Miss Victoria Seddon – Queen of Clubs

During the 19th and early 20th century, some of the most amazing athletes of all time arose, engaging in feats that would seem impossible today. Unfortunately, many of their names and faces have been lost to history. Previously, Ben Miller made a documentary about the gruelling Indian club swinging endurance contests of that period, which lasted for days on end with absolutely no rest, and which were held before audiences numbering in the tens of thousands.

By Ben Miller

In the Endurance video, Ben mentioned a female club-swinging expert and champion from South Africa named Miss Victoria Seddon, who, in 1907, established a female world record of nearly two days swinging clubs non-stop. She was also described as a formidable sword swinger, and as being able to swing four Indian clubs simultaneously. At the time that Ben Miller made that video, no picture of Miss Victoria Seddon was then known to exist.

That, however, is no longer the case. About one month ago, Ben came across some antique postcards for sale, located in Europe, featuring photographs of a female athlete, dubbed “The Queen of Clubs”, posing with her Indian clubs and a pair of swords. Excitingly, the small print on the front of the card indicated that this was none other than the mysterious Miss Victoria Seddon. The first photograph shows her standing with a number of fancy, decorated clubs, including one huge pair. In her hands, she holds two military sabres, which we know she used for sword-swinging.

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A stamp on the photos indicates that they were taken at The Napier Studios, located on Longmarket Street, Maritzburg, which, at the time, was the capital and second-largest city in the Colony of Natal, South Africa.

In 1906, in Johannesburg, Miss Victoria Seddon achieved a female endurance world record of swinging clubs for 36 hours non-stop, with absolutely no breaks, rest, or sleep, and during which she performed an astonishing 310 revolutions per minute. Assuming that she had a club in each hand, this amounts to roughly three revolutions per second for each club.

Her Powers of Endurance were Simply Marvellous

A witness to the feat reported that “the grace with which Miss Seddon was executing her work was the admiration of all”, while another remarked that “her powers of endurance were simply marvellous.” During the last hour of swinging, Miss Seddon was crowned with roses, smiling till the last, while admirers sang popular ditties to keep up her spirits. Despite having stood on her feet for thirty-six hours straight, it was noted that she walked out of the room with only very slight assistance.

In March 1907, she swung again in Kimberley, Northern Cape Province, establishing a new record of 39 hours non-stop.

Seddon -V- Vernon

Later that November, Miss Seddon contested against another female club-swinger, challenger Alma Vernon, for the record, at the Empire Theatre, or Variety Palace, in front of a crowd of several hundred people.

The Conditions of the Contest

The newspapers claimed that “this was the first time in the annals of club swinging history that two ladies have met in a contest.” The conditions of the contest were as follows:

Alma Vernon Wins

The contest lasted 39 hours, with both women finishing at the same time. However, the judges decided that Vernon, “A pretty petite blonde of 17 years”, was the winner, despite having once dropped her club. The judges based their decision on “the number of circles completed, grace, style, and condition.”

Following the Contest

Seddon published a letter in the local newspaper, in which she stated:

This proposed rematch never happened. However, dissatisfied with the judges’ decision, on December 7, in Johannesburg, Seddon embarked on yet another task of swinging a pair of clubs, weighing one pound each, for 45 hours non-stop. She finished at 6 o’clock in the morning of December 8th, breaking the previous world ladies’ record by more than 6 hours. A witness observed that “One cannot help admiring the great pluck shown by the swinger,” and mentioned that a “remarkable feat of endurance” was also given by the pianist, Mr Roberts, who played along continuously for 44 hours. It was also stated that “Miss Seddon would not undertake another such task”.

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A Noted Sword Swinger

In the second photo we found, Miss Seddon poses with two swords, which appear to be 1857 pattern Officer’s infantry swords. She was described at the time as a noted Sword Swinger. This was an activity wherein military swords or sabres were swung in a pattern similar to those of Indian clubs, however, in the case of sword-swinging, edge alignment was key, as a misaligned blade could potentially hit, scrape, or cut the sword swinger.    Sword-swinging was sometimes included in fencing exhibitions and “Grand Assaults of Arms”, such as the one from 1911 shown here. In 1910, Seddon gave a performance of sword-swinging with an electrical effect, described as “very pretty” and having “proved a great draw.”

Victoria Seddon is a person who, up until now, has been forgotten, but an important figure in club-swinging history that should be remembered. As far as we know, her world record of 45 hours was never broken by another female athlete.

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I would like to thank Ben Miller for creating this post and video and allowing me to share it and providing the content for this post.