The Papers of Joan Gibson

Contains programmes, press cuttings and photographs predominantly relating to Joan Gibson's career as a Welsh lacrosse international, and a copy of Lacrosse for Beginners and Others by Mary I. Hill [1941], signed by the author and featuring a photograph of Joan Gibson as a goalkeeper on the front cover. Contents include the following:

• England v. Wales, 21 March 1936 - match programme, attended by Joan Gibson whilst a pupil at St. Swithun's School
• Wales v. Scotland, 20 March 1948 - match programme and b/w photograph of Welsh team
• Wales V. England, 2 March 1949 - match programme, b/w photograph of Welsh team and press cutting reporting on the match
• Scotland v. Wales, 12 March, 1949 - match programme and press cutting reporting on the match
• Wales v. Ireland, 26 March 1949 - match programme and press cutting reporting on the match
• Wales v. Scotland, 4 March 1950 - match programme and press cutting reporting on the match
• England v. Wales, 11 March 1950 - match programme
• Ireland v. Wales, 1 April 1950 - match programme
• Scotland v. Wales, 3 March 1951 - match programme
• Wales v. Ireland, [10] March 1951 - b/w photograph of Joan Gibson and members of the Welsh team receiving a gift and press cutting reporting on the match
• USA v. Wales, 12 September 1951 - match programme
• Midlands v. South, 1951 - b/w photograph of the teams
• Lorna Bird, Margaret Boyd and G. Pickering at unidentified home international lacrosse match, [circa 1946-1949]

Copyright in photographs held by Ronald Goodearl, R. Stuart and North Wales Newspaper Services

Joan Gibson was born in Cardiff, the daughter of William Gibson, a builder, and his wife, Margaret Norie, a post office worker. She was educated at St Swithun's School, Winchester and Bedford Physical Training College (1938-1941).

Her first physical education teaching post was at Llangollen School during the Second World War. In 1947 she returned to Bedford Physical Training College as a tutor and in 1951 became Head of Physical Education at Bedford High School where she remained until her retirement in 1972.

Joan was selected to play lacrosse for Wales in 1948 and captained the Welsh team in 1950 and 1951. She also played for Glamorgan and Monmouth Ladies' Lacrosse Club and the Midlands territorial team.

She died on 27 March 2017, aged 97.

The papers were gifted to the University of Bedfordshire by Joan Gibson on 16 May 2013 under Accession No. AWL2013/001.

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from University of Bedfordshire Special Collections. Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Special Collections will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.