Sybil Fenton Newall (17 October 1854 – 24 June 1929), best known as Queenie Newall, was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern ...

who won the gold medal at the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. She was 53 years old at the time, still the oldest female gold medal winner at the Olympic Games. Great Britain did not win another women's archery medal at the Olympics until

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. She joined the Cheltenham Archers Club in 1905 and was national champion twice in 1911 and 1912.

Biography

Sybil "Queenie" Fenton Newall was born in Hare Hill House, Littleborough, Rochdale (part of her father's estate) on 17 October 1854. In 1905, along with her sister Margaret, she joined the local Cheltenham archery club. By 1907, she had won four of the five regional meetings. She took part at the

, held in White City, London. The expected winner of the women's archery,

Alice Legh Alice Blanche Legh (1855 – 3 January 1948) was a famous British archer. She has been called "the greatest British woman archer of all-time" and "the greatest British archer ever". From 1881 to 1922, she won the national ladies' archery champio ...

, chose not to compete, and so Queenie's main rival was

Lottie Dod Charlotte Dod (24 September 1871 – 27 June 1960) was an English multi-sport athlete, best known as a tennis player. She won the Wimbledon Ladies' Singles Championship five times, the first one when she was only 15 in the summer of 1887. She ...

who was a sporting all-rounder. The entire field competing in the women's archery was British. On the first day of the Archery competition, the weather in

White City Stadium White City Stadium in London, England, was built for the 1908 Summer Olympics. It hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock car racing, concerts and a match at the 1966 FIFA W ...

was so poor that the event was stopped at one point. On the close of the first day, Queenie was behind Dod by ten points. The second day's weather was much improved, and Queenie overtook Dod, eventually winning with a score of 688 points, 46 points ahead of Dod, who finished in the silver medal position. The victory made Queenie the oldest woman to win an Olympic medal, at the age of 53 years and 275 days, a record which still stands as of 2012. At the following National Championships, Newell was defeated by Alice Legh, but she went on to win it in 1911, retained it in 1912, and won it once more in 1914. She continued in the sport following the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, her last score was recorded by the Cheltenham archery club in 1928. She died at her home in Cheltenham on 24 June 1929. After the 1908 Olympics, no female British archer won an Olympic medal until

Alison Williamson Alison Jane Williamson Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 3 November 1971) is a retired British archery, archer who represented Great Britain at the Summer Olympics, Great Britain at six consecutive Olympic Games from 1992 to 2012. She won ...

won the bronze in the women's individual competition at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Personal life

Queenie was the eldest daughter of the ten children of Henry Newall and Maria Fenton. Her father was a merchant and owned Hare Hill House and estate in Littleborough,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. Her grandfather John Fenton was the Member of Parliament for

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

following the

1832 Events January–March * January 6 – Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison founds the New-England Anti-Slavery Society. * January 13 – The Christmas Rebellion of slaves is brought to an end in Jamaica, after the island's white pla ...

and 1837 general elections. Queenie never married and instead lived with her sister Margaret in

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

all her life.

References

External links

*
Cheltenham Archers website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Newall, Queenie Olympic archers for Great Britain British female archers English Olympic competitors Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in archery Archers at the 1908 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Littleborough, Greater Manchester 1854 births 1929 deaths Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics