming a rich man in the process. But the marriage foundered, and the couple divorced in 1956.

In 1958 Jean married Lt-Col Charles Wales, a former tank instructor, with whom she was to find lasting happiness. A trained engineer 17 years her senior, Wales was working for a firm in Yorkshire when they met; after they married he left his job to set up as a small wine importer.

The couple lived first in Surrey, then moved to Piltdown, Sussex, where Jean Wales concentrated on gardening, bridge and golf - she was an excellent golfer, with a single-figure handicap, and played for the county. Charles Wales died in 1991.

The Wales's son, Don, is a professional photographer but has inherited the Campbells' love of speed. He holds (held) eight UK speed records for electric cars, including the current record of 137mph set on Pendine Sands in south Wales, where his grandfather set his first world record in 1924. [The British electric land speed record has been broken twice since. The lawnmower record has also fallen to Honda]

Jean Wales fully supported her son in these ambitions, although the debts he inevitably incurred caused her much anxiety. He is currently trying to raise £2½ million to allow him to set a new record at Bonneville, Utah, where Sir Malcolm became, in 1935, the first person to break 300mph.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1556039/Jean-Wales.html

FIND A GRAVE

When Donald Campbell was buried in Coniston cemetery on September 12 2001 she did not attend the service; nor did she afterwards visit his grave.

Jean Dorothy Campbell was born in London on September 30 1923, two years after her brother.

In the year of her birth her father Sir Malcolm bought Povey Cross House, near Horley in Surrey, where the family lived in some style, with a governess, housekeeper, butler, cook, maid, gardeners and more than 20 dogs; there was also a private nine-hole golf course. In the grounds Sir Malcolm built a summer house where the two children would sleep on summer nights.

Jean "adored" her brother, telling an interviewer last year: " We both loved speed and we got into terrible scrapes and trouble because of it. We tore up the asphalt tennis court racing around in our cars. Dad was furious." 

As young children they were given, by the motor manufacturers, pedal versions of their cars: Donald had a Bugatti, Jean a Bluebird. "We used to race them up and down the drive and around the garden," she recalled. "We would have terrible collisions, flying round corners and meeting each other head-on. There was blood everywhere. "Dad never minded us racing around as long as it was in the driveway, but when he caught us cycling in the lavender garden we were smacked and sent to bed.

On another occasion we set fire to the haystacks playing fire engines. Dad had to call the fire brigade." One Christmas Eve, when they went to bed the children tied a long piece of string between their toes so that when Father Christmas entered their room they would wake up; when Sir Malcolm crept in some hours later he indeed woke them, tripping over the string and sending their presents crashing to the floor.

By the time Jean left boarding school the war was on, and she served as a Land Girl in Surrey. Thereafter she never worked, being fortunate enough to enjoy a private income.

She accompanied her father to Coniston in 1947-48 when he was attempting to break a record in a new jet boat, and shortly afterwards married her first husband, Brian Hulme.

Hulme, with whom Jean was to have two sons, was Donald Campbell's best friend and an astute businessman who founded the Sandhurst stationery business, becoming a rich man in the process. But the marriage foundered, and the couple divorced in 1956.

In 1958 Jean married Lt-Col Charles Wales, a former tank instructor, with whom she was to find lasting happiness. A trained engineer 17 years her senior, Wales was working for a firm in Yorkshire when they met; after they married he left his job to set up as a small wine importer.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=20136634

JEAN WALES HISTORY

Date and Place of Birth: Sep. 30, 1923, London, England.

Death: Jun. 26, 2007, Orchard Lodge, Oakhurst Lane, Loxwood, West Sussex.

SIR MALCOLM CAMPBELL'S BLUE BIRDS

Sunbeam

Napier Lion

Rolls Royce

K3

K4

DONALD CAMPBELL'S BLUEBIRDS

K7

CN7

CNM8

Jetstar

You can see from the scans of what appears to be a 'Declaration of Trust' dated the 16th of October 2001, that the original Trustees of the MCHT were: 

1. Peter John Hulme, New Barn, Tokens Farm, Loxwood, West Sussex. 

2. Malcolm Brian Hulme, 17 Norman Avenue, Twickenham, Middlesex. 

3. Donald Charles Wales, 11 Weston Avenue, Addlestone, Surrey, KT15 1UW. 

4. Georgina Campbell, Birkby Grange Farm, Carr Lane, Thorner, Leeds, LS14 3HG. 

5. Jean Dorothy Wales, Orchard Lodge, Oakhurst Lane, Loxwood, West Sussex. 

It is also clear that: Tonia was agreeable to the transfer of ownership of the recently salvaged 'Bluebird K7,' brought to the surface of Lake Coniston by Bill Smith - now the subject of The Bluebird (restoration) Project, despite her preference that the famous boat remained where it was as a memorial to her late husband.

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