Beatrice Maude Williams (née Kerr; 30 November 1887 – 3 August 1971), known professionally as Beatrice Kerr, was an Australian swimmer, diver, and aquatic performer. Born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Kerr learnt to swim at

Albert Park Lake Albert Park is a large public park in the City of Port Phillip, an inner suburban LGA of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Located south of the Melbourne central business district, the park encompasses of parkland around the long Albert Park ...

, and won medals at both the Victorian and Australasian championships in 1905, at the age of 17. Early the following year, she toured

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, winning every race she entered. From there, Kerr went to England, giving swimming exhibitions in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, London, and

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, being billed as "Australia's Champion Lady Swimmer and Diver". She returned to Australia in October 1911, living the rest of her life in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, New South Wales. Although often compared to

Annette Kellerman Annette Marie Sarah Kellermann (6 July 1886 – 6 November 1975) was an Australian professional swimmer, vaudeville star, film actress, and writer, usually spelt with a single final n as Annette Kellerman. Kellermann was one of the first wome ...

, another Australian swimmer, Kerr's repeated challenges to Kellerman to race went unanswered.

Early life

Kerr was born on 30 November 1887 to Alexander Robert Kerr and his wife, Eliza Sophie (née Clark), in Williamstown, a suburb of

, Victoria. The eldest of five children, she was raised at Albert Park, and was taught to swim by her mother at the nearby

. Kerr swam competitively from an early age.

Career

In 1905 Kerr won medals at both the Victorian and Australasian Championships. During this time, she also gave a number of swimming and diving exhibitions, reputedly performing 366 times in a period of 20 weeks. In early 1906, Kerr went on a six-week tour of

and

, performing in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, Coolgardie,

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie-Boulder (or just Kalgoorlie) is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder as the surroundi ...

, and

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. Managed by her brother-in-law, she entered 43 races at which she won 43 prizes during the tour, and also won five open championships. From Perth, Kerr journeyed to England aboard the ''Commonwealth''. At a stopover in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

, she gave a performance billed as "Australia's Champion Lady Swimmer and Diver", which she would use for the remainder of the tour. In England, Kerr gave examples of swimming strokes which included

breaststroke Breaststroke is a human swimming, swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and ...

and the

trudgeon The trudgen is a swimming stroke sometimes known as the ''racing stroke'', or the ''East Indian stroke''. It is named after the English swimmer John Trudgen (1852–1902) and evolved out of sidestroke. One swims mostly upon one side, making an o ...

, and gave displays of "somersaults, high diving, blindfold backjumps, ndkneeling dives". During a performance in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

in August 1911, Kerr rescued two young boys swept out from the jetty at the

North Pier North Pier is the most northerly of the three coastal piers in Blackpool, England. Built in the 1860s, it is also the oldest and longest of the three. Although originally intended only as a promenade, competition forced the pier to widen its ...

by a strong current. Kerr's best time in the 100 yards was 1 minute, 21.4 seconds, and in the mile, 27.5 minutes.Kerr, Beatrice Maude (1887–1971)
– The Australian Women's Register. Retrieved 22 October 2012. She returned to Australia in October 1911, and continued touring for a period of time before marrying Griffith Ellis Williams in Redfern, Sydney, on 3 April 1912.

Death

The couple lived in Bondi, with Kerr dying on 3 August 1971 aged 83. She was buried at

Waverley Cemetery The Waverley Cemetery is a Heritage register, heritage-listed cemetery on top of the cliffs at Bronte, New South Wales, Bronte in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Opened in 1877 and built by R. Watkins (cemetery lodge, ...

, survived by her only son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Beatrice 1887 births 1971 deaths Australian Anglicans Australian female divers Australian female swimmers Burials at Waverley Cemetery Sportswomen from Victoria (state) Swimmers from Melbourne 20th-century Australian sportswomen 20th-century Australian women People from Albert Park, Victoria