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Episode One – Show Notes

From the railway towns and dusty hotel bars of early Central Queensland emerged the remarkable beginnings of May Bradford’s life story. In this opening episode, we travel back to the pioneering years of May’s maternal grandparents, Herman and Mary de Zoet, whose lives became deeply entwined with the growth of Queensland’s inland railways and remote hotel trade. From Westwood to Copperfield, Bogantungan, Withersfield and Emerald, their story reflects the resilience and movement that shaped early regional Australia.

We also meet May’s father, Charlie Bradford, whose life with the Fitzgerald Brother’s Circus brought another world of travel, performance and uncertainty.

When Charlie married Emily de Zoet, the couple embarked on a life lived largely on the road — a journey that would ultimately lead to the birth of May Gertrude Bradford.

This episode introduces the people, places and restless spirit that shaped May’s extraordinary beginnings.

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May Bradford’s childhood was anything but ordinary. Born in 1897, she grew up in Queensland’s central Gemfields, in a family where hard work, enterprise and entertainment were woven into everyday life.

Her father, Charlie Bradford, was a showman with an eye for opportunity, and the Bradford children were expected to contribute to the family’s endeavours. From helping with the work of mining to performing acrobatics, singing and dancing, May’s early years were filled with activity and adventure.

As the family’s enterprise evolved, travelling silent film shows brought entertainment to communities across regional Queensland. For May, these experiences offered an education beyond the classroom, introducing her to audiences, unfamiliar places and the practical realities of making a living.

This was a childhood shaped by both hard work and wonder. It helped foster the confidence, versatility and resourcefulness that would become important as May ventured into new worlds and began charting a remarkable life of her own.

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For May Bradford, the show ring offered more than an opportunity to demonstrate her skill as a horsewoman. It was a place where she could take charge, test her abilities and earn recognition in a world where women’s opportunities were often limited.

May developed into an accomplished equestrienne, competing in events that demanded courage, discipline and a strong partnership with her horse. Yet beyond the excitement of competition, she was navigating deeply personal challenges, including grief, loss and betrayal within her own family.

As circumstances beyond her control unsettled her world, May returned to the arena—a familiar space where her abilities spoke for themselves. On horseback, she could command her own space and demonstrate what she was capable of.

This episode explores the significance of May’s equestrian achievements, not simply as sporting accomplishments, but as part of a larger story about a woman finding confidence and agency amid uncertainty. The arena was both a physical space in which she excelled and a metaphor for the struggles she faced in her life.

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May Bradford’s life brought her into the world of silent film, where women could take on different roles and identities.

Beyond the screen, however, the expectations placed on women were far less flexible. Marriage and motherhood shaped what society considered a woman’s proper place, and May tried to make her marriage to Frank Shepherd work.

But the life she hoped for was not the life she experienced. Frank’s involvement with another woman brought betrayal and disappointment, challenging the expectations May had tried to fulfil.

There is a striking contrast here: on screen, a woman could step into a different identity, yet in everyday life she was expected to conform to society’s ideas about who she should be and how she should live.

This episode explores the changing roles of women in the early twentieth century, and the tension between personal hopes, social expectations and the realities of married life.

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Aviation offered May Bradford a new horizon, but becoming a pilot was only the beginning. In a field dominated by men, holding a pilot’s licence did not guarantee a woman the opportunity to earn a living from flying.

May’s response was characteristically resourceful. Rather than abandon her ambitions, she set about acquiring the skills and qualifications she needed to establish an aviation business of her own. This meant travelling to Sydney and undertaking practical training as a ground engineer at Mascot aerodrome, learning the mechanics behind the machines she wanted to fly.

Her ambitions came with difficult choices. With limited finances and lack of family support in Sydney, May left the boys with family in Rubyvale while she pursued her training, intending to bring them to her when circumstances allowed.

Eventually, she acquired an aircraft and established an air-taxi service. May was no longer simply seeking a place in aviation; she was creating one for herself.

This is the story of a woman determined to chart her own course, navigating the obstacles of gender, money and motherhood as she pursued her place in the skies.

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In 1936, May Bradford took to the skies in one of Australia’s most significant aviation events: the Brisbane–Adelaide Centenary Air Race. The race attracted pilots prepared to test their skills, endurance and aircraft over a demanding journey.

Among the 31 competitors were just five women. May was one of them.

Her participation was an achievement in itself. Aviation was still a developing industry, and women who sought to make their way as pilots faced barriers that went well beyond the technical challenges of flying. May had worked hard to gain her qualifications, develop her skills and establish her own aviation business. Entering the race brought her into a wider arena, alongside other pilots competing in a highly publicised event.

May did not win the race, but her story is not defined by the finishing order. It is about being there, taking part and claiming a place in a field where women remained a small minority.

This episode considers what it meant for May Bradford to be among the few—and why participation itself can be a significant achievement.

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On 24 January 1937, May Bradford’s life came to a tragic end at Mascot aerodrome in Sydney, during a family fun day that brought the excitement of aviation to the public. Her son Frank was there to witness the accident.

May had spent years pursuing her ambitions in a field that was still finding its way. Aviation in this era was a world of daring individuals, experimental machines and remarkable possibilities—but it was also a world in which the systems and safeguards we now take for granted were still developing.

May’s death was a devastating loss for her family, and the circumstances surrounding the accident form part of a broader history of aviation safety. As flying became an established industry, the freedom and improvisation of its pioneering years increasingly gave way to demands for greater regulation, coordination and accountability.

This episode tells the story of May’s final flight and considers the human cost of progress. Her life belonged to an era when the possibilities of flight seemed boundless, but the responsibilities that came with those possibilities were still being worked out.

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May Bradford’s story is one of ambition, courage and determination, lived at a time when the possibilities for women were changing, but remained far from equal. What can her life tell us about the women who challenged expectations, pursued their own paths and helped shape the world that followed? Her story invites us to look again at the women history remembers—and those it has left waiting to be discovered.