Beatrice Hill-Lowe

Beatrice Geraldine Hill-Lowe (26 January 1869 – 2 July 1951) was an Irish archer who represented Britain. She was born in County Louth, Ireland. She was the first Irishwoman to win an Olympic medal. She won a bronze medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.

Early life and career Hill-Lowe was born in Ardee House in County Louth, Ireland (then part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland) on 26 January 1869. Her parents were William Ruxton, a landowner and vice-lieutenant for County Louth, and Caroline Diana (née Vernon). She had five older sisters and 3 older brothers. She married Arthur Hill Ommanney Peter Hill-Lowe, a Royal Navy Commander who had been married once before and had a daughter called Ada, on 15 July 1891 at St Mary's Abbey Church (Church of Ireland), Ardee, and she moved to Court of Hill, Nash, south Shropshire, near Tenbury Wells, England. They had two children, Arthur Noel Vernon, born in 1892, and Sibyl, born in 1897. It was a sport which involved costly equipment and access to private land in which would enable them to practise on. In 1908 Olympics Ireland was still under British rule, meaning there was no Irish team to exist, and any athletes wishing to partake were obliged to compete under the Union Jack flag. Hill-Lowe competed in the Double national round, which entailed of 25 competitors, all being British or Irish. The double national round was one of three archery events taking place. In this event, each round contained 48 arrows shot at 60 yards, and 24 arrows shot at 50 yards (Olympian., 2019). Both rounds were held on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 July 1908, where a total of 144 arrows were shot over 2 rounds. On the first day, Lottie Dodd was in the lead with a total of 348 points and 66 hits, and Queenie Newall with a score of 338 points. On the second day, Newall scored a total of 350 points and Lottie Dodd 294. Beatrice-Hill Lowe fell into third place with a total score of 618 points (DOD et al., 2019 leaving her 70 points short of the winner Newall, who was 54 years old at the time. (Olympian., 2019)