Lawn Bowls in UK- The History

MalcolmsWit

I am trying to put together some facts on the history of Lawn bowls and the names of some Famous people would have played this sport. I have found some very limited information by "Googling" the subject including something about King Henry the Eighth finding time to play in between wives. Is there a book on the subject or can anyone supply me with anything else. Thanks for your help as I am struggling a bit.

AnneMarie4687

Hear is a bit information that might help. I don't know where you will find details of Celebrities playing bowls. Other matter maybe the Lawn Bowls association could help.


ROYALTY: Lawn bowling, or “bowls” has much literary and historical proof of being the real “Sport of Kings.” From the time of Edward III, the game was restricted by royal decree to “Noblemen and others having manors or lands.” Successive kings played and enjoyed the game. However, King Henry III, who had bowling greens installed at Whitehall, permitted the common people to play on Christmas Day.

Fortunately, no serious effort was made to enforce this ban, and of course it did not apply to Scotland. Almost every English monarch was a bowler, and the royal estates were all equipped with fine bowling greens. King James I was an ardent bowler, as was his son King Charles I. Both monarchs are reputed to have enjoyed playing for high stakes. King Charles, according to bowling tradition, lost over $5,000 in one encounter with a Barking Hill merchant named Richard Shute. A bowling green has been a permanent fixture at Windsor Castle. Anne Boleyn was a bowler, as were many noblewomen, including the first Princess Elizabeth and Queen Victoria. The late Queen Mary, and King Edward V enjoyed the game of bowls. Edward VIII, now the Duke of Windsor, was president of the Royal Household Bowling club of Windsor Castle. His brother, the late George VI, was an enthusiastic bowler and patron of the English Bowling Association.

HERITAGE: In the early days, it was fashionable for the aristocracy to have private bowling greens. Samuel Pepys mentions in his diary being invited to “play at bowls with the nobility and gentry.” Sir Francis Bacon, Sir Water Raleigh, Victor Hugo, and Lord Macauley were all bowlers. British officers installed bowling greens in the American colonies in New York in 1725, and in Port Royal Canada in 1734. George Vanderbilt and John D. Rockefeller had private bowling greens on their estates in 1896.

Today, bowls is no longer solely a rich person’s game. The world famous have played and enjoyed this game from ancient to modern times, ranging from Dr. Samuel Johnson to Dr. William Brady, and from Shakespeare to Walt Disney. Men play today on the very green at Plymouth Hoe where Sir Francis Drake and his captains bowled that memorable day in 1588 when the messenger arrived with the news of the invading Spanish Armada.

Literature, history and art all abound with references to this game, and we can indeed look back with pride on the noble heritage of our Royal and Ancient games of bowls. It may seem a little selfish, but some “old timers” dread the day when the American public really discovers this game. They picture bowling alleys deserted, golf courses neglected, and tennis courts empty, while waiting lines form at the bowling green; and there will be no royal decree to restrict this game to a favored few.