Early Days
County Golf in England started at the beginning of the 20th century, and by 1909 was well established south of the border, but had not reached Scotland. There must have been a drive to spread it further, as not only Midlothian, but Fife, Stirling and Dumbartonshire all started at the same time.
A meeting was convened in January 1909 to consider the formation of a Midlothian County Golf Club. There were 14 ladies present and 2 gentlemen, representing Musselburgh, Edinburgh Ladies (who I think played on the Braids) , Murrayfield, Portobello, Baberton and Craigmillar.
Not only was there Maud Titterton, the reigning British Champion, but also Dorothy Campbell, the reigning Scottish Champion, Miss Charlotte Stevenson (who became Mrs J.B.Watson and later Charlotte Beddows) Miss Clapperton, Miss J.G. Brown, Miss Nicholson and Miss (Madge) Neill Fraser.
Midlothian probably the best players in Great Britain at the time…
Frontpiece of the first Midlothian Minute book
Maud Titterton, who was unanimously called to Chair at that first meeting, and became Captain for three years, was the reigning British Champion, when she beat Dorothy Campbell in the Final at St Andrews in 1908. She had played in her first British at Royal Portrush in 1894, and was known as an Anglo Scot, English, but played for Scotland!!! Something you can't do nowadays!
It was an exciting final, and well documented as it was the first time that Cecil Leitch, known as the "young flapper" hit the scene. [Maud Titterton beat the young Leitch in the semifinals at the last hole after a lucky altercation with the bridge over the Swilcan. Maud went on to play Dorothy Campbell in the final, and they were all square when Maud again jumped the burn at the 18th. They halved in 5, then went back to the first tee for sudden death. Dorothy Campbell played short of the burn in two. Unsure of the carry, Maud Titterton bet her caddy £5 that she could not do it, and duly did! Yes… The power of negative thinking!!! She won the match, and the British Championship.]
Dorothy Campbell was the reigning Scottish Champion (she also won the Scottish in 1905 and 1906) , won the British Championship in 1909 at Birkdale, and went on in 1909 to win the American Championship, being the first person to hold both the British and American Championships simultaneously. She married and became Mrs Dorothy Hurd, emigrated to Canada, and went on to win the American Championship three times, the Canadian Championship three times and in 1911 won the British again at Royal Portrush, taking the trophy with her back to Canada, which caused consternation amongst the competitors at the time!
Charlotte Stevenson Watson Beddows had reached the semifinal of the Scottish in 1905 as a 17 year old, and went on to win three Scottish Championships just after the first world war, played in the first Curtis Cup match, and contested the final of the Scottish Championship in 1951 and had a Scottish cap when she was 62…
These three ladies were all members of Musselburgh… they played their golf on the old links, where the racecourse is, and where the Royal Burgess, Bruntsfield, the Honorable Company and the Royal Musselburgh Golf club, all started.
Golf Illustrated reports that Midlothian held it's first meeting at Duddingston in 1909 which Miss Titterton won with a 91, and played it's first County match against Stirling that same year (which we won 5-2). Unfortunately I cannot find records of who was in the County team. Perhaps the other Counties might have these details, and it's something we'll need to investigate for our Centenary.
You have to be a bit of a detective… In the Minutes of the AGM of 1912, it says that "Miss J.G. Brown was appointed Captain of the club for the ensuing year in place of Mrs Gibb who had left Edinburgh"… well Mrs Gibb was Maud Titterton, she got married, and emigrated to South Africa where she was South African Champion in 1912 and 1913, and went on to start the Tranvaal Ladies Golf Union in 1913 and ensured that it was affiliated to the LGU.
Another name that I mentioned was Madge Neil Fraser, of Murrayfield who served on the first committee. She was a semi-finalist in the Scottish in 1906, semi-finalist in the British in 1910, and runner up in the Scottish in 1912 and a Scottish International. She died in March 1915 in active service in Serbia, where she acted as a volunteer nurse and Chauffeuse. It was reported that "A hospital fund in her memory was subscribed to by golfers in many parts of the world."
