Lilian Bland: The Carnmoney engineer who took to the skies

"She wouldn't conform to what society dictated to women to behave like."

In the 1900s, in County Antrim, a woman called LiIian Bland had her heart set on flying.

The fact that she was a woman living in Edwardian Ireland did not deter her.

In 1910, after gliding off Carnmoney Hill, she flew her Mayfly biplane glider in Randalstown, becoming the first woman to design, build and fly her own plane.

Museum curator Clare Ablett described her as a woman who "bucked the trend".

Bland is featured in a National Museums NI (NMNI) Museum of Innovation exhibition highlighting local innovators who made a global impact.

Also included are people like Harry Ferguson, who invented the three-point linkage hydraulic draft destined for tractors, James Martin, from Crossgar, in County Down, who invented the ejector seat and Prof Frank Pantridge, the creator of the portable defibrillator.

However, Ms Ablett said the NMNI team were keen to highlight women because there is a "bit of a gender imbalance".

"Our first innovator in that women's space is Lilian," she said.

Bland stood out as an unconventional woman at the time, to say the least.

Born in 1878 in Kent, her family moved to Carnmoney - her father's home - after her mother died in 1900.

As well as being an engineer, she was a professional photographer, an author, artist, car dealer and even taught local boys in Glengormley Jiu Jitsu.

"She wouldn't conform to what society then dictated to women to behave like," Ms Ablett told BBC News NI.

Bland refused to ride side-saddle, smoked, rode a bicycle and had a career as a press photographer in England.

"This was unheard of for a woman," said Ms Ablett.

But Bland was also "one who was part of the gentry, who would have been expected to marry right and well and have a number of skills, none of which were related to mechanical engineering".

"I think the more people told her that she couldn't do it, the more she wanted to do it and I think that's an inspiration for people today," she added.

As well as following an unconventional path, Bland also had some novel ways of getting her plane up and running.

She had ordered a two-stroke engine from England but there was a delay in delivering the fuel tank.

"She needed something to put the fuel into the engine so apparently she stole her aunt's ear trumpet to put the fuel into the engine," said Ms Ablett.

"I don't know if she ever told Aunt Sarah or whether it went back into her ear again."

Bland was the first woman in the world to design, build and fly her own plane in August 1910, just months after Harry Ferguson had become the first person in Ireland to fly his own plane in December 1909.

"So she was really close to being the first of any gender to be the first to fly," said Ms Ablett.

It wasn't just plane engines that interested her.

"Her father was getting a bit worried about her hurting herself flying so decided to buy her a car," said Ms Ablett.

"From there she decided she wanted to set up the first Ford car dealership in the north in Belfast.

"It's just amazing. She just wasn't afraid to do anything."

After she broke records, she married her cousin Charles and moved to Nova Scotia.

"Her husband had a bad back and she ended up doing a lot of the fixing of engines and things like that.

"She wouldn't let anything get in her way. It's amazing for modern times but unheard of in Edwardian times," she added.

After their daughter Patricia died at 16 from tetanus, her marriage ended and she moved back to England.

"She spent the rest of her days gardening and gambling and she lived until she was 92, dying in 1971," said Ms Ablett.

In 2011, The Lilian Bland Community Park opened in Glengormley, next to the recently refurbished Lilian Bland Pavilion and last month her paintings went on sale, 100 years after she painted them.

For Ms Ablett, Bland's inclusion in the exhibition is particularly important as a role model for girls and women in Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects and careers.

According to a recent Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey, women make up just 24% of the Stem workforce.

"I think it is starting to change, but I think one of the things we wanted to get across with this exhibition was how there have been so many inspiring women in the past, but also there are so many working in Stem today," she said.

"We want to inspire the next generation of young scientists and engineers - girls and boys.

"It should be open to everybody and I really hope that we're starting to move away from the idea that those sorts of professions are only for men."