Miss Stella Violet Aline Malcolm

14 June 1866, Dunoon - 18 October 1937, Kirknewton

Scottish Ladies' Champion 1928

Miss Malcolm was one of the main driving forces behind the Edinburgh Ladies' Chess Club (formed from the Ladies' Victorian Chess Club) and the Scottish Ladies' Chess Association (see Women's Chess in Scotland).

She was secretary and treasurer of the former from its formation in 1904 to her death, her organisational and promotional skills contributing to the growth of the club to such an extent that it owned its own clubrooms. She held the sam posts for the SCLA from its founding in 1905 until 1920, when it amalgamated with the Scottish Chess Association.

MIss Malcolm was a president of the Scottish Chess Association, as well as a life member of the that organisation and the British Chess Federation. She encouraged young girls to take up chess, providing a trophy for the Scottish Girls' Championship, a competition that began in 1927.

In 1939, the first East of Scotland Championship competition was for the Stella Malcolm Trophy.

Miss Malcolm had other interests, the main one being photography. At the time of her death she was vice-president of the Edinburgh Photographic Society, with which she had been associated for many years. From The Scotsman of 20 October 1937, page 14:

'For many years she acted as secretary of the Circulating Portfolio, and it was through her efforts that this branch of the Society has become so helpful to the younger members. Miss Malcolm was a pictorial photographer o£ the highest rank who specialised in landscape. She exhibited in America and the chief European salons and secured many awards. She won the Scottish Federation plaque for lantern slides and on two occasions she won the Mac Dougald plaque for the best print of the year. She was the only woman to hold this plaque.'

The Scotsman article also stated: 'Miss Malcolm did excellent work for the Scottish Women's First Aid Corps, and was hon. superintendent of their Surgical Requisites Association workshop at Eglinton Crescent Edinburgh.'

Sources:
Birth record (ScotlandsPeople website)
Glasgow Herald, 19 October 1937, p. 1; 23 October 1937, p. 9; 19 May 1939, p. 20.
The Scotsman, 20 October 1937, p. 14.

Compiled by Alan McGowan