Helena Agnes Thomson (married name Towne or Lyndhurst Towne, 27 December 1868 – 3 April 1938) was an amateur golfer. She won the

Womens Amateur Championship The Women's Amateur Championship, previously known as the Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship, was founded in 1893 by the Ladies' Golf Union. It is organised by The R&A, which merged with the Ladies' Golf Union in 2017. Until the dawn of the ...

at Great Yarmouth & Caister in 1898. She was born in England to Scottish parents.

Golf career

Thomson played in the first

on the ladies links of the

Lytham & St Annes Golf Club Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England, is one of the courses in the Open Championship rotation. The Women's British Open has also been played on the course five times: once prior to being designated a major ch ...

in June 1893. Playing out of the Wimbledon club, she reached the quarter-finals before losing to Florence Carr. A handicap competition was arranged on the final day for those knocked-out on the first two days.Thomson, playing off a handicap of 5, won the event with a net score of 86. She reached the quarter-finals again in 1894 at

Littlestone-on-Sea Littlestone-on-Sea is a small coastal village close to New Romney in Kent, England. It was established in the 1880s by Sir Robert Perks as a resort for the gentry, at the point of the local lifeboat station. At low tide, a World War II Mulberry ...

, losing by one hole to May Mugliston. Thomson won a scratch competition played on the final day with a score of 92. Thomson played in the 1895

Royal Portrush Royal Portrush Golf Club is a private golf club (institution), golf club in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The 36-hole club has two links (golf), links golf course, courses, the Dunluce Links (the championship course) and the Valley Links. The ...

. losing at the last-16 stage to Maud Starkie Bence. The first international match was played between England and Ireland the day after the championship. There were 6 ladies in each team, with Thomson being in the English team. England won all six matches, winning by 34 holes to 0. The 1896 championship was played at

Royal Liverpool Golf Club The Royal Liverpool Golf Club is a golf club in Wirral in Merseyside, England. It was founded in 1869 on what was then the racecourse of the Liverpool Hunt Club. It received the "Royal" designation in 1871 due to the patronage of the Duke of ...

Hoylake Hoylake is a coast, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the north west of the Wirral Peninsula, near West Kirby and where the River Dee, Wales, River Dee meets the Irish Sea. Historic counties of En ...

. She beat

Emma Kennedy Emma Kennedy (born Elizabeth Emma Williams on 28 May 1967) is an English actress, lawyer, comedian, and travel writer, comedian, television presenter and author. Early life and education The daughter of teachers,

in the quarter-finals at the 19th hole. In the semi-finals she met

Issette Pearson Frances Issette Jessie Pearson, known as Issette, (2 November 1861 – 25 April 1941) was an English golfer and the first honorary secretary of the Ladies Golf Union which was founded in 1893. Personal life Pearson was born at Gatcombe House, L ...

, winning another close match by one hole. Thomson met

Amy Pascoe Amy Bennet Pascoe (19 March 1866 – 18 February 1917) was an English amateur golfer. She won the Womens Amateur Championship at Hoylake in 1896. Golf career Pascoe played in the 1895 Womens Amateur Championship at Royal Portrush, losing 4& ...

in the final, losing 3&2. In 1897 the championship was held in Scotland for the first time, at Gullane. Thomson had an early defeat, losing in the third round, the last-32, to Madeline Campbell by one hole. The 1898 championship was held at Great Yarmouth & Caister. Thomson had a walk-over on the opening day, to advance to the last-64 stage. On the second day she won her morning match 3&2 and met

Sophie Stubbs Sophie is a version of the female given name Sophia, meaning "wise". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess of ...

in the third round, The match went to the 21st hole before Thomson won. Thomson won both her matches on the third day 4&2, to advance to the semi-finals. On the final day she met a local lady, Amy Barwell in the semi-finals. Barwell was two up after four holes but Thomson eventually won 4&3. Thomson met

Elinor Nevile Eleanor is a female given name. Eleanor, Elenore, Elinor, Elinore, Ellinore, Elynor or variations thereof may also refer to: Places * Lake Eleanor, a reservoir in Yosemite National Park, California * Eleanor, Iowa, an unincorporated community * E ...

in the final. Nevile played poorly and Thomson was 5 up after 9 holes, eventually winning the match 6&5. The 1899 championship was held at

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

. Competing as Mrs Lyndhurst Towne, she reached the quarter-finals, losing 6&4 to a local player,

Jessie Magill Jessie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jessie (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Jessie (surname), a list of people Arts and entertainment * ''Jessie'' (2011 TV series), a 2011–15 Disney Channel ...

, the 1898 Irish champion. A triangular series of internationals was arranged at Deal in 1902, before the

. Thomson played for the Scottish team. On the first day, Scotland lost to Ireland, Thomson losing to

Nellie Graham Nelly (born 1974) is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. Nelly or Nellie may also refer to: Places * Nellie, Ohio, an American village * Nellie, Assam, a town in Nagaon district * Nelly Island, Antarctica * Nelly Island, Bermud ...

. The following day England beat Scotland 8–0 with two matches halved, Thomson losing to

Katherine Moeller Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

. In the championship itself, she lost in the second round.

Personal life

Thomson was born in December 1868 in

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. The ...

, London, the daughter of Robert Thomson, a ship owner, and Margaret Bonthron. She married Edward Charles Lyndhurst Towne in November 1898. In 1889, the family had moved to a new house, Grangemuir, opposite

Wimbledon Common Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, southwest London. There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Commons totalling 460 ...

. Robert Thomson died in

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

in June 1909, aged 70. Lena Thomson died in

Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, France in April 1938, aged 69.

Team appearances

* Women's internationals (representing England): 1895, (representing Scotland): 1902

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Lena Scottish female golfers Amateur golfers People from Wimbledon, London 1868 births 1938 deaths