The Rise of Leagues and Their Impact on the Governance of Women's Hockey in England

‘Will you walk into our parlour?’: The rise of leagues and their impact on the governance of women's hockey in England 1895-1939 Joanne Halpin BA, MA A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Submission date: May 2019 This work or any part thereof has not previously been presented in any form to the University or to any other body for the purposes of assessment, publication or for any other purpose (unless otherwise indicated). Save for any express acknowledgements, references and/or bibliographies cited in the work, I confirm that the intellectual content of the work is the result of my own efforts and of no other person. The right of Jo Halpin to be identified as author of this work is asserted in accordance with ss.77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. At this date copyright is owned by the author. Signature: …………………………………….. Date: ………………………………………….. Jo Halpin ‘Will you walk into our parlour?’ Doctoral thesis Contents Abstract i List of abbreviations iii Acknowledgements v Introduction: ‘Happily without a history’ 1 • Hockey and amateurism 3 • Hockey and other team games 8 • The AEWHA, leagues and men 12 • Literature review 15 • Thesis aims and structure 22 • Methodology 28 • Summary 32 Chapter One: The formation and evolution of the AEWHA 1895-1910 – and the women who made it happen 34 • The beginnings 36 • Gathering support for a governing body 40 • The genesis of the AEWHA 43 • Approaching the HA 45 • Genesis of the HA 49 • AEWHA women 53 • The inaugural president 59 • Hockey and amateur idealism 63 • Cups and competitions 70 • ‘Gates’ and going public 74 • PR and promotion 79 • ‘The professional difficulty’ 81 Jo Halpin ‘Will you walk into our parlour?’ Doctoral thesis • Broadening the reach of hockey 90 • Regions and rules 96 • Changing times 103 Chapter Two: The formation of the Lancashire and Cheshire Ladies Hockey League 108 • The launch of the LHL and reaction to it 113 • The LHL, its teams and players 129 • Who were Leigh LHC? 135 • Expansion of the LHL 151 • The destinies of hockey 157 Chapter Three: World War One, women’s work, and a false dawn of cooperation between the AEWHA and leagues 163 • Hockey women’s war effort 167 • Hockey in England 1914-1918 179 • AEWHA and leagues: the post-war relationship 189 • New directions 203 • A parting of the ways 207 • Dependence and independence in the interwar period 213 Chapter Four: Internationalism, the formation of the English Ladies Hockey Leagues Association, and the search for consensus 216 • The advent of Hilda Light 223 • Emergence of the ELHLA 228 • Cooperation between associations 232 Jo Halpin ‘Will you walk into our parlour?’ Doctoral thesis • Men in authority 235 • Reaction to the ELHLA 239 • The challenge of cups 249 • Olympic participation 252 • Criticism of leagues 255 • Is amalgamation possible? 261 • Hockey’s affinity with other sports 267 • The governing bodies’ conference 274 • The end of talks 276 Conclusion 279 • Lost opportunities 285 • Class differences 288 • Suggestions for further research 294 • Creating a history 298 Appendices A: Inaugural AEWHA and ELHLA representative teams 300 B: Evolution of the LHL / North of England League 301 C: Leigh LHC – inaugural LHL champions 303 D: Leagues in England before 1939 304 E: Chronology of amateurism and governance in the LHA/AEWHA and IFWHA 1895-1996 305 F: Amateurism/professionalism in verse 309 Bibliography 315 Jo Halpin ‘Will you walk into our parlour?’ Doctoral thesis Abstract One of the main aims of this thesis is to supplement and further develop the very sparse body of academic work on hockey, and on women's hockey in particular. Despite being the premier team game for women and girls in England for much of the 20th century – as well as popular with men – the sport has been under-researched by historians. Another aim is to explore how the concept of amateurism influenced, and was moulded by, a team sport played by women. Much has been written about the ethos within British sport, but mostly in relation to men’s athletic pursuits. The AEWHA’s unique position as the first sport governing body in England to be run exclusively by women allows this thesis to redress the balance and offer a female-centric view of amateurism. By focusing on an aspect of hockey in England that has not been explored before – the emergence of women’s league competitions and their impact on the governance of the sport up to World War Two – this thesis makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of the philosophy. It chronicles the foundation of the Lancashire and District Ladies’ Hockey League (LHL) in 1910 and the reaction to this competition of the All England Women’s Hockey Association (AEWHA), which banned its members from taking part in leagues or playing for cups. The uneasy and constantly evolving relationship between those who wished to uphold these amateur ideals and those who wished to compete for points and prizes will be examined over three decades up to 1939. i Jo Halpin ‘Will you walk into our parlour?’ Doctoral thesis This thesis will posit that – in common with many other sport governing bodies – the AEWHA’s interest in, and attitude towards, leagues and amateurism changed according to its own particular needs. Unlike any other (male-run) governing body, however, its sustained resistance to competitive hockey was less to do with class differences and increasingly to do with a desire to prevent male administrators from being involved in women’s hockey. In support of this overarching narrative, this thesis will take a fresh look at the origins of the AEWHA, and a first look at the emergence of a rival governing body for women’s hockey in England – the English Ladies’ Hockey Leagues Association (ELHLA). New biographical information about many of the members and early administrators of both organisations will be revealed, in support of another aim of this work: to give a profile to women who played a significant role in the history of sport. As well their athletic achievements, this thesis will touch upon hockey players’ involvement in the war effort from 1914- 1918, and their support for the campaign for women’s suffrage. It will also examine the interconnections between women’s and men’s hockey, both nationally and internationally. As an amateur team game of significance to both sexes, hockey is well placed to inform the debates on gender and class in sport – but, surprisingly, it has attracted very little attention from academics. It is hoped that the wealth of new information in this thesis, and the fresh perspective it offers on amateurism, will prompt further research into hockey’s history and the lives of the women and men who played it. ii Jo Halpin ‘Will you walk into our parlour?’ Doctoral thesis List of abbreviations AEWHA - All England Women’s Hockey Association AENA – All England Netball Association AFA – Amateur Football Association BFUW – British Federation of University Women BLFC – British Ladies Football Club BoT – Board of Trade ELHLA – English Ladies Hockey Leagues Association EWCF – English Women’s Cricket Federation FA – Football Association FIH – Fédération Internationale de Hockey FSU – Forward Suffrage Union HA – Hockey Association IFUW – International Federation of University Women IFWHA – International Federation of Women’s Hockey Associations IHU – Irish Hockey Union ILHU – Irish Ladies Hockey Union IOC – International Olympic Committee IRB – International Rules Board LHA – Ladies Hockey Association LHL – Lancashire and Cheshire Ladies Hockey League LMH – Lady Margaret Hall MCC- Marylebone Cricket Club MDA – Manchester District Association MDTCPS – Manchester Day Training College Past Students NHU – National Hockey Union NPFA – National Playing Fields Association NRFU – Northern Rugby Football Union iii Jo Halpin ‘Will you walk into our parlour?’ Doctoral thesis NUWSS – National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies ODNB – Oxford Dictionary of National Biography QMAAC – Queen Mary Army Auxiliary Corps RFU – Rugby Football Union THM – The Hockey Museum ULAU – University of London Athletic Union UoBA – University of Bath Archive VAD – Voluntary aid detachment WAAC – Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps WCA – Women’s Cricket Association WLF – Women’s Liberal Federation WRNS – Women’s Royal Naval Service iv Jo Halpin ‘Will you walk into our parlour?’ Doctoral thesis Acknowledgments The completion of this thesis would not have been possible without the help of a whole host of people and organisations, and I thank all who have responded to my requests for information, given me access to archives, or simply taken the time to show an interest in my research. In particular – and in no specific order – I would like to thank: Lizzie Richmond, at the University of Bath, for giving generously of her time and knowledge on my visits to the AEWHA archive, and for dealing with my follow-up emails/requests for information so promptly and efficiently. Katie Dodd, Mike Smith and all the trustees, staff and volunteers at the National Hockey Museum in Woking. This thesis has grown up with the museum, and has benefited greatly from its ever expanding archive and the hockey knowledge of its supporters. My supervisors, Professor Jean Williams and Professor Dil Porter, for their expertise, guidance, support and encouragement – and for keeping faith that, one day, I would produce a ‘beginning, middle and an end’ (in that order!). Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their constant love and support, and for giving me so much encouragement with my research over the past six years. At last, the answer is: ‘Yes, I have finished writing my PhD thesis.’ Special thanks go to my wife, Christelle, who has never known a time when I wasn’t researching the history of hockey.

Load more