A British American Champion: The Rosemary Beresford Story

Theresa Weld Blanchard and Rosemary Beresford at the 1918 U.S. Championships

When you look back through lists of past women's U.S. Figure Skating Champions, you see some pretty fabulous names - Ashley Wagner, Michelle Kwan, Kristi Yamaguchi, Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill among them. If you look at the very top of the list, you will see a name you probably aren't familiar with at all - Rosemary Beresford. 

Joan Rosemary Graves-Sawle was born in July of 1890 in London, England. She was the daughter of Dame Constance Mary (Daniel), the daughter of an Army general, and Sir Charles John Graves-Sawle, a retired Rear-Admiral and Baronet from Cornwall who was invested as a member of the Royal Victorian Order. 

Rosemary was raised with a silver spoon in her mouth in 'the best kind' of Victorian family. Her family were direct descendants of King Edward III and considered part of the Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal. They owned Penrice House, a three hundred year old Cornish estate in Porthpean, but spent much of their time in a mansion at Queen's Gate, South Kensington during Rosemary's youth. The family of five employed no less than ten servants. If you're a fan of "Keeping Up Appearances", you'll get a kick out of the names of Rosemary's very proper English siblings - Hyacinth and Richard.

When you have more money than you know what to do with and nothing but time on your hands, you need a hobby. Rosemary's diversion of choice was skating at Prince's Skating Club in Knightsbridge, a members-only skating club regularly frequented by no less of a role model for any aspiring young skater than Madge Syers. After taking a few pointers from her accomplished training mate, young Rosemary travelled to St. Moritz, Switzerland in 1914, where she won an international competition for junior skaters held in conjunction with that year's World Figure Skating Championships. That same winter, she won also won an international junior event at Prince's Skating Club.

The Great War began in July of 1914. That same month, Rosemary's brother Richard was married and sent off to the front lines in Europe. Just three months later, he was killed by a sniper's bullet in Ypres. In 1915, Rosemary married the Honourable Seton Robert 'Bobby' de la Poer Horseley Beresford, a shipper with business interests on Wall Street who was twenty-three years her senior. The couple took up residence on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Bobby was an interesting character. He had been involved in an irrigation scheme in Peru, fought in the Boer War and won the world trap-shooting title from 1901 to 1904. He also excelled at boxing, ice hockey, cricket and steeplechase. Rosemary was Bobby's second wife. 

Bobby Beresford and Dowager Lady Decies

With the International Skating Union opting to cancel international competitions due to the War, Rosemary would not have had many opportunities to pursue skating had she stayed in Europe. New York City, on the other hand, experienced a skating boom during the War - largely due to the popularity of visiting German skater Charlotte Oelschlägel. Rosemary joined the prestigious Skating Club Of New York and entered the 1917 Hippodrome Challenge Cup, losing to Theresa Weld Blanchard, Nathaniel Niles and S.M. Lynes. Thus began a short-lived and very healthy rivalry between two talented young women. Theresa Weld Blanchard was from Boston; Rosemary from England.

In 1918, Rosemary returned to challenge Theresa Weld Blanchard for the Hippodrome Challenge Cup once again but withdrew early in the event due to illness. Reporters, eager for a story, spread the rumour that her withdrawal was due to her husband's dissatisfaction with the result. Her husband issued the following statement which was printed in the February 10, 1918 issue of the "New York Sun": "There is not one particle of truth in Mr. James Cruikshank's statement that I had notified him that I withdrew Mrs. Beresford's entry from the Hippodrome Skating Cup contest on Friday because I was dissatisfied with the judges' decision in Wednesday's figure skating contest. I in no way or manner joined in the comment on Cruikshank that I understand was aroused by certain irregularities in the progress of the competition. Mrs. Beresford was unable to leave her bed on Friday, and Mr. Cruikshank is very well aware of her illness. She sent a most courteous message of deep regret at being unable to be present, at the same time stating her great pleasure in looking forward to her next meeting with Miss Weld in the championship next month."

Rosemary and Theresa Weld Blanchard had their rematch at the St. Nicholas Rink the following month at a competition in the International Style of figure skating later recognized as the 1918 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The March 7, 1918 issue of the "New York Tribune" reported, "There was a freedom about her execution of the intricate figures and a certain dash in all her movements on the ice that impressed the spectators greatly... Mrs. Beresford's execution seemed more clean-cut [than Weld Blanchard's] to the layman, at least." Theresa Weld Blanchard won the free skating, but Rosemary's strong lead in the school figures was enough to carry her to the title... the first and only time a non-American woman won a U.S. women's title. The only other woman to have claimed a U.S. title in figure skating that wasn't a U.S. citizen was Canada's Jeanne Chevalier, who won the 1914 U.S. pairs title with partner Norman Mackie Scott. In 1920, Rosemary returned to win the Tenstep title at the U.S. Championships with Irving Brokaw.

Shortly thereafter, Rosemary returned to England and took up residence in the village of Walton-on-the-Hill. After Bobby's death on the French Riveria in 1928, she remarried the following year to Colonel Ralph Patterson Cobbold, a major from the Cobbold brewing family who served in the Boer War and with the King's Royal Rifle Corps in India. She took over the Sawle estate when her father passed away in 1932.

Rosemary and Bobby Beresford 

During World War II, Rosemary drove an ambulance, volunteered with the Red Cross and organized holiday parties for evacuated children, ensuring each children received a little gift from Father Christmas. Her mother refused to leave her home during the worst of the air raids in London, devoting her time as a needlewoman in "the service of men in the fighting forces." 

Rosemary was a deeply religious woman and was involved in dozens of philanthropic causes. She raised thousands of pounds for the National Lifeboat Institution. She was resident of the District Nursing Association until the National Health Service was founded and delivered gifts and food to seniors at Christmas. She donated a spire to the Charlestown church and was known as one of St. Austell Hospital's most generous benefactors. She worked as founder and President of the League Of Friends and was the President of the women's section of the Royal British Legion, organizing poppy collections for many years. She also captained the Cornwall Ladies golf team and was President of the County Ladies' Association. 

When Rosemary passed away on December 14, 1971 without an heir, Penrice House was left to "provide elderly people with a home for the rest of their lives in pleasant surroundings". She also left land to establish a rugby ground, to the Roman Catholic church and Penrice Hospital. At her funeral, a local MP named Piers Dixon said, "The numerous local causes which had her patronage know now that there is a void which no other person or institution can fill. Above all she was a person of joy. She would have been the first to dismiss sombre obituaries with gay laughter, insisting always with a look of almost girlish innocence that she had done nothing out of the ordinary to help other people. If humility was personified in this world, it was Rosemary Cobbold-Sawle." 

Photo courtesy Parish of Charlestown

A testament of Rosemary's humility is the fact that her obituary didn't even mention that she won the U.S. Figure Skating Championships - let alone the fact she was the only British woman in history to claim the title. 

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

The St. Ivel Saga

Skating vest with St. Ivel logo, circa 1980

First held in 1973, Skate Canada International holds the distinction of being the oldest of the events that comprise the Grand Prix circuit today. Just five years after the first Skate Canada in Calgary, another international event cropped up that quickly became one of the most prestigious autumn invitational competitions of its day. Today we'll explore the story of the glittering rise and fall of the St. Ivel competition in England.

Rising out of the ashes of World War II, The Richmond Trophy was first held at London's Richmond Ice Rink in 1949. Sponsored by the National Skating Association, the event was a women's only affair that lasted for three decades. In its early years, many of the competitors were the international pupils of famed instructor Arnold Gerschwiler but in time, a who's who of women's figure skating from around the globe came to Richmond to compete. Olympic Medallists Dorothy Hamill, Sjoukje Dijkstra, Christine Errath, Dianne de Leeuw and Nicole Hassler were among the winners. It sparked a spin-off (pardon the pun) in the Edinburgh Trophy, an international women's event held in Scotland from 1966 to 1971, first won by Trixi Schuba.

Kay Barsdell and Ken Foster, Ruth Lindsey and Alan Beckwith, Janet Thompson and Warren Maxwell and Robin Cousins in a promotional picture for the first Rotary Watches Ice International, 1978. Photo courtesy "Robin Cousins: Skating For Gold", Howard Bass.

During the 1977/1978 season, the Swiss company Rotary Watches Ltd. sponsored the British Primary and Junior Championships. It later announced its interest in sponsoring an international figure skating competition in England, which was their biggest market at the time. Rotary Watches had provided timepieces to the British military during World War II, and they were still a major household name in the UK decades later. An important player behind the scenes in making this event happen was Arnold Gerschwiler, Richmond Ice Rink's head instructor.

The first Rotary Watches Ice International was slated for October 11 and 12, 1978, less than a month before The Richmond Trophy. Some opposed the idea of holding a new international competition weeks before the already well-established event, believing the skating calendar was already too full. Despite their protestations, the event went off... but not as planned.

The idea the organizers had envisioned was a team competition for singles skaters and ice dancers. A series of unfortunate events caused things to unravel quickly. In a report in "Skating" magazine, skating historian Dennis Bird recalled, "The original intention was to invite one man, one lady and one couple from seven countries - Canada, USA, Japan, Czechoslovakia, West Germany, USSR and Britain. The Canadian's felt the event was too close to Skate Canada and did not compete. The German's, Czech's and Japanese sent their current champions. The USA sent its Lady Champion and a strong contender for the men's event but no couple. A French couple was invited instead, abandoning the team concept. This was the first international men's event organized in Great Britain since the 1950 World Championships. Good results for the hosts were eroded, however, as one misfortune after another befell the British team. World bronze medallist Robin Cousins withdrew with a stress fracture, British Lady Champion Karena Richardson developed bronchitis, the second and third placed girls were unavailable so the fourth ranked girl competed and became ill during the free skating and withdrew. Finally, British Dance Champion Janet Thompson pulled an Achilles tendon. The organizers were faced with further problems when the Russian team arrived. Their lady skater, Tatiana Mikhailova, signed in with a different name, and proved to be a substitute - Inna Tcherkasova. The Russian male skater did not come at all. Michel Lotz of France was quickly invited and competed in his place." Sandra Stevenson recalled the incident with the Soviet woman a little differently five years later in "Tracings" magazine. She wrote, "It was discovered near the end [after she'd skated] that a Russian woman was not the listed competitor at all, but a different skater. Frustrated, the... sponsors insisted on making it clear that they would not pay for unapproved substitutions. Unfortunately, the Britons sent this forcibly-worded warning to every country with the result that the U.S. became upset and refused to send a team." Amidst this backdrop of chaos, America's Linda Fratianne, Japan's Fumio Igarashi and Great Britain's Janet Thompson and Warren Maxwell made history as the first champions of the event. Sonia Bianchetti Garbato, Jane Vaughn Sullivan, Lawrence Demmy, Sally Ann Stapleford, Junko Hiramatsu and Pauline Borrajo were among the officials.

Karena Richardson performing her bronze medal winning skate at Rotary Watches International in 1979

The second Rotary Watches Ice International was held in early October of 1979. Japan's Emi Watanabe won the women's competition, defeating West Germany's Dagmar Lurz, who would soon win the Olympic bronze medal. Future Olympic Medallists Robin Cousins and Krisztina Regőczy and András Sallay snactched the gold medals in men's and ice dance. Cousins' win over Igor Bobrin and Brian Pockar was a testament to his grit - he was suffering from a case of food poisoning and barely slept the night before the short program. He rallied in the free skate and landed four triples, debuting his new Olympic program. The next year, the St. Ivel dairy company - famous for their Golden Meadow butter and Lactic cheese - took over the title sponsorship of the event and added a pairs event.

Elizabeth Manley, Jill Trenary and Inga Gauter on the St. Ivel podium in 1986. Photo courtesy Elaine Hooper, BIS Archive.

Despite the proliferation of many new international competitions in the same period that St. Ivel International emerged, the competition proved to be a huge success year after year, consistently drawing some of the best skaters in the world to England to give their new programs a 'test run' early every season.

Left: Brian Pockar. Right: Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini. Photos courtesy Elaine Hooper, BIS Archive.

Among the winners from 1980 to 1987 were future Olympic medallists Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, Brian Boitano, Brian Orser, Tracy Wilson and Rob McCall, Paul Wylie, Debi Thomas, Maya Usova and Alexander Zhulin and Elizabeth Manley. World Champions Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini and Elaine Zayak were also St. Ivel Champions. 

Over the years, St. Ivel International played host to many dramatic moments, both on and off the ice. Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean received perfect 6.0's for their "Mack and Mabel" free dance in 1981, including one from the Soviet judge. Brian Orser submitted his music on cassette the same year and was informed it was almost a minute too short. With a hastily re-edited program, he won anyway. When Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin were no-show's at the event in 1984, a rumour circulated that Bestemianova was pregnant. Lyudmila Pakhomova set the record straight. She was the Soviet ice dancing queen that was expecting, not Bestemianova. In 1987, Bestemianova and Bukin finally made the trek to perform exhibitions for the appreciative St. Ivel audience. Perhaps most famously, ice dancers Anna Pisánská and Jiří Musil refused to return home to Czechoslovakia after the 1980 event and were granted political asylum.

Kurt Browning at Skate Electric. Photo courtesy Elaine Hooper, BIS Archive.

In the autumn of 1988, St. Ivel International was reincarnated as Skate Electric. Kurt Browning won the inaugural men's competition at the event, despite missing his bus to the practice the day of the free skate.

Charlene Wong after winning Skate Electric

Canadian skaters Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler, Charlene Wong, Norm Proft and Christine Hough and Doug Ladret also scored Skate Electric victories in the event's final years. At the 1988 event, Michelle McDonald and Mark Mitchell finished sixth in the compulsory dances but second in the Charleston OSP - an extremely rare instance of drastic 'movement' in ice dance during that era. 

Perhaps most interesting is the fact that during the 1989/1990 season, Skate Electric was the only major autumn international competition to include school figures. Knowing that their elimination was imminent at the 1990 World Championships, many federations took advantage of an ISU rule that allowed organizers to cut the unpopular three's and eight's in hopes of attracting more skaters.

How did it all end? Well, Skate Electric's sponsor was the Electricity Council, which oversaw the electricity supply industry in England and Wales at the time. As part of a commitment to sponsor figure skating events in the UK, the Council not only sponsored the Skate Electric competition, but also the Welsh Open, a Sport Aid Ice Gala in Birmingham, the British Ice and Roller Skating Championships and speed skating champion Wilf O'Reilly. In late July of 1989, the Electricity Act was signed, privatizing the industry in England and putting an end to sponsorship dollars. 

The final Skate Electric was held in the autumn of 1990, with a planned 1991 competition quietly cancelled. The last event in 1990 bore witness to a defining moment in figure skating history. When the competition began, there were representatives from both East and West Germany. An ISU meeting held during the event ratified a proposal from both the East and West German federations that there be only one German federation within the ISU. Ronny Winkler made history in the men's event as the first skater in decades to win a medal in international competition representing a unified Germany. The fact that a peace-defining moment for German skaters was made on British ice did not go unnoticed.

MEDALLISTS AT ROTARY WATCHES/ST.IVEL/SKATE ELECTRIC

MEN

Year	Winner	2nd	3rd
1978	Fumio Igarashi	David Santee	Miroslav Šoška
1979	Robin Cousins	Igor Bobrin	Brian Pockar
1980	Brian Pockar	Scott Hamilton	Fumio Igarashi
1981	Brian Orser	David Santee	Rudi Cerne
1982	Brian Orser	Norbert Schramm	Tom Dickson
1983	Heiko Fischer	Gary Beacom	Falko Kirsten
1984	Brian Boitano	Viktor Petrenko	Grzegorz Filipowski
1985	Brian Orser	Grzegorz Filipowski	Christopher Bowman
1986	Daniel Doran	Oliver Höner	Richard Zander
1987	Paul Wylie	Kurt Browning	Heiko Fischer
1988	Kurt Browning	Christopher Bowman	Ronny Winkler
1989	Todd Eldredge	Grzegorz Filipowski	Vladimir Petrenko
1990	Norm Proft	Ronny Winkler	Erik Larson

WOMEN

Year	Winner	2nd	3rd
1978	Linda Fratianne	Emi Watanabe	Dagmar Lurz
1979	Emi Watanabe	Dagmar Lurz	Karena Richardson
1980	Sandy Lenz	Tracey Wainman	Sanda Dubravčić
1981	Tracey Wainman	Jackie Farrell	Karen Wood
1982	Elaine Zayak	Tracey Wainman	Cornelia Tesch
1983	Tiffany Chin	Manuela Ruben	Karen Wood
1984	Kathryn Adams	Cynthia Coull	Claudia Villiger
1985	Debi Thomas	Susan Jackson	Joanne Conway
1986	Elizabeth Manley	Jill Trenary	Inga Gauter
1987	Caryn Kadavy	Patricia Neske	Joanne Conway
1988	Charlene Wong	Joanne Conway	Beatrice Gelmini
1989	Tonia Kwiatkowski	Simone Koch	Patricia Neske
1990	Holly Cook	Lisa Sargeant	Surya Bonaly

PAIRS

Year	Winner	2nd	3rd
1979	Nellie Cherkvotina and Victor Teslia	Christina Riegel and Andreas Nischwitz	Susan Garland and Robert Daw
1980	Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini	Inna Volyanskaya and Valery Spiridonov	Susan Garland and Robert Daw
1981	Lorri Baier and Lloyd Eisler	Vicki Heasley and Peter Oppehard	Susan Garland and Ian Jenkins
1982	Lyudmila Koblova and Andrei Kalitin	Melinda Kunhegyi and Lyndon Johnston	Susan Garland and Ian Jenkins
1983	Birgit Lorenz and Knut Schubert	Cynthia Coull and Mark Rowsom	Lea Ann Miller and Bill Fauver
1984	Inna Bekker and Sergei Likhanski	Katy Keeley and Joseph Mero	Laureen Collin and David Howe
1985	Natalie and Wayne Seybold	Christine Hough and Doug Ladret	Yulia Bystrova and Alexander Tarasov
1986	Christine Hough and Doug Ladret	Michelle Menzies and Kevin Wheeler	Gillian Wachsman and Todd Waggoner
1987	Denise Benning and Lyndon Johnston	Peggy Schwarz and Alexander König	Gillian Wachsman and Todd Waggoner
1988	Peggy Schwarz and Alexander König	Elena Bechke and Denis Petrov	Cheryl Peake and Andrew Naylor
1989	Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler	Kellie Creel and Bob Pellaton	Radka Kovaříková and René Novotný
1990	Christine Hough and Doug Ladret	Elena Nikonova and Nikolai Apter	Radka Kovaříková and René Novotný

ICE DANCE

Year	Winner	2nd	3rd
1978	Janet Thompson and Warren Maxwell	Liliana Řeháková and Stanislav Drastich	Natalia Karamysheva and Rostislav Sinitsyn
1979	Krisztina Regőczy and András Sallay	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	Natalia Karamysheva and Rostislav Sinitsyn
1980	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	Elena Garanina and Igor Zavozin	Karen Barber and Nicky Slater
1981	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	Karen Barber and Nicky Slater	Wendy Sessions and Stephen Williams
1982	Judy Blumberg and Michael Seibert	Karen Barber and Nicky Slater	Elena Batanova and Alexei Soloviev
1983	Karen Barber and Nicky Slater	Carol Fox and Richard Dalley	Wendy Sessions and Stephen Williams
1984	Tracy Wilson and Rob McCall	Natalia Annenko and Genrikh Sretenski	Susie Wynne and Joseph Druar
1985	Natalia Annenko and Genrikh Sretenski	Suzanne Semanick and Scott Gregory	Klára Engi and Attila Tóth
1986	Kathrin and Christoff Beck	Sharon Jones and Paul Askham	Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay
1987	Maya Usova and Alexandr Zhulin	Sharon Jones and Paul Askham	Lia Trovati and Roberto Pelizzola
1988	Maya Usova and Alexandr Zhulin	Sharon Jones and Paul Askham	Suzanne Semanick and Ron Kravette
1989	Angelika Krylova and Vladimir Leliukh	Jeanne Miley and Michael Verlich	Isabelle Sarech and Xavier Debernis
1990	Stefania Calegari and Pasquale Camerlengo	Sophie Moniotte and Pascal Lavanchy	Lisa Bradby and Alan Towers

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Remembering The Richmond Trophy

Advertisement for the Richmond Trophy in 1972. Photo courtesy "Skating World" magazine.

In the aftermath of World War II, daily life in England wasn't exactly sunshine and roses. Both food and petrol were strictly rationed, women were forced to give up their wartime jobs as shell-shocked and injured soldiers returned to civilian life and a strike of dockyard workers forced the government to use military troops to unload goods. This gloomy period was the backdrop for the birth of a historic figure skating competition called The Richmond Trophy.

At the time, a who's who of international skating, including the reigning World Champion Ája Vrzáňová, trained at the historic Richmond Sports-Drome in Twickenham under the watchful eye of senior instructor Arnold Gerschwiler. Henry Rule, the Sports-Drome's chairman, came to Captain T.D. Richardson with the idea of holding an annual international event for the women who trained at the rink. Rule offered to furnish the prize - a massive silver cup. Richardson struggled to convince the powers-that-be at the National Skating Association to permit the Richmond Amateur Ice Skating Club to hold the event. Even though the R.A.I.S.C. was affiliated with the N.S.A., the idea of a club hosting its own competition was unprecedented at the time. Richardson's persistence paid off when the event "open to any amateur in the world with the exception of those who have actually won a World, Olympic or European Championship" was finally approved... through the backing of Arnold Gerschwiler. In "Skating World" magazine, Richardson remarked, "One must remember... that there is no... 'qualification for entry.' In actual fact, the chief merit of this competition is that it gives national champions and their nearest rivals a trial run, whilst at the same time providing an assessment of progress for the teachers as well as an opportunity for those with ambition to gain experience, and see how they fare in senior events, with a view to championships in the future." Originally, the event was supposed to have been a junior event, but an ISU rule change stating that skaters who had taken part in the Olympics, Worlds or Europeans were ineligible for junior events forced the organizers to make the event for seniors only.

The first Richmond Trophy, then referred to as the Open International Figure Skating Competition at Richmond, was held on November 7 and 8, 1949, with skaters from five countries participating. Competitors skated six figures and a four-minute free skating performances. Liverpool's Jeannette Altwegg was the winner by over forty points. 

Photo courtesy "Skating World" magazine.

When Jeannette Altwegg defended her title the following year, seventeen women from four countries (The United Kingdom, Switzerland, Holland and Finland) competed. When Barbara Wyatt won in 1951, history was made by Nancy Hallam of Australia - the first skater from one of the Commonwealth countries to participate. The event gained considerable traction in 1952, when British Champion Valda Osborn withdrew due to a sprained ligament in her foot and thirteen year old Kensington schoolgirl Yvonne Sugden was the victor. There were only nine competitors from four countries that year, but the event was televised nationally on the BBC, with commentary by World Champion Cecilia Colledge. The addition of an annual open ice dance event, The Tomlinson Trophy, increased to the event's profile and popularity.

Left: Henry A.V. Hopkins presenting Sjoukje Dijkstra with the Richmond Trophy in 1957. Joan Haanappel, Carolyn Krau and Diana Clifton-Peach on the podium at the Richmond Trophy in 1959. Photos courtesy "Skating World" magazine.

The record for the most wins at the Richmond Trophy is actually a four-way tie, with four women from four different each winning three times. Yvonne Sugden won in 1952, 1953 and 1955; Sjoukje Dijkstra won 1956, 1957 and 1958; Nicole Hassler won in 1960, 1961 and 1962 and Zsuzsa Almássy won in 1964, 1966 and 1967. 

Yvonne Sugden, Sjoukje Dijkstra and Joan Haanappel on the podium at the Richmond Trophy in 1955. Photo courtesy "Skating World" magazine.

Five skaters who went on to win the World Championships won the event over the years: Sjoukje Dijkstra, Jeannette Altwegg, Dorothy Hamill, Christine Errath and Dianne de Leeuw.

Sandra Brugnera of Italy broke the streak of skaters from Great Britain, Holland and France dominating the Richmond Trophy when she won in 1963. Photo courtesy "Skating World" magazine.

Over the years, The Richmond Trophy played host to many memorable moments. In 1965, Alison Smith, Carol Windebank and Lesley Norfolk demonstrated several new compulsory figures which Captain T.D. Richardson was lobbying to include in the ISU schedule - among them three-rocker-three's and double loops. These were skated on Richmond's smaller Arosa rink. Each year, the Sports-Drome's Arosa Room played host to a dance where competitors were presented with souvenir plaques for participating.

1965 winner Uschi Keszler (left) and 1967 winner Zsuzsa Almássy. Photos courtesy "Winter Sports" magazine.

A plucky eleven year old Sonja Morgenstern made her international debut at the Richmond Trophy in 1967, placing only eighteenth but capturing the attention of the international judges 'as a skater to watch'. She went on to win a medal at the European Championships in 1972. There were sadder memories too, like when Joan Haanappel had to withdraw after finishing second in figures in 1957 due to an abscessed tooth. In 1965, Vanessa Simons withdrew after figures when she caught her leg in a car door, requiring three stitches. That same year, one judge had Hana Mašková of Czechoslovakia an unlucky thirteenth. Mašková went on to win the Olympic bronze medal in 1968, but was killed in a car crash when she was only twenty-two.

When Karen Wood won the final event in 1980, there were only eleven entries - down from a record thirty-one from eleven countries in 1966. The Richmond Trophy's demise was directly related to the success of the Rotary Watches International, which evolved into St. Ivel and Skate Electric. As these events included women's events, you might say that the Richmond Trophy wasn't really cancelled, but instead absorbed.

MEDALLISTS AT THE RICHMOND TROPHY

Year	Winner	2nd	3rd
1949	Jeannette Altwegg	Barbara Wyatt	Jiřina Nekolová
1950	Jeannette Altwegg	Barbara Wyatt	Valda Osborn
1951	Barbara Wyatt	Valda Osborn	Helga Dudzinski
1952	Yvonne Sugden	Lidy Stoppelman	Doreen Spowart
1953	Yvonne Sugden	Anne Robinson	Lidy Stoppelman
1954	Patricia Pauley	Sjoukje Dijkstra	Clema 'Winkie' Cowley
1955	Yvonne Sugden	Joan Haanappel	Sjoukje Dijkstra
1956	Sjoukje Dijkstra	Joan Haanappel	Karin Borner
1957	Sjoukje Dijkstra	Patricia Pauley	Diana Clifton-Peach
1958	Sjoukje Dijkstra	Carolyn Krau	Diana Clifton-Peach
1959	Joan Haanappel	Carolyn Krau	Nicole Hassler
1960	Nicole Hassler	Carolyn Krau	Barbara Conniff
1961	Nicole Hassler	Barbara Conniff	Heather Muir
1962	Nicole Hassler	Carol S. Noir	Anne Lenton
1963	Sandra Brugnera	Uschi Keszler	Christine van de Putte
1964	Zsuzsa Almássy	Uschi Keszler	Patricia Dodd
1965	Uschi Keszler	Zsuzsa Almássy	Beate Richter
1966	Zsuzsa Almássy	Petra Ruhrmann	Trixi Schuba
1967	Zsuzsa Almássy	Trixi Schuba	Patricia Dodd
1968	Elisabeth Nestler	Patricia Dodd	Eleonora Baricka
1969	Elisabeth Nestler	Patricia Dodd	Rita Trapanese
1970	Rita Trapanese	Patricia Dodd	Dawn Glab
1971	Christine Errath	Cathy Lee Irwin	Kazumi Yamashita
1972	Dorothy Hamill	Karin Iten	Jean Scott
1973	Dianne de Leeuw	Maria McLean	Karin Iten
1974	Marion Weber	Isabel de Navarre	Kath Malmberg
1975	Lynn Nightingale	Barbie Smith	Linda Fratianne
1976	Barbie Smith	Susanna Driano	Heather Kemkaran
1977	Priscilla Hill	Kristiina Wegelius	Denise Biellmann
1978	Susanna Driano	Carrie Rugh	Karena Richardson
1979	Alicia Risberg	Carola Weißenberg	Simone Grigorescu
1980	Karen Wood	Janina Wirth	Carola Paul

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Behind The Scenes: Overcoming Roadblocks With The Jackson Haines Book

Researching Jackson Haines' story for my upcoming book has been a fascinating process but not one without its unique obstacles to overcome.

Jackson travelled extensively in Europe from 1864 until his death in 1875, so the very first thing I did was to create a spreadsheet with a timeline of his travels. I tracked his journey month by month, year by year through books, articles and advertisements in nineteenth century newspapers. He was in numerous countries so combing through articles for clues about where he planned to travel next was something that proved really helpful. Sifting through primary source material in different languages can often have its challenges but paying attention to geography can often be the key to find those missing puzzle pieces.

Photo courtesy Wiener Eislaufverein

Geography played a huge role in mapping out Jackson's time in America before he left for Europe. Once I found the addresses in New York City where he and his family lived, I popped them into a really neat GIS mapping tool called NYC & Then & Now. Not being from New York, this resource (coupled with walking times from Google Maps) really helped me get a sense of the neighbourhood he lived in and the distance between his homes and the places in the city he would have visited regularly. Another thing I found super helpful was searching newspaper archives for street addresses instead of business names.

Finding a manifest of passengers for the ship Jackson left America on was a roadblock I encountered quite early in my research. Records of immigration into the United States in the 1860's are actually quite robust but when you go that far back, finding passenger lists of emigration out of the country can get quite difficult, especially when the passengers didn't return. Through my research I found the name of the ship, the date and port he left from, but I couldn't find a passenger manifest anywhere. I finally found what I was looking digging in newspaper archives: one list of passengers leaving the United States on the correct ship and date and a matching record of passengers arriving in Europe. 

Researching Jackson's genealogy has perhaps been the most important aspect of the research for the book. It has also arguably been the most challenging. If you think about your own family's genealogy, you would probably start with your parents and work backwards. In Jackson's case, you can't really do that. He died in 1875 and none of his children had children of their own. Through my own research and conversations with two descendants from his mother's line, I was able to put together a pretty extensive family tree but two records proved absolutely elusive. 

The first was Jackson's sister Hannah Maria. Based on the 1870 United States Census, her marriage notice and a record of her husband's second marriage, I was able to narrow down my research to a seven-year time frame where she either likely died or remarried but I couldn't find anything at all on Ancestry, Familysearch or in newspaper archives. The mystery was finally solved when I reached out to a genealogist in New York who was able to track down a short death notice through Genealogy Bank with a date of death. This led me back to the newspaper archives in the community where she died. I searched for her married and maiden name around her death date and nothing came up. When I went through the index and scanned copies around her death date, I found what I was looking for: a more detailed death notice. Both her maiden and married name were mentioned, but they had been misspelled. It was a definite match though.

Misspelling proved to be the exact same roadblock when it came to tracking down the death certificate for Jackson's wife. I searched her first name and married name with a year someone had put in a family tree on Ancestry and got nowhere. I finally tracked down a record with the same death date and her maiden name listed as the middle name. The first name was completely wrong and her married name was badly misspelled. With a hunch I'd found the correct record, I ordered a copy from the New York City Municipal Archives. Lo and behold, the record I received was in fact the elusive record I was looking for. Whoever had transcribed it had just misread the handwriting. This record provided key clues which led me to even more information about Jackson's wife which will only make the book more interesting.

The will of Jackson's grandfather and namesake

If you found this interesting, stay tuned to the blog over the coming months. I will be sharing more stories about the process behind the research for this book, which I honestly can't wait for you all to read! 

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

The Finnish System

At the 1955 ISU Congress in Lausanne, Switzerland, the powers that be in figure skating approved a trial of a new judging system, informally called The Finnish System after its creator Walter Jakobsson, at the 1956 European Championships in Paris. It had been first tested at an international junior competition in Switzerland in 1955.

An oversight led to the omission of the trial of The Finnish System in the announcement for the 1956 European Championships in Paris, so it was decided to postpone its trial to the 1957 European Championships in Vienna. Jakob Biedermann, a Swiss attorney who was serving as the ISU's Chairman of the Figure Skating Committee, was furious about the decision. He believed that if it was voted to try it in Paris, it should have been tried. He ended up resigning over it.

At the time, gymnastics and diving used a judging system where the highest and lowest marks were thrown out. The Finnish System also tried to address judges who deviated from the pack for various reasons (national bias, difference of opinion, incompetence, etc.) but it varied somewhat. The marks of the first skater were averaged to determine a standard - let's say 3.8 as an example - and then the marks of the judges whose marks deviated the most from that standard, both high and low, were thrown out.

The amount of marks that were 'thrown out' depended on the number of judges and it was argued that if a judge wanted their marks to 'stay in', all the had to do was stick as close to the standard as possible each time for them to be counted. So, if Susie Salchow got a bunch of 5.0's, an unscrupulous judge merely had to look over their shoulder at what their neighbour was doing and give them a 5.0 too. 

If three judges gave marks of 5.9 to an outstanding skater and one gave them a 4.1, it wouldn't just be the judge who gave the 4.1 who would be eliminated - the three judges who gave 5.9's could be sent packing too. As a high-profile case involving corrupt Austrian judges was major news in the skating world at the time, the skating community had legitimate concerns that The Finnish System, like the existing one, could be abused by less than ethical judges.

Marika Kilius and Franz Ningel at the 1957 European Championships. Video courtesy Frazer Ormondroyd.

At the 1957 European Championships in Vienna, The Finnish System was tried in the singles and pairs events, with the 6.0 system used in the ice dance event. Czechoslovakians Věra Suchánková and Zdeněk Doležal pulled off a surprise win in pairs. France's Alain Giletti won the men's title for the third straight year, despite placing only fourth in the free skate. In her home city, Hanna Eigel reclaimed the title she'd first won in Budapest in 1955. However, she wasn't even in the top four in the free skate. Many spectators, not understanding the weight of the school figure and blamed the new Finnish System for the best free skaters not winning. However misplaced this particular ire was, there were far more measured criticisms of The Finnish System that followed.

H. Leslie White published his "Opinion of the 'Finnish' System" in the May 1957 issue of "Skating World" magazine. It provoked a healthy discussion about the pro's and con's of the ISU's new baby, a letter of objection from Walter Jakobsson and a show of support for White from Cyril Beastall, the editor of "Skating World". I'm sharing both pieces for you below in their entirety.

Photo courtesy "Skating World" magazine

Photo courtesy "Skating World" magazine

Ultimately, the ISU decided at its 1957 Congress in Salzburg to reject both The Finnish System and a British proposal for an alternative to it. Both systems, ISU officials believed, simply did not have enough of an impact on the overall results of competitions to be viable. Rather than come up with an alternative, the 6.0 system remained and a renewed focus was placed on weeding out 'bad judges'. We all know how well that went.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Photographers are really figure skating's unsung heroes. They take hundreds of pictures just to get that perfect shot. They arrive at a rink long before a competition starts and leave long after the final skater finds out if they got a Season's Best score or not in the Kiss and Cry. What you may not know is that in a not so roundabout way, the world of skating photography may not have been what it is today without the pioneering efforts of family members of the man you'll be reading about in my next book... Jackson Haines.

One of Eugene S.M. Haines' photographs of the construction of the New York State Capitol building. Photo courtesy New York State Archives.

Jackson's older brother Eugene was in the photography business in Albany for over twenty years and during the Edwardian era was considered the New York's state photographer. He took official pictures of the New York State Capitol building in Albany from the very first stages of its construction in 1867 to its completion in 1899. Some of Eugene's photographs can be found in the New York State Archives.

Jackson Haines' nephew John

Jackson's nephew John H.J. Haines was an inventor who spent over a decade making innovations in the field of vacuum tube lighting - which produced light without heat. It was a concept first experimented with by the likes of Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. John held patents for numerous inventions, including electric arc lamps, several phonographs... and an ice-making machine. Two of Jackson's other nephews, John Gardiner and Victor Flammang, worked for many years in the photography supplies business.

Photo courtesy United States Patent and Trademark Office

Jackson's brother-in-law Mathias Flammang was also a pioneer in photographic experiments. He held a patent for a type of optical camera as well as an improvement in camera design - a device which held two dry plates in one holder.

Mathias Flammang's Reversable Back Camera with bellows, manufatured by the American Optical Co.

Speaking of photography... you know the old saying "a picture is worth a thousand words?" Well, writing is kind of my thing so I'd rather have the thousand words personally. I do know a lot of you absolutely love those visuals though and that's something you'll absolutely finding in this book. There will be some wonderful photographs, engravings and etchings of Jackson... including some things I can promise that you haven't seen before.

Etching of Jackson Haines. Photo courtesy "Die Kunst Des Schlittschuhlaufens", Franz Calistus, 1890.

Keep an eye on the blog over the coming months... I'll be sharing some more little interesting side-stories like these which you won't find in the Jackson Haines book, as well as a little bit about the research process that is going into it.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.