Georgina Ballantine

Georgina Ballantine (25 November 1889 – 12 April 1970) was a Scottish nurse, registrar and salmon fisher. In 1922, Ballantine landed a 64lb (29kg) salmon on the River Tay, the largest recorded from a British river with rod and line.

Georgina Ballantine
Born	25 November 1889
Died	12 April 1970
Known for	Landed a 64lb salmon on the River Tay, the largest recorded from a British river with rod and line

Biography

Georgina Ballantine was born on 25 November 1889, in Caputh, Scotland. Her mother was Christina White and her father was James Ballantine, a registrar and ghillie.

Ballantine worked as a nurse from 1914 to 1919, in Perth, London and Bapaume in France. It was in France she was decorated by the Red Cross. She later worked as registrar in Caputh.

In her later life, Ballantine suffered from arthritis in both legs, and as a result they were both amputated.

Ballantine died on 12 April 1970 in Caputh.^[1]

Record landing of the Great Tay Salmon

On 7 October 1922, Ballantine was fishing with her father, on the Glendelvine Water. Following a two-hour struggle, she landed a 64lb (29kg) salmon, the largest recorded taken from a British river with rod and line,^[1][2] and half Ballantine's own weight.^[3] The salmon, known as the Great Tay Salmon, was 54 inches in length (137cm) and 28.5 inches in girth (72cm).^[4]

Her record was unchallenged until 2007, when another female angler, Bev Street, broke the record for largest caught freshwater fish by landing a 66lb catfish at Bluebell Lakes in Peterborough.^[5] Ballantine retains the record for the largest rod caught salmon.^[6]

A watercolour painting by A. J. Rennie depicting the fish hung in the dining room of the Flyfishers Club in London, despite the fact that Ballantine, as a woman, would not be admitted to the gentlemen's club.^[7]

Ballantine's salmon was donated to Perth Royal Infirmary, and a cast was donated to the Pall Mall angling emporium.^[8] A model is exhibited in a display in Perth Museum.^[1]

References

1. The biographical dictionary of Scottish women : from the earliest times to 2004. Elizabeth Ewan, Sue Innes, Sian Reynolds. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 2006. ISBN 978-0-7486-2660-1. OCLC 367680960.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
2. "64lb. Salmon". Hull Daily Mail. 14 October 1922. p. 1.
3. McPherson, Rozanne (17 November 1966). "NEVER A FISH LIKE THAT: Forty-four years after it happened Miss Georgina Ballantine recalls her battle with Britain's record salmon". The Field. 228 (5940): 993.
4. "THE GREAT TAY SALMON". The Field. 140 (3643): 600. 21 October 1922.
5. "Woman angler lands record 66lb catfish by a whisker; Previous record: Georgina Ballantine with her 64lb salmon in 1922". The London Evening Standard (London, England). 2007. p. 25.
6. "FLY FISHING - Freshwater Records - your online Fly Fishing Resource and fishing tackle shop". 13 December 2006. Archived from the original on 13 December 2006. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
7. "Tay Gave Britain Its Biggest Salmon". Evening Telegraph. 23 February 1934. p. 8.
8. Brook-Shepherd, Gordon (March 1990). "Where Miss Ballantine met a giant". The Field. 274 (7026): 51.