Frank Peard (1919 - 2019) was an Irish badminton player who played for Ireland internationally in the 1940s and 1950s.
Early life and family Francis Woodley Peard was born in 1919 in Skibbereen, Co Cork to Francis Woodley Peard, a bank official, and his wife Dorothy Phyllis (née Clarke). Having lived in Mountmellick, County Laois, Peard's family moved to Listowel, County Kerry in 1932. Peard attended St Michael's secondary school in Listowel.
He married fellow badminton player, Susan Devlin, in 1960. They had two children, Mark and Pam.
Badminton career Peard began playing badminton at around age 9 or 10. He joined the Ailesbury Badminton Club in the early 1940s, where he partnered with Ham Lambert and Mrs Eileen Goulding. Along with Raymund Egan, Dick Bell, Colin Maidment and Geoff Trapnell, Peard was a co-founder of The Knights Badminton Club in 1946. Peard cited his study of David Guthrie Freeman's singles games as greatly improving his own game in the late 1940s. His playing style was latterly described as consistent and thoughtful, and that he possessed very quick reflexes and was skilled across singles, doubles and mixed.
Between 1946 and 1957, Peard represented Ireland in badminton twenty times. He won 3 Irish Open titles, 16 Irish Close titles, and 6 Scottish titles. Additionally, he played in two All England semi-finals, playing alongside Noel Radford and Jim Fitzgibbon. He played at European badminton tournaments with Fitzgibbon. In 1948 he played in the first match of the inaugural Thomas Cup, playing against Denmark.
He was a keen promoter of badminton in Ireland, taking part and organising many exhibition events. Peard had a long coaching career, and was invited to speak at the 1985 World Coaching Conference in Calgary. He served on the executive committee of the Leinster Branch, overseeing the move of the branch to new premises at the Terenure Centre, Whitehall Road in 1954.
In 1976, Peard served as the Director of the European Championships when they came to Dublin that year. He was also involved in the establishment of the Badminton Museum of Ireland, donating funds and objects to the museum.
Guinness career and later life Outside of badminton, Peard worked for Guinness in Dublin from 1939 until his retirement in 1981. He initially worked Accountant's Department. He spent 18 months in the United States studying, and during this time he wrote for The Irish Times and the Irish Management Institute on business matters. One such article for The Irish Times entitled "How to Get There: An Emigrant's to New York" was a guide to new Irish arrivals to the city. After his return to Dublin he became Assistant Chief Accountant, later Director of Guinness in 1972, and finally in 1977 he became Deputy Managing Director of Guinness Ireland. He became a Trustee of the Iveagh Trust in 1981. In 1993 he became the first non-member of the Guinness family to serve as Chairman of the Trust.
Peard died at Mount Hybla Nursing Home, Dublin on 22 September 2019.
Publications Peard wrote a number of publications on the history of badminton: Sixty Years of Irish Badminton (1995) A Century of Irish Badminton: A supplement to Sixty Years of Irish Badminton (2004) Building the Badminton Hall (1954) The Midland Branch (1961) Reorganisation of the B.U.I. (1966) A Policy and its Implementation (1966) M.B.B.U.I. (1967) Badminton in Holland (1969) Improving the Performance of Irish Badminton Teams (1970) Conditions for Progress (1976)
Achievements Below are a selection of Peard's on court achievements. Irish National Badminton Championships +YearTournamentEventResultPartner1949Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMen's singlesRunner-up-1949Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMen's doublesWinnerJames Fitzgibbon1950Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMen's singlesWinner-1950Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMen's doublesWinnerJames Fitzgibbon1950Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMixed doublesWinnerB. I. Donaldson1951Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMen's singlesWinner-1951Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMen's doublesWinnerJames Fitzgibbon1951Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMixed doublesWinnerB. I. Donaldson1952Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMen's singlesWinner-1952Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMen's doublesWinnerJames Fitzgibbon1952Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMixed doublesWinnerB. I. Donaldson1953Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMen's singlesWinner-1953Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMen's doublesWinnerJames Fitzgibbon1953Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMixed doublesWinnerB. I. Donaldson1954Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMen's singlesRunner-up-1954Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMen's doublesWinnerJames Fitzgibbon1955Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMen's singlesRunner-up-1955Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMen's doublesWinnerJames Fitzgibbon1955Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMixed doublesWinnerB. I. Donaldson1957Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMen's singlesRunner-up-1961Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMen's doublesWinnerJames Fitzgibbon1962Irish National Badminton ChampionshipsMen's doublesWinnerJames Fitzgibbon
All England Badminton Championships +YearTournamentEventResultPartner1948All England Badminton ChampionshipsMen's singlesSecond Round-1949All England Badminton ChampionshipsMen's singlesThird Round-1951All England Badminton ChampionshipsMen's singlesRound of 16-1952All England Badminton ChampionshipsMen's singlesQuarterfinals-1952All England Badminton ChampionshipsMen's doublesSemifinalsJames Fitzgibbon1954All England Badminton ChampionshipsMen's singlesRound of 16- International & Open Tournaments +YearTournamentEventResultPartner1948Scottish OpenMen's doublesWinnerT. L. Henry1948Irish OpenMen's doublesWinnerNoel Radford1949Scottish OpenMen's doublesWinnerT. L. Henry1949Scottish OpenMen's singlesWinner-1950North of England ChampionshipsMen's singlesWinner-1950Irish OpenMen's singlesWinner-1950Scottish OpenMen's singlesWinner-1950Irish OpenMen's doublesWinnerJames Fitzgibbon1951Scottish OpenMen's singlesWinner-1951Scottish OpenMen's doublesWinnerJames Fitzgibbon1954Irish OpenMen's doublesWinnerJames Fitzgibbon References