University of Birmingham Student (Alumni) Papers: Papers of Audrey Kathleen Brown

Collection comprises medals, photographs, newscuttings, certificates, programmes and other material relating to Audrey Brown's athletics career during the 1930s. During this period she represented the University of Birmingham and British Universities at the International Student Games in Turin, 1933, Budapest, 1935 and Paris, 1937. Includes a number of programmes relating mainly to track and field events and largely focusing on the Paris University Games in 1937.

Personalia includes photographs of Audrey along with other British and European athletes at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, as well as at the International Student Games in Turin and Paris, and Audrey and her team mates at the University of Birmingham. Correspondence leading up to the Paris and Turin events. There is also a diary which illustrates the time Audrey spent as a student at the University of Birmingham, along with other student documentation.

With Order of Service from Audrey's funeral in 2005.

Audrey Kathleen Court was born on 24 May 1913 in Bankura, Bengal, India, the only daughter of Methodist missionary parents Arthur and Gertrude Brown. Her four brothers were all sportsmen, of whom Ralph and Godfrey became the most notable; Ralph Kilner Brown (1909-2003, later Sir Ralph Kilner Brown, high court judge), was the Amateur Athletics Association 440 yards hurdles champion in 1934, and Godfrey Brown (1915-1995) won gold in the 1936 Olympics for the 4 x 400 metres, as well as silver for the individual 400 metres.

Audrey was educated in Birmingham from the age of nine and was awarded a BA Hons Degree in Social and Political Science in 1936 at the University of Birmingham. During her time at Birmingham, she was coached by W. W. Alexander of the Birchfield Harriers, and developed her ability as a sprinter, winning various university sports medals. She was the first female member of the Birchfield Harriers club to compete at the Olympics, where, in 1936, she won a silver medal for the 4 x 400 metres. Her success is perhaps made more extraordinary by the fact that she suffered from partial deafness, which affected her race starts, along with other health complaints. She was not selected for the 1938 Empire Games as a result of poor health, although she was able to compete later that year in the European Championships for women, despite, she notes, 'a serious political situation'.

Audrey Brown gave up competitive running in 1938. She married her former tutor from the University of Birmingham, William Henry Bassano Court, on 30 March 1940. They had three daughters, Sarah, Bridget and Alison, between 1943 and 1949. Whilst bringing up her children, Audrey worked for the Birmingham Family Planning Association (FPA), and became chairman in 1961. She was actively involved in promoting the birth control pill and the right to abortion, and worked in particular with new ethnic monority communities and unmarried women. In 1991, she was appointed MBE for service to family planning in Birmingham.

She died on 11 June 2005 of heart failure, and her funeral took place on 20 June at Lodge Hill crematorium, Selly Oak, Birmingham.

Source: University's archives including editions of 'Register of Graduates'; Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2005-2008 accessed 29 November 2016 from http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/96973; Track Stats - Audrey Brown accessed 29 November 2016 from https://www.nuts.org.uk/trackstats/audreybrown.htm; Birchfield Harriers at the Olympics accessed 29 November 2016 from http://birchfieldharriers.net/aboutus/olympic-representation/berlin-1936/

Open, access to all registered researchers.

Gift

Please see https://calmview.bham.ac.uk/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=XUSS22 for more information

Papers arranged and described by Beth Cutts, November 2016, in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description (ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; and in-house cataloguing guidelines.

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Director, Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections (email: special-collections@contacts.bham.ac.uk). Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. The Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

Other archive collections, formerly held as part of the National Centre for Athletics Literature (NCAL), are catalogued as collections distinct from this collection. They comprise both institutional archives and collections of personal papers of athletes, athletics administrators, journalists and others associated with the athletics world.

Catalogues of the institutional archives available on the online archive catalogue are as follows:

Amateur Athletic Association: papers, 1880-1992. Finding No: ATH/AAA;

English Cross-Country Union: papers, 1911-1989. Finding No: ATH/ECCU;

Midland Counties Amateur Athletics Association: papers, 1900-1991. Finding No: ATH/MCAAA;

Midland Counties Cross Country Association: papers, 1898-1985. Finding No: ATH/MCCCA;

Midland Counties Women's Amateur Athletic Association: papers, 1949-[1980s]. Finding No: ATH/MCWAAA;

Northern Counties Women's Amateur Athletic Association: papers, 1933-1989. Finding No: ATH/NCWAAA;

Northern Cross-Country Association: papers, 1906-1983. Finding No: ATH/NCCA;

Northern Women's Track and Field League: papers, 1982-1983. Finding No: ATH/NWTFL;

Southern Counties Amateur Athletic Association: papers, 1958-1983. Finding No: ATH/SCAAA;

Southern Counties Cross-Country Association: papers, 1911-1990. Find No: ATH/SCCCA;

The Sports Council: papers, [1940s]-2001. Finding No: ATH/SC;

Women's Amateur Athletic Association: papers, 1932-1989. Finding No: ATH/WAAA.

Catalogues of personal papers available on the online archive catalogue are as follows:

Abrahams, Harold Maurice (1899-1978), athlete, administrator, commentator and journalist: papers, 1902-1989. Finding No: ATH/HA;

Adam, George Mair (1898-1989), athlete, coach and athletics administrator: papers, 1909-1989. Finding No: ATH/GA;

Binks, Joseph (Joe) (1874-1966), athlete and athletics commentator: papers, [1920s-1950s]. Finding No: ATH/JB;

Brown, Audrey Kathleen (nee Court) (1913-2005), athlete: papers, [1930s]-2005. Finding No: USS22;

Cardew, Martin H. (b 1927), athlete: papers, 1964-1988. Finding No: ATH/MHC;

Cullum, Dennis Noel Johnson (1913-1985), athlete and coach: papers, [1930s]-1985. Finding No: ATH/DC;

Ives, Bert (1890-1975), athlete and athletics administrator: papers, [1920s-1970s]. Finding No: ATH/BI;

Jewell, John Christopher (1912-2001), athlete and athletics commentator: papers, 1897-2002. Finding No: ATH/JJ;

Lloyd-Edgley, Ralph: scrapbook, [c 1924]-[c 1931]. Finding No: ATH/RLE;

MacLean, Duncan (1884-1980), athlete and coach: papers, 1948-1977. Finding No: ATH/DM;

Monk, Walter Harry (Wal) (1896-after 1965), athlete: papers, 1918-1961. Finding No: ATH/WHM;

Morgan, Wilf (b 1935), athlete and athletics historian: papers, 1937-2012. Finding No: ATH/WM;

Newton, Arthur Francis Hamilton (1883-1959), athlete: papers, [c 1904]-[1990s]. Finding No: ATH/AN;

Payne, Howard (1931-1992), athlete: papers, 1899-[c 1975]. Finding No: ATH/HP;

Percy, Joe W. (1912-2001), athlete and athletics administrator: papers, 1910-1997. Finding No: ATH/JWP;

Perry, George (b 1903), athlete: papers, [1920s]-1956. Finding No: ATH/GP;

Powell, Edgar Robert Leslie (Peter), (fl 1920s-70s), athlete: papers, 1813-1988. Finding No: ATH/ERLP;

Richards, Wilf (b 1906), athlete and journalist: papers, 1924-[mid 20th century]. Finding No: ATH/WR;

Roberts, Dave (fl 1930s-1990s), athlete and statistician: papers, [1930s]-1991. Finding No: ATH/DR;

Simpson, Colin J. (1929-2011), athlete and athletics administrator: papers, 1945-1990. Finding No: ATH/CS;

Tatham, Wilfrid George (Gus) (1898-1978), athlete: papers, 1908-1960. Finding No: ATH/WGT;

Thomas, Dr Philip, athletics administrator and coach: papers, [c 1900]-[late 20th century]. Finding No: ATH/PT;

Vargas, Charles Climaco (1905-1975), athlete: papers, 1921-31. Finding No: ATH/CCV;

Ward, Leonard H., athletics coach: papers, [mid-20th century]. Finding No: ATH/LW;

Watman, Melvyn Francis (Mel) (b 1938), athletics journalist and statistician: papers, 1980-1993. Finding No: ATH/MW;

Wight, Robert M., athletics administrator: papers, [mid-20th century]. Finding No: ATH/RW;

Winter, Arthur E. H. (d 1990), athlete and athletics commentator: papers, [early 20th century]-1983. Finding No: ATH/AW;

Yarrow, Squire Stevens (1905-1984), athlete and athletics administrator: papers, 1938-1984. Finding No: ATH/SY.

The Cadbury Research Library also holds the archives of other former staff, officials, and students