Joan Sparkes

Joan Sparkes

Personal information
Nationality	British (English)
Born	(1916-07-25)25 July 1916 Brightlingsea, England
Sport
Sport	Lawn bowls
Club	Central Park BC
Medal record Representing  England World Outdoor Championships 1973 Wellington fours 1973 Wellington team 1977 Worthing fours

Joan Emily Sparkes (née Southgate; born 25 July 1916) was an English international lawn bowls competitor.[1]

Bowls career

Joan Emily Southgate was born in Brightlingsea, Essex on 25 July 1916. In 1938, she married Leslie A. Sparkes (a county player and butcher by trade).[2] She was introduced to the sport by her husband and took up bowls in 1954 at Burnham-on-Crouch.

Sparkes won the 1966[3] & 1972[4] triples title at the England Women's National Championships when bowling for Essex.[5]

In 1973 she won the silver medal in the fours at the 1973 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Wellington, New Zealand and also earned a bronze medal in the team event (Taylor Trophy). Four years later she won another silver medal in the fours at the 1977 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Worthing with Margaret Lockwood, Joan Hunt and Mabel Darlington.[6]

References

1. Newby, Donald (1990). Daily Telegraph Bowls Yearbook 91. Telegraph Publications. ISBN 0-330-31664-8.
2. "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
3. "English Title for Dora Hills". Birmingham Daily Post. 27 August 1966. Retrieved 18 August 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
4. "Taunton move consistently into semi-finals". The Times. 19 August 1972. p. 5. Retrieved 18 August 2023 – via The Times Digital Archive.
5. Hawkes/Lindley, Ken/Gerard (1974). the Encyclopaedia of Bowls. Robert Hale and Company. ISBN 0-7091-3658-7.
6. "Profile". Bowls Tawa.