Sybil Whigham, also seen as Sibyl Whigham and later as Sybil Nicholson (29 July 1871 – after March 1954), was a Scottish golfer.

Early life

Sybil Harriet Whigham was born in

Tarbolton Tarbolton ( sco, Tarbowton) is a village in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is near Failford, Mauchline, Ayr, and Kilmarnock. The old Fail Monastery was nearby and Robert Burns connections are strong, including the Bachelors' Club museum. Meanin ...

, Scotland, the daughter of David Dundas Whigham"Death of Capt. Nicholson, R. N. at Sidmouth" ''Western Times'' (12 February 1932). and Ellen Murray (née Campbell). Her father was a lawyer and a cricket player. She spent part of her childhood in the home of an aunt in Edinburgh. One brother was Sir

Robert Whigham General Sir Robert Dundas Whigham, (5 August 1865 – 23 June 1950) was a Scottish British Army officer and a former Adjutant-General to the Forces. Early life Whigham was born in 1865, the son of David Dundas Whigham"Death of Capt. Nicholson ...

; another brother was golfer and journalist

H. J. Whigham Henry James Whigham (24 December 1869 – 17 March 1954) was a Scottish writer and amateur golfer. He won the U.S. Amateur golf tournament in 1896 and 1897. Following his first win in the U.S. Amateur, he wrote a golf instruction book. In 1896 h ...

. Their sister Molly Whigham also played golf."Golf: The Ladies' Championship" ''Leeds Mercury'' (May 17, 1900): 6. via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

"The names of the Misses Whigham are renowned all over the world where golf is played," explained fellow player

May Hezlet Mary Elizabeth Linzee "May" Hezlet (29 April 1882 – 27 December 1978) was a British amateur golfer and sports writer. She has been called "probably Ireland's greatest woman golfer". Early life Hezlet was born in Gibraltar, the daughter of Li ...

in 1907. "Miss Molly Whigham is perhaps the more brilliant player, but Miss Sibyl Whigham is the steadier, and the one who takes part in a greater number of meetings."May Hezlet
''Ladies' Golf''
(Hutchinson 1907): 257-258.

Career

Sybil Whigham was an "accomplished player" by the turn into the twentieth century. Her home course was at

Prestwick Prestwick ( gd, Preastabhaig) is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, an ...

. She was credited as having the longest drive of any woman golfer in her day, surpassing 230 yards. In 1895 she played in the

British Ladies Amateur 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 ...

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

in Ireland. In 1900 she and her sister played in the British Ladies Amateur at the

Royal North Devon Golf Club Royal North Devon Golf Club, commonly abbreviated as RND, was founded in 1864, and is the oldest golf course in England. The course was designed by Scottish golfer Old Tom Morris. Geography RND is located on Northam Burrows between Northam an ...

. In 1901 she defeated

before losing to

Rhona Adair Rhona Kathleen Adair (2 September 1881 – 27 March 1961) was an Irish amateur golfer. She won the British Ladies Amateur twice and the Irish Ladies' Close Championships four times at the start of the twentieth century. Life Adair was bor ...

at the British Ladies Amateur in

Aberdovey Aberdyfi (), also known as Aberdovey ( ), is a village and community in Gwynedd, Wales, located on the northern side of the estuary of the River Dyfi. The population of the community was 878 at the 2011 census. The electoral ward had a larger ...

, Wales. She was a semifinalist at the British Ladies Amateur at

Deal A deal, or deals may refer to: Places United States * Deal, New Jersey, a borough * Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * Deal Lake, New Jersey Elsewhere * Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia * Deal, Kent, a town in England * Deal, a ...

in 1902, and played at the British Ladies Amateur at

Troon Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with freight services and a yacht marina. Up until January 2016, P&O opera ...

in 1904. She returned to the links in 1919, for a competition at the Addington course in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extens ...

Personal life

Sybil Whigham married Capt. W. H. Nicholson of the Royal Navy, in 1912. She was widowed when he died at

Sidmouth Sidmouth () is a town on the English Channel in Devon, South West England, southeast of Exeter. With a population of 12,569 in 2011, it is a tourist resort and a gateway to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. A large part of the town ...

in 1932. She lived in

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

for much of her adult life, appearing in electoral registers there from 1918 to 1945, and was a member of the

Women's Voluntary Service The Royal Voluntary Service (known as the Women's Voluntary Services (WVS) from 1938 to 1966; Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS) from 1966 to 2004 and WRVS from 2004 to 2013) is a voluntary organisation concerned with helping people in need ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. She was mentioned as Sybil Nicholson, one of the two surviving sisters of H. J. Whigham, in the latter's obituary in 1954. Her niece and namesake Sybil Whigham Young was a socialite and equestrian in 1930s New York. Another socialite niece,

Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll Ethel Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll (''née'' Whigham, formerly Sweeny; 1 December 1912 – 25 July 1993) was a Scottish heiress, socialite, and aristocrat who was most famous for her 1951 marriage and much-publicised 1963 divorce fro ...

, was at the center of a particularly salacious divorce scandal in 1963.David Randall
"The scarlet Duchess of Argyll: Much more than just a Highland fling"
''Independent'' (17 February 2013).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whigham, Sybil Scottish female golfers Amateur golfers 19th-century Scottish people 1871 births Year of death missing

Sybil Sibyls were oracular women believed to possess prophetic powers in ancient Greece. Sybil or Sibyl may also refer to: Films * ''Sybil'' (1921 film) * ''Sybil'' (1976 film), a film starring Sally Field * ''Sybil'' (2007 film), a remake of the 19 ...

People from Tarbolton People from Woking