Judy Bain, now 81 years old, has recently uncovered her previously unknown connection to Arthur Whitten Brown, the legendary aviator who, along with John Alcock, accomplished the first nonstop transatlantic flight in 1919. The discovery came through decades-long genealogical research that traced her lineage back through her biological father, Buster Brown, Arthur’s only son.
Bain’s story begins in spring 1944 when her mother, Elsie Barber, a member of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, became pregnant during a brief relationship with the married RAF pilot Buster Brown. Unable to keep the child, Elsie placed her daughter for adoption with a couple in Cornwall. Bain grew up unaware of her true parentage until age ten, when her adoptive parents disclosed her adoption but provided no further information. She spent her childhood feeling disconnected from her adoptive family and eventually pursued higher education, studying social science at the University of Liverpool before marrying and relocating to Australia in the 1960s.
The path to discovering her heritage began in the 1990s when Bain, through a researcher, located her birth mother in Cornwall. The two developed a positive relationship, though Elsie misidentified the father. After Elsie’s death in 2000, genealogical and DNA research conducted by Elsie’s daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Salmon, eventually identified Buster Brown as Bain’s biological father in 2020. This revelation connected Bain to her grandfather, Arthur Whitten Brown, and his historic achievements in aviation.
Arthur Whitten Brown died in 1948, believing he had no descendants after losing his son. Bain’s discovery means the aviation pioneer actually has seven living descendants. Author Brendan Lynch, who documented the Alcock and Brown transatlantic flight, has assisted with research and expressed hope that Bain will attend a commemorative event in Clifden to mark the historic landing, which would represent what he describes as a long overdue family reunion connected to one of aviation’s most significant achievements.
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