Sporting greats

Willie Bauld (1927-1977)

Footballer

Nicknamed 'The King' by supporters of Heart of Midlothian FC, Bauld is the club's record competitive goalscorer.

Born in Newcraighall, a mining village outside Edinburgh, his father Robert was a colliery surfaceman. He commenced his football career in 1946, playing for junior side Newtongrange Star. After a spell at Musselburgh Athletic he joined Hearts, and was to establish himself as one of the club's all-time greats.

Between 1946 and his retiral in 1962 he made 292 appearances, scoring 183 goals. He became part of Hearts so-called 'Terrible Trio', a formidable strike force, alongside Jimmy Wardhaugh and Alfie Conn.

He helped Hearts to a Scottish Cup triumph in 1956, the League Championship in 1957-58 and 1959-60 and League Cup successes in 1955 and 1959. He was also capped 3 times for Scotland in 1950, scoring twice.

He died in Edinburgh in 1977, aged 50.

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Born Newcraighall, 14 Jan 1927 (ref 685/16, 9)

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Marriage to Margaret Cockburn, 23 Jun 1952 (ref 685/3, 320)

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Died Edinburgh, 11 Mar 1977 (ref 744, 230)

James Braid (1870-1950)

Golfer

Braid was a professional golfer, one of the late 19th century's 'Great Triumvirate' along with Harry Vardon and John Henry Taylor. The trio combined to win The Open Championship 16 times out of 21 between 1894 and 1914. Braid won 5 (the first competitor to accomplish this feat).

Born in Kilconquhar, Fife, he played golf from an early age, turning professional in 1896. Initially hampered by his putting, after a switch to an aluminium putter in 1900 there was no turning back. His winning streak included the Open in 1901, 1905, 1906, 1908 and 1910, as well as the British PGA Matchplay Championships in 1903, 1905, 1907 and 1911. He also won the French Open in 1910.

Retirning from tournament golf in 1912, he became a club professional at Walton Heath in Surrey. He was also a course designer and is sometimes credited as having invented the dogleg. Among more than 200 designs are the King's and Queen's Courses at Gleneagles.

Braid remained at Walton Heath until his death in 1950.

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Born Kilconquhar, 6 Feb 1870 (ref 436/00, 9)

Jim Clark (1936-1968)

Racing car driver

Clark was a Formula One racing driver, the dominant driver of his era with two World Championships (1963 and 1965).

Born into a farming family in Fife, he was the youngest child with 4 older sisters. The Clark family moved to Berwickshire in 1942.

Although his parents opposed the idea, Clark began racing in local road rallies, quickly gaining a reputation as a fierce competitor. By 1958 he was driving for the Borders Reiver team, racing D-type Jaguars and Porsches in national events (winning 18 races).

His Formula One Grand Prix debut was on June 6 1960, aged 24. He went on to tremendous success, achieving 33 pole positions and winning 25 races from his 72 Grands Prix starts in championship races. Tragically, he died doing what he loved best, after crashing during an event in Germany. He was 32.

He is remembered for his ability to drive and win in all types of cars and series. There is a small museum dedicated to Clark in Duns, Berwickshire.

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Born Kilmany, Fife, 4 Mar 1936 (ref 437/00, 2)

Ellen King (1909-1994)

Swimmer

Ellen King was an outstanding swimmer who won six British swimming championships, two world records and two silver medals in the 1928 Olympics.

Born in Renfrew, she spent most of her life in Edinburgh. A member of Warrender Baths Club, she represented Britain at the 1924 Olympics in Paris, finishing 6th in the 100 yards backstroke. She went on to win two silver medals in the Amsterdam Olympics in 1928, for the 150 yards backstroke and the ladies relay race.

She won all Scottish Championship titles from 50 to 440 yards, and won six British Championships during her career. She broke the world records for the 220 yards breaststroke and the 150 yards backstroke in 1927 and 1928.

After her amateur career, King taught swimming in Edinburgh schools. She continued to swim until after her 80th birthday.

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Born Renfrew, 16 Jan 1909 (ref 575/00, 78)

Eric Liddell (1902-1945)

Athlete · Rugby Union international

Liddell was the winner of the Men's 400 metres Gold at the 1924 Olympics in Paris. This was portrayed in the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire (1981).

Nicknamed 'The Flying Scotsman', Liddell was born in Tianjin, northern China, where his father James was a Protestant missionary. Educated in China until the age of 5, Liddell and his brother Robert were enrolled in Eltham College, London, a boarding school for missionary children.

He became an outstanding athlete, captaining both the cricket and rugby teams. In 1921 he went to Edinburgh University, studying Pure Science. On the sporting side, he continued to excel, playing for the Scottish national rugby side in Five Nations matches.

After being chosen to represent Britain at the 1924 Olympics, he refused to run in the 100 metres race because it was being held on Sunday, and he was a commited Christian. Instead he devoted his energies to the 400 metres, where he wasn't expected to win. But win he did, establishing a new world record.

In later years he returned to China to continue missionary work. Following Japanese invasion in 1941 he was interned in a camp for foreign nationals. During a prisoner exchange he refused to leave, giving his place to a pregnant woman. He died there on 21 February 1945, 5 months before liberation.

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Died Weihsien Internment Camp, China, 21 Feb 1945

View the entry relating to Liddell's death in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.

(We provide links to hundreds of websites related to family history research; for a full list refer to our A-Z of useful websites page).

Benny Lynch (1913-1946)

Flyweight boxer

Born in Glasgow's Gorbals in 1913, Benny Lynch was a professional flyweight boxer described by Ring Magazine as 'the greatest fighter Scotland has ever produced'.

Lynch developed his skills in the carnival booths that were popular throughout west central Scotland during the depression of the 1930s. Winning the Scottish flyweight title on 16 May 1935, he went on to win the British and European titles, then the world title from Jackie Brown in a legendary bout held in Manchester in 1935. A huge travelling support of Glaswegians travelled south to support 'our Benny'.

Although there was some dispute between the opposite sides of the Atlantic as to who was the world's best flyweight, Lynch settled the matter in 1936 by out-pointing Filipino Small Montana, in London. Established as the world's number one, he lost just five fights between 1932 and 1936, and in 1937 he knocked-out English legend Peter Kane.

Tragically, Lynch's spell at the peak of his game was to be short-lived. An increasing reliance on alcohol led to him failing to make the weight for the flyweight division. By the time he was 25 his greatest fight was against the bottle. Scotland's legendary flyweight saw out his final years in the pubs of his home city where adoring fans would press drinks on him where a square meal was what he needed. He died in 1946, aged 33.

Benny Lynch's prowess was recognised for all-time with his 1998 induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

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Born Glasgow, 2 Apr 1913 (ref 644/15, 490)

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Died Glasgow, 6 Aug 1946 (ref 644/17, 824)

Tom Morris, junior (1851-1875)

Golfer

Tom Morris junior was a pioneer of professional golf and the first young prodigy in the sport's history. He was ranked the 14th best golfer of all-time in a 2009 survey in Golf Magazine.

Aptly born in 'the home of golf', St Andrews, Fife, Tom Morris (junior) he was the son of another Tom Morris, greenkeeper and professional of St Andrews Links. To avoid confusion, Tom junior became known as 'Young Tom', and his father 'Old Tom'.

After the Morris family moved to Prestwick, Ayrshire, Tom enrolled at the prestigious Ayr Academy. As his father taught him golf from a young age, Young Tom bypassed caddying and clubmaking and went straight into playing golf. He beat his father for the first time, aged 13, in a friendly at St Andrews (Old Tom was the reigning British champion at the time!)

Young Tom eventually won the British Open Championship in 1868, 1869, 1870 and 1872, the first triumph earning him a place in history as the youngest major champion (he was 17). This record still stand, as does the fact that no other player has won four straight championships. In 1869 he scored the first recorded hole-in-one, not only in the Open, but in any tournament, on the 8th at Prestwick. When he won the title this year, his father was runner-up - a unique family occurence on the championship circuit.

Tom went on to dazzle the growing number of spectators attracted to professional tournaments, featuring in exhibition matches with his father throughout Britain, but his career was cruelly cut short. During a team match in North Berwick in 1875, when the Morrises were facing brothers Willie and Mungo Park, Young Tom received a telegram requesting his immediate return home where his pregnant wife, Margaret, had gone into difficult labor. By the time Young Tom returned, his wife and newborn baby had died. Broken-hearted, he died a few months later, on Christmas Day, aged 24.

Tom Morris, junior, was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1975.

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Born St Andrews, 20 Apr 1851 (ref 453/00)

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Died St Andrews, 25 Dec 1875 (ref 453, 168)

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Margaret Died St Andrews, 11 Sep 1875 (ref 453, 124)

Tom Morris, snr (1821-1939)

Golfer

Thomas Mitchell Morris, or 'Old Tom', was a pioneer of professional golf who went on to win the Open Championship four times.

A weaver's son, Tom began golf at a tender age, knocking wine bottle corks around St Andrews with a homemade club (a pastime known as 'sillybodkins'). Progressing to caddying, he went on to be hired as an apprentice, aged 14, to Allan Robertson - regarded as tbe world's first professional golfer. From the early 1940s Robertson often chose Morris as his partner in challenge matches - they became known as 'The Invincibles'.

After parting company with Robertson, Morris was hired by the Prestwick golf club. He designed, laid out and maintained the course, ran his own golf equipment business, instructed players, and ran events. He was influential in beginning the Open Championship in 1860 and struck that event's first shot.

Returning to St Andrews as a greenkeeper and professional in 1865, he received a salary of 50 pounds per year, generous for the times. He was sought by the Royal and Ancient club and rehired. He remained in post until 1903, a total of 38 years.

After being runner-up in the 1860 championship he won the following year, following up with victories in 1862, 1864 and 1867. He still holds the record for the oldest Open winner, at 46. Old Tom held the record for the largest victory margin in a major championship (13 strokes in the 1862 Open), until 2000, when Tiger Woods won the US Open by 15 strokes.

Morris was the father of modern greenkeeping. He introduced the concept of top-dressing greens with sand to assist turf growth. He also managed of bunkers and roughs, which had previously been left to their own devices (and were often truly hazardous!) The course being negotiated by today's professionals, with its widening fairways and cultivated greens, owes its design to Old Tom Morris.

Morris was working right up until his accidental death, aged 87, when he fell down a flight of stairs in the clubhouse of the New Club at St Andrews. He is buried in the grounds of St Andrews Cathedral, his grave attracting thousands of golfers who pay homage.

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Born St Andrews, 16 June 1821 (ref 453/00)

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Died St Andrews, 24 May 1908 (ref 453, 39)

Willie Park, jnr (1864-1925)

Golfer

Like his renowned golfing father, Willie junior was born in Musselburgh. He became one of the leading professional golfers of his era.

His home town's Royal Musselburgh Golf Club course was one of the main centres of golf at the time, and Park was on the rota for The Open Championship for much of his early life. He won the event in 1887 and 1889.

At the turn of the 19th century it was almost impossible to make a living from prize money alone, so Park often played challenge matches. He also took over the family ball and club making business, establishing an export business just when golf was beginning to spread internationally. He patented several golf club designs.

He wrote The Game of Golf (1896), the first book about the subject written by a professional. Park was also a golf course designer, with 170 designs to his credit in the British Isles, Europe, the USA and Canada. Among the best-known are the Sunningdale Golf Club near London and the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club in Ottawa, Ontario. Overwork on his design business led to a decline in health and his eventual death in 1925. His daughter Dorothy was runner-up in the 1937 British Ladies Amateur Championship.

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Born Musselburgh, 4 Feb 1864 (ref 690/00, 51)

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Died Edinburgh, 22 May 1925 (ref 685/7, 460)

Willie Park, senior (1833-1903)

Golfer

Born in Musselburgh, Park was one of the pioneers of professional golf. Starting out as a cabbie, he later ran a golf equipment manufacturing business.

Park was a tall, strong man, capable of very long hits but also an excellent putter. Known as an aggressive player, he also promoted his talents vigorously, issuing challenges to top players.

Park is best known as the winner of four Open Championships, including the first ever event in 1860. He remained co-holder of the record for most wins in the tournament until James Braid's 1910 triumph.

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Died Musselburgh, 25 Jul 1903 (ref 689, 146)

Allan Robertson (1815-1859)

Golfer

Born in St Andrews in 1815, Alan Robertson is considered one of the first professional golfers.

In the mid 19th century, the sport was the sole preserve of well-off gentlemen - professionals made a living caddying, clubmaking, instructing, or playing for bets. Robertson was the most famous of these pros and tradition has it he was never beaten for money.

He is generally recognised as the best golfer from 1843 onwards, even after the arrival of the Park and Morris families. Considered the premier ball and club maker of his time, his merchandise was exported all over the world - a lucrative trade. An original Robertson ball carrying the Allan stamp is highly-prized by today's cellectors.

A playing partner of 'Old Tom' Morris, Robertson fell out with the younger men when he caught him playing with a guttie - the newer, cheaper form of golf ball (Robertson's business relied on the old-fashioned featherie balls). Robertson eventually moved with the times, manufacturing gutties himself.

Robertson died, aged 44, after an attack of jaundice. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club organised an annual collection for his widow. Indeed, the Open Championship came about when Prestwick golfers formed a competition in 1860 to decide who would succeed Robertson as the 'Champion Golfer'. The competition has continued ever since.

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Born St Andrews, 15 Sep 1815 (ref 453/00)

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Died St Andrews, 1 Sep 1859 (ref 453, 90)

Donald Ross (1872-1948)

Golfer

Ross was born in Dornoch, Sutherland, the son of Alexander, a fisherman and Catherine. He went on to become arguably the most influential golf course designer in the history of the sport. Despite his Highland upbringing, he spent most of his adult life as a citizen of the United States of America.

After serving an apprenticeship with 'Old Tom' Morris in St Andrews, Ross invested his life savings in a trip to the USA in 1899, at the suggestion of a Harvard professor named Robert Wilson. Wilson found Ross his first job in America at Oakley Country Club, Watertown, Massachusetts. In 1900 he was appointed golf professional at the Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina, and it was here that he began course designing.

Ross also enjoyed a sucessful playing career, winning three North and South Opens (1903, 1905 and 1906), two Massachusetts Opens (1905 and 1911) and finishing 5th in the 1903 US Open. As his fame grew he began teaching and playing less, focussing all his energies to course design. Eventually he ran up a substantial practice - at its height, Donald J Ross and Associates oversaw the work of thousands of people. One of his most renowned designs was Sedgefield Country Club in North Carolina, home to the PGA Tour's Wyndham Championship.

Ross was the founding member and first president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, and was admitted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1977 (a high honour rarely achieved outside of playing success. He died while completing his final design at Raleigh Country Club in North Carolina.

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Born Dornoch, 30 Aug 1872 (ref 047/00, 42)

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Died Pinehurst, North Carolina, USA, 26 Apr 1948

Bill Shankly, OBE (1913-1981)

Footballer · Football manager

Born in the Ayrshire mining village of Glenbuck in 1913, Shankly was one of 5 brothers who went on to become professional footballers. He is best known for his spell as manager of Liverpool, from 1959 to the 1970's, during which time he gained the reputation as one of the most successful and respected British managers of all time.

As a player he appeared more than 300 times for Preston North End at a time when they were a formidable force in English football. He was also capped 7 times for Scotland.

Retiring from playing in 1949, Shankly went into management, serving Carlisle United, then Grimsby Town. He became a cult figure at Grimsby and his team regularly drew 20,000 crowds (sometimes 5,000 for reserve games!) From there he went to Workington, then Huddersfield Town.

When he arrived at Liverpool in 1959 the reds were languishing in the bottom half of the second division, with a crumbling stadium. Shankly rose to the challenge, transforming the club into a dominant force in English and European football. During his tenure they won three league championships, two FA Cups and the UEFA Cup.

Despite the club's rise in fortunes, Shankly never forgot his working class Ayrshire roots. He always felt he was letting the fans down when the team didn't do well and personally replied to letters. One of the most iconic images of his time as Liverpool manager was caught on TV in 1973. A red scarf, thrown at him during a lap of honour for the championship, landed on the ground and was tossed aside by a policeman. Shankly pounced on the scarf, reprimanded the policeman, saying 'Don't do that. This might be someone's life'.

He retired in 1974, aged 60, remaining in his beloved Liverpool until his death in 1981, aged 68.

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Born Glenbuck, Ayrshire, 2 Sep 1913 (ref 607/00, 92)

Gordon Smith (1924-2004)

Footballer

Born in Edinburgh's Morningside in 1924, boyhood Hearts fan Smith was to cross the city and become one of Hibernian's most legendary players. He is the only Scottish footballer to have been a league champion with three different clubs; remarkably, none were from the Old Firm.

During his childhood in Angus, Smith showed footballing potential playing for local sides Montrose Roselea, and Dundee North End. Returning to Edinburgh, he was signed by Hibernian in 1941, commencing an 18-year career with a hat-trick against Hearts, establishing himself as an idol for a generation of the Easter Road faithful.

Known as the 'Gay Gordon' for his cavalier flourishes down the wing, he was part of the 'Famous Five', alongside Bobby Johnstone, Lawrie Reilly, Eddie Turnbull and Willie Ormand, the most fomidable strike force in Hibs' history. Smith's contribution ensured Hibs enjoyed a successful spell in the 40's and 50's, consistently challenging Scottish football's Old Firm dominance. Hibernian won three league championships, in 1948, 1951 and 1952.

A recurring ankle injury led to Hibs releasing Smith in 1959. After paying for an operation himself, he joined Hearts, enjoying a league and league cup double in his first season. Again, plagued by injury, he was released. Just as football writers were preparing obituaries for the veteran winger's brilliant career, Dundee signed him and won the league in 1962. The following season they reached the European Cup semi-final.

Capped 19 times, Smith scored 4 goals for his country. Finally retiring in 1964, he indulged his love of golf and managed a well-known Edinburgh hostelry, known as the Right Wing as a tribute to the role that brought him such acclaim.

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Born Edinburgh, 26 May 1924 (ref 685/7, 211)

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Death North Berwick, 7 Aug 2004 (ref 721, 77)

Jock Stein (1922-1985)

Born in Lanarkshire in 1922, son of George Stein, a miner, Jock Stein was to become one of the country's greatest football managers. He will be forever remembered as the first manager to lead a British team (Celtic) to European Cup glory.

He began his professional career at Albion Rovers, although his day job remained as a miner in the local pit. Making a name for himself as a no-nonsense centre-half, he progressed to Welsh team, Llanelli Town, then to 148 appearances for Celtic.

Entering management in 1960 with Dunfermline Athletic, he joined Hibernian in 1964. But it was after returning to Glasgow to manage Celtic in 1965 that his career attained true heights.

He led Celtic to 10 league championships, including a renowned 9 in succession between 1966 and 1974. Additionally, they won 9 Scottish Cups and 6 League Cups. But the pinnacle of his club career was steering Celtic to their European Cup triumph over Inter Milan in Lisbon in 1967. Winning admiration for their attacking spirit, Stein's victorious side became immortalised as the 'Lisbon Lions'. One remarkable aspect of their feat was that the entire Celtic side were born within 30 miles of Glasgow.

Although he presided over a highly successful Celtic team, he gained the respect of their Old Firm rivals for his actions after the Ibrox Disaster on 2 January 1971, when he personally tended dead or injured Rangers supporters.

After a spell at Leeds United, he became manager of the Scottish national team, leading them to the 1982 World Cup in Spain. After watching Scotland secure a play-off place for the 1986 World Cup by drawing with Wales in Cardiff, triumph turned to tragedy. Stein suffered a heart attack and died at the stadium. He was 62 years old.

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Born Hamilton, 5 Oct 1922 (ref 647/00, 1046)

Bill Struth (1876-1956)

Football manager

Born in Edinburgh in 1876, Struth was to become the second manager of Rangers and lead the Glasgow club for 34 successful years.

Following his father, William, into the stonemason's trade, Struth became a professional athlete. After a spell as a trainer at Clyde and Heart of Midlothian, he joined Rangers as assistant manager in 1914. Aged 45 in 1920, he took over as manager following the accidental death of the previous incumbent, William Wilton, in a boating accident.

Struth went on to win 18 Scottish titles, including the remarkable feat of 14 in 19 years before the Second World War. He presided over Rangers first league and cup double in 1928, and first treble in 1949 - the first Scottish manager to achieve this honour.

Struth was a renowned disciplinarian, insisting Rangers players wore a collar and tie to training. In 1947 he was appointed a director, and then vice-chairman after his retiral in 1954. He died in 1956, aged 81, and is buried in Craigton Cemetery, overlooking his beloved Ibrox Park.

In 2005 Rangers chairman David Murray unveiled a bronze bust of Bill Struth, located in Ibrox's main stand, after it was renamed the Bill Struth Main Stand in memory of the legendary manager.

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Born Edinburgh, 16 June 1876 (ref 692/2, 686)

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Marriage to Kate Forbes, Edinburgh, 4 Feb 1898 (ref 685/4, 57)

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Death Glasgow, 21 Sep 1956 (ref 644/10, 977)

Jessie Valentine (1915-2006)

Golfer

Jessie was born Janet Anderson in Perth in 1915, daughter of Joseph, a sports outfitter and Agnes. She was to become one of the dominant figures in women's golf from the mid 1930s to the mid 1950s.

A member of the Craigie Hill club in her home town, she was six times Scottish Ladies Champion, and selected for the Great Britain and Ireland Curtis Cup team on seven occasions. This record would almost certainly have been even greater had the Second World War nor interrupted her career.

She was awarded the MBE in the 1959 New Years Honours list to recognise her achievement and the following year, aged 45, she turned professional. Her successes paved the way for other Scottish Lady golfers - her tally of honours included the British Ladies Amateur golf championship in 1937, 1955 and 1958, the Scottish Ladies Amateur Golf Champions in 1938, 1939, 1951, 1953, 1955 and 1956, and in 1967 she received the Frank Moran Trophy for 'the Scot who had done most for the game of golf'. She was also the New Zealand Ladies Champion in 1935 and French Ladies Champion in 1936.

During the war she drove a truck, and was clearly held in great esteem in the United States. When her fiancee was captured and held as as P.O.W., the Curtis sisters, who created golf's Curtis Cup, sent him food parcels every week.

She died in the Bridge of Earn, Perth and Kinross, in 2006, aged 91.

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Born Perth, 18 Mar 1915 (ref 387/00, 169)

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Death Perth, 6 Apr 2006 (ref 390, 255)

Winifred Mason Wooldridge nee Shaw (1947-1972)

Tennis player

Shaw was Scotland's most successful tennis player, reaching the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon ladies' singles in 1970 and 1971. She remains the only Scot to have reached the final of a Tennis Grand Slam tournament.

Born in 1947 in Glasgow, her father Angus was a journalist. Sport was important to her family; her grandfather was the provost who opened Ibrox Stadium's main stand. Her talent for tennis shone during her time at Hutcheson's Grammar and the Clarkston tennis club.

By the 1960s Shaw began claiming frequent Scottish titles and by 1964, aged only 17, she collected the British Junior Hardcourt Championship at Wimbledon. Shortly afterwards she turned professional and began competing at the top level. There was only one obstacle to Shaw's acclaim: the women’s game at that time was completely dominated by America’s Billie Jean King.

Shaw reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open in 1970 and 1971 but much greater success came in doubles competitions. With a succession of able partners, particularly Dundonian Joyce Williams, Shaw regularly progressed to the latter stages of competitions. On the French Open's clay courts, she reached the mixed-doubles finals in 1971, partnering the Russian, Tomas Lejus, and the final of the Ladies doubles the following year, partnering Nell Truman. In 1972, Shaw and Williams progressed to Wimbledon’s semi-finals. In a tight match the Scots duo were eliminated by the outstanding partnership of Billie-Jean King and Betty Stove.

Shaw remained proud of her nationality. During a Federation Cup match in Greece, the umpire twice announced: 'Shaw, representing England', to which she replied, politely but firmly: 'I'm Scottish and I'm representing Great Britain, not England'. Tragically, Winnie Shaw died from a brain tumour in 1992. She was only 45. She may never have won a major during her career but her legacy in popularising Scottish tennis can be seen in rising stars such as Andrew Murray.

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Born Glasgow, 18 Jan 1947 (ref 644/18, 138)

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Marriage Perth, 6 Apr 1972 (ref 650, 302)