Madam, - I refer to the Irishman's Diary of March 27th by Peter Cunningham, which listed the passengers on the first flight of an Aer Lingus plane on May 27th, 1936.
He named one of the passengers as "W.H. Norton". This was in fact my grandfather, W.H. Morton, who was the last general manager of Great Southern Railways, holding that position until the company was taken over by CIE. Seán Lemass's brother, Noel, became the head of CIÉ, with W.H. staying on in a consultancy basis until his retirement.
It was because of his knowledge of transport that he was asked to become a founding director of Aer Lingus. A portrait of my grandfather, painted by the celebrated artist Leo Whelan RHA, has pride of place in my house.
W.H. Morton left school at 14 years of age and went to work on the railways in Hunslet in Leeds, home of the famous locomotive "The Hunslet 100". He then moved to Ireland and joined Great Southern Railways as chief mechanical engineer at Broadstone, transferring to Inchicore in 1925, and eventually moving to Kingsbridge as general manager.
The misspelling of his name may well have been a typographical error, but I think it is important to have the facts correct, especially when celebrating such an important event in travel and aviation for Ireland.
As it happens I will be flying to Bristol for the first time in July this year, so two generations on I will be repeating that inaugural flight 70 years later, and will be thinking of my grandfather, and the fact that he is not forgotten. - Yours, etc,
BRIAN C. MORTON,
The Cloisters,
Dublin 6W.