The Papers of Jane Claydon

Contains primarily administrative papers and related correspondence concerning the 1981 Celtic Tour to Canada and the USA, and the inaugural Women's World Lacrosse Tournament held in 1982; and an incomplete series of the Scottish Ladies' Lacrosse Association newsletter, 'Lacrosse News and Views'.

Jane Claydon was born on 24 May 1947 and grew up in England. Educated at Colchester County High School, she was introduced to lacrosse whilst a student at Dartford College of Physical Education (1965-1968). In 1975, she was appointed Head of the Physical Education Department at St. Leonards School, in St Andrews, Scotland where she remained until her retirement from the role of Deputy Head in 2007.

Her involvement with lacrosse has included playing for Watford and Perth and Kinross in the 1970s, and as a lacrosse administrator for over 40 years. In the latter role she has acted as Manager of the Scottish Schoolgirls XII, Tour Manager for the 1981 Celtic Tour of Canada and USA, and Director of the inaugural 1982 Women's World Lacrosse Tournament at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. She was President of Lacrosse Scotland, 2008-2018, and is Chair of the Lacrosse Scotland Hall of Fame.

Her research interests have led to the publication of St. Leonards: Cradle of Lacrosse (2009) which outlined the role St Leonards played in the early development of the game for women in Scotland, England and the USA, and St. Leonards: First in the Field (2012) which shows how St Leonards played a pivotal role in the introduction of major and minor games in girls' schools in the United Kingdom. She also assisted Jim Calder and Ron Fletcher with research for the book Women Play Lacrosse (2015).

During her tenure as President of Lacrosse Scotland, Jane Claydon was Scotland's Liaison Officer with the Federation of International Lacrosse, liaising closely with the US Lacrosse Museum and Hall of Fame on the early history of lacrosse at St. Leonards, with particular reference to Rosabelle Sinclair (1890-1981) who is credited with starting women's lacrosse in the USA in 1926. This liaison resulted in the production of Memories of Rosabelle Sinclair: Grand Dame of Lacrosse , and from a different era, Kathy Heinze: Coach of the Us Women's Touring Team 1975 .

The papers were donated by Jane Claydon in two separate accessions in 2012 and 2015 under Accession Nos. A2012/006 and AWL2015/005.

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