Tymms collection on civil aviation

Papers, photographs and cinefilms from Tymms' life and his work in civil aviation.

Sir Frederick Tymms (1889-1987), KCIE, MC and FRAeS, was born in Pembrokeshire on 4 August 1889. In 1913 he married Matilda Sarah Crittle ('Millie'). He served in the Army and as an observer in No. 5 Squadron Royal Flying Corps until 1918, when he became a member of the British Aviation Mission to the U.S.A. Tymms worked in the Civil Aviation Department of the Air Ministry, 1920-1927, and led the Air Section of the Oxford University Arctic Expedition to Spitsbergen in 1924. Between 1927 and 1930 he worked on the development of air routes in Africa and India, before becoming Director of Civil Aviation in India, 1931-1942, then Director General, 1945-1947. He was Managing Director of Tata Aircraft Ltd, Bombay, 1942-1943, and was the U.K. representative on the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (I.C.A.O.), 1947-1954. He retired in 1955. Tymms was a founding member of the Guild of Air Pilots, and was elected Master of the Guild in 1957. He was Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry on Civil Aviation in the West Indies in 1960. He died on 9 December 1987.

Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).

Presented by Group Captain E.A. Johnston, 1994.

Includes index.

A catalogue of the collection can be found on ArchiveSearch.

Good condition unless specified otherwise

Tymms, Sir, Frederick, 1889-1987, Knight and civil aviation administrator