Mark Weston (athlete)

Weston in 1936 before the gender-change operations
Weston in 1936 after the gender-change operations
Weston with Alberta Bray in 1936

Mark Weston (born Mary Louise Edith Weston, 30 March 1905 – 29 January 1978), nicknamed "the Devonshire Wonder", was one of the best British field athletes of the 1920s. He was a national champion in the javelin throw and discus throw in 1929 and won the shot put title in 1925, 1928 and 1929.[1] At the 1926 Women's World Games he finished sixth in the two-handed shot put, where the final result was a sum of two best throws with the right hand and with the left hand.[2] Weston had a genital abnormality and was assigned as female at birth and raised as a girl.[3] In April–May 1936, Weston underwent a series of gender changing operations at the Charing Cross Hospital. He changed his first name to Mark, retired from competitions and later worked as a masseur.[4][5]

In July 1936 Weston married Alberta Matilda Bray and they had three children.[3] Following his example, his elder sibling Harry (previously Hilda) also changed his gender and name in the 1930s. Harry hanged himself during a depression in 1942.[5] Mark Weston died in the Freedom Fields Hospital in Plymouth in 1978.[3]

References

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  1. ↑ BRITISH ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS 1919–1939. gbrathletics.com
  2. ↑ FSFI WOMEN'S WORLD GAMES. gbrathletics.com
  3. 1 2 3 Watman, Mel. “Women athletes between the world wars (act. 1919–1939).” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online ed. Ed. Lawrence Goldman. Oxford: OUP, May 2012.
  4. ↑ "Girl Who Became Man Tells of Metamorphosis". Reading Eagle. 28 May 1936
  5. 1 2 Heggie, V. (2010). "Testing sex and gender in sports; reinventing, reimagining and reconstructing histories". Endeavour. 34 (4): 157–63. doi:10.1016/j.endeavour.2010.09.005. PMC 3007680Freely accessible. PMID 20980057.
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