Hannah Dadds (16/10/1941 - 28/11/2011)
Main details
| Reference number | 1999/1966 |
|---|---|
| Name | Hannah Dadds |
| AKA | Hannah Head |
| Born | 16/10/1941 |
| Collection | |
| Object type |
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| Completeness | 61% |
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Biography
Attribute Value Biography Hannah Dadds was born in West Ham and grew up in Stratford, East London. She joined LT in 1969 as a stationwoman, but qualified as a guard after nine years. Seven months after that, in October 1978, she made history by becoming the first woman driver in London Underground's history and probably the first woman train driver in Britain. Her sister Edna became a guard and for 18 months the sisters worked together, becoming LT's first all-woman crew. Edna, too, was later to qualify as a driver.
Although Hannah had to endure some leg-pulls from her male colleagues, she found them supportive. "When the men realised I wasn't hoity-toity, they began giving me all the help I needed because there's a lot more to driving a train than just holding the wheel." Her husband was immensely proud of her, although he joked that he wouldn't get on a train if she was driving it! When she first became a driver, she remarked that she was proud to be the first woman to do so. "Women have been held back too long. If they can do a job, they should be allowed to."Date of birth Date of death Employment TfL,Role Stationwoman, 1969-March 1978Guard, March 1978-October 1978Train Driver, October 1978-January 1993