Frances Issette Jessie Pearson (2 November 1861 – 25 April 1941) was an English golfer and the first honorary secretary of the

Ladies Golf Union The Ladies' Golf Union (LGU) was the governing body for women's and girls' amateur golf in Great Britain and Ireland. It was founded in 1893 and was based in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland until merging with The R&A at the start of 2017. Issette ...

(LGU) which was founded in 1893.

Personal life

Pearson was born at Gatcombe House, Littlehempston, near

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-southwest of Torquay and ab ...

, Devon. Her given names were ''Mable Frances'', but she used the names ''Frances Issette Jessie'' and was known as Issette. In 1911, she married Thomas Horrocks Miller (1846–1916) of Singleton Hall,

Singleton Singleton may refer to: Sciences, technology Mathematics * Singleton (mathematics), a set with exactly one element * Singleton field, used in conformal field theory Computing * Singleton pattern, a design pattern that allows only one instance ...

, near Poulton-le-Fylde. In 1916, upon her husband's death, she became life tenant of Singleton Hall.

Golf career

Pearson SB and Scott littlestone medallists1894

In 1893 Pearson visited Littlestone golf club in the autumn of 1893 to see if the national championship could be hosted there. She was hosted by Littlestone's ladies's captain

Mabel Stringer Mabel Emily Stringer (25 September 1868 – 10 February 1958) was a British golf enthusiast and sporting journalist. She founded a number of golf organisations and served on others. Life Stringer was born in New Romney in 1868. Her parents were H ...

. Stringer beat her on their first game together, but they became life long friends and colleagues. Pearson had reached the final of the

British Ladies Amateur Golf 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 th ...

in 1893 and she would repeat that position in 1894, losing to Lady Margaret Scott on each occasion.

Legacy

While

telegraphic address A telegraphic address or cable address was a unique identifier code for a recipient of telegraph messages. Operators of telegraph services regulated the use of telegraphic addresses to prevent duplication. Rather like a uniform resource locator ...

es were in use the LGU's address was "Issette". A brand of ladies' golfwear is named "Issette" in her memory. She founded a cup and a handicap system that allowed men and women of mixed abilities to compete together.

Publications

*''The Ladies' Golf Union year book / compiled and edited by the Hon. Sec. Ladies' Golf Union (I. Pearson).'' (London : Ladies' Golf Union, 189?) *''Our Lady of the Green. A book of ladies' golf. With chapters by I. Pearson, A. B. Pascoe and others. Edited by L. Mackern and M. Boys.'' (London : Lawrence & Bullen, 1899)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Issette English female golfers British golf administrators People from South Hams (district) People from Singleton, Lancashire 1861 births 1941 deaths