Miss Great Britain
Following World War Two, a number of seaside resorts around the country introduced beauty contests as attractions, which immediately evolved into the national competition, Miss Great Britain.
The contest began in the Summer of 1945 under the name “Bathing Beauty Queen”, organised by the Morecambe Local Council in partnership with the ‘Sunday Dispatch’ newspaper. Morecambe went on to become the home of Miss Great Britain between 1956 and 1989.
The first ever Miss Great Britain final was watched by 4,300 people in a continuous downpour. The winner received a cup and according to the local newspaper ‘a paltry prize’ of seven guineas as well as a swimsuit. Prize money increased to £100 the following year, £500 the next and reached £1000 in the fifties due to its popularity. The contest continued to offer the largest prize fund of any competition run by a municipal authority.
The sixties saw the beginning of the decline in British seaside holidays with families increasingly able to afford trips abroad. A new competition format was needed and was realised with the introduction of television to Miss Great Britain in 1971. By 1978, the prize fund had increased to £10,000 thanks to the competition’s sponsors, and the popularity of the competition was again on the rise.
The Miss Great Britain winner will go on to represent Great Britain as its Tourism Ambassador in the Miss Tourism World Final. Miss Great Britain is organised by Kreative Group Ltd.
2006 event
The 2006 title holder was Preeti Desai who hailed from North Yorkshire. Desai made history when she became the first ever winner of Indian ethnicity when she replaced the dethroned Danielle Lloyd. Lloyd had lost the crown after stirring up scandals for posing nude for Playboy magazine and dating one of the judges during her participation in the pageant.[1] Danielle Lloyd has been re-instated into the Wall of Fame/ Previous winners as of 11 January 2010.
Title holders
| 2020 | Jen Atkin |
| 2018 | Kobi-Jean Cole |
| 2017 | Saffron Hart |
| 2016 | Ursula Carlton |
| 2015 | Zara Holland (stripped) Deone Robertson (replacement) |
| 2014 | Shelby Tribble |
| 2013 | Ashley Powell |
| 2012 | Charlotte Perkins |
| 2010 | Amy Carrier[2] |
| 2009 | Sophie Gradon |
| 2007 | Rachael Tennent (resigned) Gemma Garrett (replacement) |
| 2006 | Danielle Lloyd (stripped) Preeti Desai (replacement) |
| 2005 | No Contest |
| 2004 | Emma Spellar |
| 2003 | Nicki Lane |
| 2002 | Yana Booth |
| 2001 | Michelle Evans |
| 2000 | Michelle Walker |
| 1999 | Cherie Pisani |
| 1998 | Leilani Dowding |
| 1997 | Liz Fuller |
| 1996 | Anita St. Rose |
| 1995 | Sarah Jane Southwick |
| 1994 | Michelle "Michaela" Pyke |
| 1993 | Kathryn Middleton |
| 1992 | No contest |
| 1991 | No contest |
| 1990 | No contest |
| 1989 | Amanda Dyson |
| 1988 | Gillian Bell |
| 1987 | Linzi Butler |
| 1986 | Lesley Ann Musgrave |
| 1985 | Jill Saxby |
| 1984 | Debbie Greenwood |
| 1983 | Rose McGrory |
| 1982 | Tracy Dodds (resigned) Viviennne Farnen (replacement) |
| 1981 | Michelle Hobson |
| 1980 | Sue Berger |
| 1979 | No contest |
| 1978 | Patricia Morgan |
| 1977 | Susan Hempel |
| 1976 | Dinah May |
| 1975 | Susan Cuff |
| 1974 | Marilyn Ward |
| 1973 | Gay Spink |
| 1972 | Elizabeth Robinson |
| 1971 | Carolyn Moore |
| 1970 | Kathleen Winstanley |
| 1969 | Wendy Anne George |
| 1968 | Yvonne Ormes |
| 1967 | Sheila Forrest |
| 1966 | Carole Fletcher |
| 1965 | Diane Hickinbotham |
| 1964 | Carole Redhead |
| 1963 | Gillian Taylor |
| 1962 | Joy Black |
| 1961 | Libby Walker |
| 1960 | Eileen Sheridan |
| 1959 | Valerie Martin |
| 1958 | Christine Mayo |
| 1957 | Leila Williams |
| 1956 | Iris Waller |
| 1955 | Jennifer Chimes |
| 1954 | Patricia Butler |
| 1953 | Brenda Mee |
| 1952 | Dorothy Dawn |
| 1951 | Marlene Dee |
| 1950 | Violet Pretty |
| 1949 | Elaine Pryce |
| 1948 | Pamela Bayliss |
| 1947 | June Mitchell |
| 1946 | June Rivers |
| 1945 | Lydia Reid |
Archives
Archives of Miss Great Britain are held at The Women's Library at the Library of the London School of Economics, ref 5MGB Most surviving material is held at Lancashire Archives, ref as part of the Morecambe and Heysham Borough Council collection, MBMO-HE
References
- "Playboy pictures". toxicmagazine.com. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
- "Amy Carrier Crowned Miss Great Britain 2010".
www.missgreatbritain.co.uk