Lily Gower

Lily Gower, birth name Lilias Mary Gower (5 October 1877 — 1959) was an English female croquet player multiple time winner of the Women's Championship. [http://www.mauicroquetclub.org/people/LilyGower/ChampionessOfEngland.htm "Lily Gower - "Championess" of England"] ] [http://www.croquetrecords.com/swfcroquet/SWAN/gower/index.html "The Rise of a Lady Champion"] , By Allen Parker, "South West Area News Letter", 2002 Issue 20] She was one of the three women who have won the British Open Championship.

She had won her very first public tournament, in 1898. Next three, years she won Ladies Championships. In 1901, she started entering tournaments with men. In that year she won the Open Gold Medal, with controversy. In semi-final her opponent (a man) accused her of "spooning". This sparkled heated discussions as to whether this was a gentlemanly way to do. [http://www.mauicroquetclub.org/people/LilyGower/LilyGower.htm "Lily Gower"] in: "The History of Croquet", by D.M.C. Prichard (1981)]

During her peak she was also three times Open God Medalist (contestants being both men and women) and even Men's Gold Medalist. The latter case was a result of confusion in rules after "Open" and "Women's" were renamed into "Men's" and "Women's": the rules contained a loophole which allowed women to enter the Men's contest.

References