Joan Hartigan


Joan Marcia Bathurst was an Australian Champion tennis player.

Early life and education

Joan Marcia Hartigan was born in Sydney, the daughter of Thomas Joseph Hartigan, a railways commissioner, and Imelda Josephine, née Boylson, a schoolteacher; the couple wed on 26 March 1908 at St Thomas's Catholic Church, Lewisham, New South Wales. Tom Hartigan was a clerk in the New South Wales Government Railways and eventually became Railways Commissioner. She was educated at the all-girls' Loreto Kirribilli, in the lower north shore of Sydney.

Tennis career

Bathurst won the singles title at the Australian Championships three times and was a semifinalist at Wimbledon in 1934 and 1935. Bathurst three times reached the women's doubles final at the Australian Championships, in 1933, 1934, and 1940. Bathurst teamed with Edgar Moon to win the mixed doubles title at the 1934 Australian Championships. According to A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Bathurst was ranked in the world top ten in 1934 and 1935, reaching a career high of World No. 8 in those rankings in 1934.

Personal and family life

In January, 1943 she enlisted in the Australian Army; she was discharged on 1 September 1943. In 1946, she announced her engagement to Hugh Moxon Bathurst of Melbourne who was then private secretary to Senator James Fraser, Chifley's Health minister. They married at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney on Saturday, 12 April 1947, before flying to Adelaide then Perth to board the Orion at Fremantle for England where they planned to live for a few years while she resumed her tennis career at Wimbledon. In 1950, they returned on the Strathmore after living in Surrey for three years and settled in Sydney. Joan Bathurst died on 31 August 2000, and her husband died 16 April 2001. Their son, Thomas Frederick Bathurst became Chief Justice of New South Wales.

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament19311932193319341935193619371938193919401941 – 19441945194611947119481949Career SR
Australian ChampionshipsQFAWWAWQFQFSFSFNHNHQF2RAA3 / 10
French ChampionshipsAAA3RAAAAANHRAAAAA0 / 1
WimbledonAAASFSFAA2RANHNHNHA3RA1R0 / 5
U.S. ChampionshipsAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA0 / 0
SR0 / 10 / 01 / 11 / 30 / 11 / 10 / 10 / 20 / 10 / 10 / 00 / 00 / 10 / 20 / 00 / 13 / 16

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
1In 1946 and 1947, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.