Thelma Carpenter (billiards player)

Thelma Carpenter (4 December 1911 – 1986)[1] was an English billiards and snooker player. She won the Women's Professional Billiards Championship three times, and the Women's Professional Snooker Championship once.

For the jazz singer and actress Thelma Carpenter, see Thelma Carpenter.

Thelma Carpenter
Carpenter, from a 1933 issue of The Billiard Player
Born4 December 1911
Died1998 (aged 86)
Sport country England
Tournament wins
World ChampionBilliards 1940–1950
Snooker 1950

Biography

Carpenter's father, Brodie Carpenter, owned the Solent Cliffs Hotel in Bournemouth, which had two billiard rooms. Thelma Carpenter was educated at home, and never attended school. She met prominent snooker and billiards players including Joe Davis and Clark McConachy when they played exhibition matches at her father's hotel. The hotel was demolished in the 1970s and is now the site of the Bournemouth International Centre, which has hosted professional snooker tournaments.[1][2]

McConachy, who was later the World Professional Billiards Champion from 1951 until 1968, and Claude Falkiner (twice runner-up in the World Billiards Championship) both provided coaching to Carpenter,[1] as did Welsh champion player Tom Carpenter (no relation).[3]

She won the World Ladies Amateur Billiards Championship three years consecutively, from 1932 to 1934.[2] In 1934, Carpenter resigned from the Women's Billiards Association (WBA) in protest at them not allowing her to play in tournaments with men that the WBA had no jurisdiction over.[1]

From 1936 to 1939 she was runner up to Ruth Harrison three times in four years in the Women's Professional Snooker Championship, and once to Joyce Gardner in the Women's Professional Billiards Championship.

In 1940 she won her first professional world title by beating Ruth Harrison 2184–1641 in the Billiards final,[4] and, the next time the event was held, in 1949, beat Gardner 3120–2518 to retain the title. 1949 also saw Carpenter lose for the fourth time in the Snooker final, this time 15–16 to Agnes Morris.[5]

The 1950 Billiards final featured the same finalists as in 1949, and had the same victor, with Carpenter beating Gardner 1978–1374 to win for a third time. A few days later, Carpenter won the Snooker Championship too, this time beating Agnes Morris 20–10.[5]

Following the cessation of the women's professional snooker and billiards championships after 1950, Carpenter retired from competitive play, as the reigning champion in both events, and later moved to Mudeford.[1]

She was first woman to commentate on billiards for the BBC, and wrote the "Billiards for Women" column in The Billiard Player magazine. She married Jimmy Seeor in 1939, and had one son, who was present for her 1950 Women's Professional Billiards victory[6] and died in 1989.[1][7]

Titles and achievements

Billiards

  • 1932–34 World Ladies Billiards Champion (amateur)[2]
  • 1940 Women's Professional Billiards Champion[4]
  • 1949 Women's Professional Billiards Champion[8] (no contest was held between 1940 and 1949)
  • 1950 Women's Professional Billiards Champion[6]

Snooker

  • 1936 Women's Professional Snooker Championship runner-up[9]
  • 1938 Women's Professional Snooker Championship runner-up[10]
  • 1939 Women's Professional Snooker Championship runner-up[11]
  • 1950 Women's Professional Snooker Champion[5]
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References
  1. "Thelma Carpenter". The Daily Telegraph (44449). p.31. 15 May 1998 – via Telegraph Historical Archive. Retrieved 21 August 2019.CS1 maint: location (link)
  2. Everton, Clive (1985). Guinness Snooker – The Records. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. pp. 154–156. ISBN 0851124488.
  3. "Billiards: Women's Amateur Championship". Gloucester Citizen. 3 February 1931. p. 12 – via British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  4. "New Women's Billiards Champion". The Observer. p.16. 18 February 1940 – via ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Guardian and The Observer. Retrieved 19 August 2019.CS1 maint: location (link)
  5. "Bath City Signings". Western Daily Mail. p.5. 25 June 1950 – via The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 19 August 2019.CS1 maint: location (link)
  6. "Thelma Still Champion". Dundee Courier. p.5. 23 June 1950 – via The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 19 August 2019.CS1 maint: location (link)
  7. The Billiards Player, issues from January 1936 (Number 181) to December 1937, held at the British Library.
  8. "Still Champion". Western Morning News. p.6. 13 June 1949 – via The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 19 August 2019.CS1 maint: location (link)
  9. "Women's Snooker Championship". The Times. No. 47365. p.5. 4 May 1936 – via The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 17 August 2019.CS1 maint: location (link)
  10. "Women's Snooker Championship". The Times. No. 48001. p.16. 23 May 1938 – via The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 17 August 2019.CS1 maint: location (link)
  11. "Ruth Harrison Wins Snooker Title". Daily Record. p.27. 17 April 1939 – via The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 17 August 2019.CS1 maint: location (link)
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