Louis Baillon

Louis Charles Baillon (5 August 1881 – 2 September 1965) was a Falkland Islander field hockey player and businessman. Born in the Islands, he would eventually move to England with his family in 1888 and settle in Church Brampton. There, he was active in sports such as playing football for Wandsworth AFC and lawn tennis for Northamptonshire's team.

He started playing field hockey for Northampton's team and then earned nine caps as part of the England men's national field hockey team. While representing England, they won the gold medal in the team competition at the 1908 Summer Olympics. He became the first, and to date only Olympic gold medalist from the Falkland Islands as of June 2025.

Early life Louis Charles Baillon was born to father Louis Augustin Baillon, who was from Nottingham and emigrated to the Falkland Islands in the mid-1800s to work as a sheep farmer. and Louis Charles was later born on 5 August 1881 in Fox Bay, Falkland Islands, at the house of his grandmother, Julia Williams. He was the second of five children,

Sports career He started playing field hockey as a full-back for Northampton's team, and then went on to earn nine caps as a member of the England men's national field hockey team in the same position. making Baillon the only Falkland Islander to have won a gold medal at the Olympic Games as of June 2025.

Later years and personal life Baillon married Mildred Isobel Green (1881–1949) in Bedford in 1910; Green was also a field hockey player and competed as part of the England women's national field hockey team. Together they had five children: Paul Abbott (1914–1940), Mark Rodney (1916–1940), Louis Brabazon (1911–1991), Richard Obre (1912–2003), and Mildred Anne (1917–2003). All four of his sons played for Northamptonshire's county tennis team. Baillon joined the Royal Army Service Corps in 1914, and saw service in France as a lieutenant before leaving the service in 1920. While in the military, he continued to play field hockey.

After World War I, he worked as a manager at Phipps NBC. Later on, he would become the director and eventually the chairman of the company. During World War II, all of his children served in the military. Paul, Mark, and Louis Brabazon joined the Royal Air Force, Richard joined the Army, and Mildren Anne enlisted in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. Paul and Mark were killed in action during the Battle of Britain.

Baillon died on 2 September 1965 in Brixworth at the age of 84. His sporting memorabilia was subsequently bought by the Friends of the Falkland Islands Museum and the Jane Cameron National Archives in 2017. His Olympic gold medal was donated to Ratcliffe College in England.