Scott, Margaret (1875–1938)

British golfer. Name variations: Lady Margaret Scott; Lady Hamilton Russell. Born in 1875 in Wiltshire, England; died in 1938; daughter of the earl of Eldon; married Lord Hamilton Russell.

Born into a titled British family in 1875, Margaret Scott grew up playing golf with her three brothers on the grounds of their home in Wiltshire, England. The game of golf, which had been played since the mid-1400s, became increasingly popular with the upper classes throughout the second half of the 19th century, but, as with many male-dominated pursuits, women who played it were considered somewhat disreputable. In Britain, women's golf courses typically were separate from those on which men played, and of a lower quality. Some women had nonetheless competed in golf tournaments since the 1500s, and in 1893 the Ladies' Golf Union was formed. Scott won the British Ladies' championship during each of the union's first three years (1893–95), and the fact that she was a member of the aristocracy removed much of the stigma from women playing the game. She retired from competing in 1895, and later married, taking the name Lady Hamilton Russell. She died in 1938.

sources:

Elliott, Len, and Barbara Kelly. Who's Who in Golf. New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House, 1976.

Uglow, Jennifer S., comp. and ed. The International Dictionary of Women's Biography. NY: Continuum, 1982.

Catherine Dybiec Holm , M.S., Cook, Minnesota