Frank Garnsey

Frank Garnsey was President of the QBA in 1941,1942,1952, 1953, and 1954. As an interesting accompaniment of this office, he was also President of the Australian Bridge Council (ABC) in 1954 – in the post-war period, the location of the headquarters of the ABC was rotated from state to state to coincide with the venue for the national Championship, and office holders of the State Associations at that time automatically became office bearers of the ABC.

Frank was born in Sydney in 1897, and after active service in World War 2, he moved to Brisbane, where he was bridge columnist for the Courier and Sunday Mails over several years. He died suddenly in 1962.

As a keen bridge player, and in combination with Otto Hirschfeld, he represented Queensland at the national championships many times, won the Australian section of the World Olympic in 1940, the Australian Par Point Championship in 1941, and the World Par Point Championship in 1951. This latter was an achievement of great distinction since it was an event in which 36 nations and more than 4000 pairs competed.

Further details on Frank Garnsey may be found in Mind Games – A Biographical History of Bridge in Queensland.