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Biographies of Female Tennis Players

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#1 · (Edited)
This thread will feature biographies of women who played tennis at a world class level. Note that the women will be added as we find information, so they will not appear in alphabetical order.

To find women listed in alphabetical order please go to the Blast Encyclopedia of Female Tennis Players at http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?t=497938

The Blast Encyclopedia of Female Tennis Players lists women by both their maiden and married names. Under the main listing for a player a link will be provided back to this thread to a biography.
 
#1,857 · (Edited by Moderator)
STAMMERS, “KAY” (Katherine Esther Stammers)
United Kingdom
Born 3 April 1914 in St Albans, England, UK
Died 23 December 2005 in Louisville, Kentucky, US
Married (1) Michael Menzies, 24 January 1940 in Westminster, London, divorced, 1974
Married (2) Thomas Walker Bullitt, on 27 Sept 1975 Philadelphia, PA, US He died in 1991
Daughter Virginia Menzies (born 2 October 1943) married in 1972 to German Claud Labes.
Played: Lefthanded
[Career span: 1931-1947]

A pinup girl of the 1930s for her beauty, she also had a world top ten game ,most notably being the 1939 Wimbledon finalist, losing to Alice Marble. Most ranked her #2 in the world that year. Stammers also achieved world top ten rankings in 1935, 36, 38, and 1946.

In 1935 Stammers beat Helen Wills-Moody at Beckenham. This was the first defeat for Mrs Moody in England since 1924!

Her lefty forehand complemented a solid attacking game. Kay returned to action briefly after World War Two, playing in 1946 and 1947.

Grand Slam Singles results

French Open QF (1934)
Wimbledon F (1939)
US Open SF (1935, 1936, 1939)

Grand Slam Doubles results

French Open W (1935)
Wimbledon W (1935, 1936)
US Open F (1939)

World Ranking

1932: #9
1935: #3
1936: #7
1938: #9
1939: #2
1946: #8




Kay on a cigarette card from the 1930s.


Sources:

Kay Stammers - Person - National Portrait Gallery

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Stammers
 
#1,859 · (Edited by Moderator)
STANTON, JANE (Jane Elizabeth Stanton)
United States
Born 28 June 1918 in Los Angeles, California.
Died 02 June 2009 in Los Angeles, California.
Married (1) John Alouis Summer (died in 1943) on 11 December 1938. Divorced by January 1943
Married (2) Gallagher after Dec 1941 and before summer 1945.
Married (3) Sutherland
[Active 1936-1941 and 1945]
She was from Los Angeles. In 1936 she was a sophomore at USC. In the fall of 1940 she was Mrs Summer and in Brazil. Her photo shows her to be a strikingly attractive blonde.

Single in the summer of 1941, when she played the US Nationals. She did not come east from 1942 to 1944.

United States Ranking

1937: #15 (3rd round Forest Hills)
1938: #14 (2nd round at Forest Hills)
1941: in top 20
1945: #18

[Thanks to Austirunner, Jimbo, and Rollo for this information]
 
#5,471 · (Edited)
STANTON, JANE (Jane Elizabeth Stanton)
United States
Born 28 June 1918 in Los Angeles, California.
Died 02 June 2009 in Los Angeles, California.
Married (1) John Alouis Summer (died in 1943) on 11 December 1938. Divorced by January 1943
Married (2) Gallagher after Dec 1941 and before summer 1945.
Married (3) Sutherland
[Active 1936-1941 and 1945]
She was from Los Angeles. In 1936 she was a sophomore at USC. In the fall of 1940 she was Mrs Summer and in Brazil. Her photo shows her to be a strikingly attractive blonde.

Single in the summer of 1941, when she played the US Nationals. She did not come east from 1942 to 1944.

United States Ranking

1937: #15 (3rd round Forest Hills)
1938: #14 (2nd round at Forest Hills)
1941: in top 20
1945: #18

[Thanks to Austirunner, Jimbo, and Rollo for this information]
On 4 May 1939, a judge in Palm Springs, California, U. S. granted her petition to divorce John Summer. She testified that she had separated from him in March 1939 after only 3 months of marriage because of his extreme jealousy and abuse. Source: "Daily News," Los Angeles, California, U. S., 5 May 1939, page 10.

On 14 July 1942, Stanton married John Joseph Patrick Gallagher. Source: "The Los Angeles Times," 18 July 1942, part II, page 6.
 
#1,860 · (Edited by Moderator)
STANUELL, FLORENCE (Florence Margaret Stanuell)
Ireland
Born 1861 in Dublin, Ireland
Died 08 December 1936 at The Rectory, Chillenden, Kent
Did not marry.
Active from 1884-1895

Florence Stanuell was one of the most successful of the early Irish lawn tennis players. She won the singles title at the Irish Championships in 1893, having won the same title at the Northern Championships in 1891.

[Below is a condensed version of Mark Ryan's (Newmark's) thread on Florence-mainly omitting geneology. For the full version click on the link below]

A Biographical Sketch of the Irish Sportswoman Florence Stanuell
By Mark Ryan

Florence Margaret Stanuell was born in Dublin in 1861, when the Stanuell family was probably living on Morehampton Road. Coming from a well-to-do middle-class family, Florence would not normally have been expected to receive much of an education or to subsequently follow a profession. In those days most girls from her background received a minimum of education, often provided at home by a governess. In this respect, the finer points of charity work, sewing and household management were considered very important. After all, most such girls were destined to marry, have children and run their own household with a retinue of servants.

It is clear, however, that Florence Stanuell had a different fate from most girls and women form her privileged background, and not just because she went on to enjoy a good deal of success at sport. It is quite probable that she attended a private girls’ school in her early years, where sport was an important part of the curriculum and her natural talents in this arena were nurtured from an early age. Although the first Wimbledon tournament was not held until 1877, when Florence Stanuell was sixteen years of age, lawn tennis, originally considered as merely a pastime or hobby, quickly grew in popularity, especially among the middle class, and was soon being thought of as a real sport.

Growing up as she did on Morehampton Road, and subsequently on Clyde Road in Dublin, Florence Stanuell would have had many opportunities to play lawn tennis because courts were continually being laid down and clubs being opened as the sport grew in popularity. This was true not only for Dublin and the rest of Ireland, but also for the British Isles as a whole. It is even possible that the Stanuells might have had a court in the large back garden of one of their houses. After all, lawn tennis owes some of its original popularity to the fact that it was played on lawns throughout the British Isles when a match was often the occasion for a social gathering.

By the mid-1880s, when Florence Stanuell started taking part in lawn tennis tournaments, the popularity of the sport had spread far beyond the British Isles and other English-speaking countries. In the British Isles it was already possible to speak of ‘the lawn tennis season,’ which, being largely weather-dependent (virtually all tournaments were then held outdoors, on grass), began around mid-May and ended around mid-September. In this and other respects, it was light years away from the sport as it played nowadays.

Florence Stanuell’s first real success at tournament lawn tennis occurred in 1884, in the singles event at the nascent Derbyshire Championships tournament, held in mid-August in Buxton in that particular English county. From what was then an unusually large draw of 32 players, Florence came through to reach the final, where she faced the Englishwoman Agnes Watts (née Noon), who was part of a renowned family of lawn tennis players from Leicestershire. In the final Agnes Watts beat Florence very easily, 6-1, 6-2. The winner was clearly the more experienced tournament player, although it is likely that Florence Stanuell had at least been taking part in handicap events for a certain amount of time before entering level events, where competitors played on equal terms.

Over the course of the next dozen years or so, up until 1895, Florence Stanuell would take part in a varying, usually small, number of lawn tennis tournaments in England and Ireland. She would always take part in grass court tournaments and would enjoy success not just in the singles event, but also at doubles and mixed doubles.

During the lawn tennis season in 1885, Florence Stanuell won the singles title at the Darlington tournament, held in early August in Durham in that north-eastern English county. In the final of the singles event Florence beat her countrywoman Constance Butler, popularly known as ‘Connie’, 6-0, 7-5. In the final of the mixed doubles event at the same tournament Connie Butler had her revenge when she and the Englishman Patrick Bowes-Lyon beat Florence and another Englishman, Howard Pease, 6-4, 6-1.

A few weeks later, towards the end of the 1885 lawn tennis season, Florence Stanuell took part in the Derbyshire Championships tournament in Buxton again. She had been runner-up in the singles event one year earlier, but this time lost at the quarter-final stage to the redoubtable Englishwoman Blanche Bingley, 6-4, 6-4. The latter player would later become Wimbledon singles champion no less than six times.

In 1886, Florence Stanuell again limited her participation to the month of August and to just two tournaments, these once again being the Darlington tournament in Durham and the Derbyshire Championships in Buxton. In Durham, Florence swept the board, taking the singles, doubles and mixed doubles title. In the singles event she easily retained her title, defeating the Yorkshire player Beatrice Wood in the final, 6-2, 6-2. In the doubles event Florence teamed up with Connie Butler; in the final of this event they beat a Miss Langley and a Miss Surtees, 6-4, 6-3. In the mixed doubles event, where Florence’s partner was Patrick Bowes-Lyon, they beat Connie Butler and the Scotsman John Galbraith-Horn, 6-1, 7-5.

At Buxton a few weeks later, Florence was less successful. She gave Blanche Bingley a ‘walkover’ at the quarter-final of the singles event, but managed to reach the final of the doubles event with her sister-in-law, Louisa Martin, reference to whom has already been made. In this last match they lost to Lottie Dod and May Langrishe, 6-2, 7-5.

At this point in time the English player Lottie Dod, the first real lawn tennis prodigy of either sex, was still a month short of her fifteenth birthday. May Langrishe, a native of County Kilkenny, had won the singles title at the inaugural Irish Lawn Tennis Championships in 1879 at the age of 14 (she won the same title in 1883 and 1886), but was not a prodigy in the Lottie Dod sense of the word. Louisa Martin, Florence Stanuell’s partner in the doubles event at Buxton in 1886, was already Ireland’s best player. She defeated Blanche Bingley and May Langrishe on her way to the singles title at Buxton in 1886.

In 1887, Florence Stanuell took part in the Irish Lawn Tennis Championships for the first time. It is not clear why she had not taken part in this tournament in previous years. At this point in time the Irish Championships was, after Wimbledon, the second most prestigious tournament in the lawn tennis calendar, attracting, as it did, almost all of the top players from England and Ireland. Held in Fitzwilliam Square, a Georgian a small Georgian square located close to the city centre, and usually beginning in late May, it was also for several decades the season-opener in the calendar.

In 1887, Florence Stanuell lost her first match in the singles event at the Irish Championships to the English player Lilian Watson, but won the doubles title in partnership with Louisa Martin by defeating Lilian Watson and her sister Maud, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. This was an impressive feat, given that the Watson sisters were an excellent combination, while Maud had won the singles title at Wimbledon in both 1884 and 1885 (the former year had seen the introduction of a women’s singles event at Wimbledon, five years after such an event had first been held at the Irish Championships).

In the second week of June 1887, the Watson sisters had their revenge against Florence Stanuell and Louisa Martin when they beat them in the final of the doubles event at the Cheltenham tournament, held during the first half of June. In the doubles final the English sisters won easily 6-4, 6-1. Louisa Martin impressively won the singles title at this tournament for the second year running, beating the once invincible Maud Watson in the final. In the semi-finals, Louisa Martin had beaten Florence Stanuell, 6-4, 6-4.

The third and last tournament in which Florence Stanuell took part in in 1887 was the Northern Lawn Tennis Association Tournament, popularly known as the Northern Championships. This tournament was held in mid-June, alternating annually between a venue in Liverpool and one in Manchester. In 1887, the venue was the Old Trafford Ground in Manchester, where Florence Stanuell reached the semi-finals of the singles event before the Englishwoman Margaret Bracewell beat her, 6-1, 6-8, 6-3. In the doubles event Florence and Louisa Martin lost in the final to Lottie Dod and her older sister, Ann, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

In 1888, possibly due to professional commitments, Florence Stanuell restricted her participation solely to the Northern Championships, held that year on the grounds of the Liverpool Cricket Club in Aigburth. In the quarter-finals of the singles event in Liverpool Florence Stanuell lost easily to Blanche Hillyard, the former Miss Bingley, 6-1, 6-2. (It is worth noting that, in those days, the draws at many lawn tennis tournaments, including the most important ones, were very small. For example, the draw for the women’s singles event at the Northern Championships in 1888 was just nine, plus the holder, Lottie Dod who, as the defending champion, did not have to play through the event, but instead was able to ‘sit out’ and await the winner of what was then known as the All-Comers’ event.)

In 1889, as if to make up for her almost complete absence from the lawn tennis scene during the previous year, Florence Stanuell took part in four tournaments. Her first appearance came at the Irish Championships in Dublin, where she lost in the quarter-finals of the singles event to Louisa Martin, 6-2, 8-6. Together, both players won the doubles event for the second time by defeating Blanche Hillyard and Lena Rice in the final, 6-4, 6-2.

Helena ‘Lena’ Rice, from County Tipperary, would one year later create history by winning the singles title at Wimbledon. No other Irishwoman had done so before her and none has done so since, although it should be remembered that Lena needed to win only two matches to take the title. The draw of four players did not include the top players of the time, Blanche Hillyard, Lottie Dod and Lena’s countrywoman, Louisa Martin, who was a better player, but only played at Wimbledon four times. In 1889, at the Irish Championships Louisa Martin won the singles title at the Irish Championships for the first of a record nine times when she beat Blanche Hillyard in the final, 7-5, 6-0.

The second lawn tennis tournament in which Florence Stanuell took part in 1889 was the West of England Championships, which was held in the popular spa town of Bath during the final week of May. From a draw of eight players, Florence reached the singles final in Bath where she took the first set off Louisa Martin before losing, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. Although Florence was capable of ‘pushing’ Louisa Martin in a singles match, she would never beat her in this event at any tournament. However, there was a consolation of sorts for Florence in Bath when she and Louisa Martin won the doubles event together, beating the rather obscure N. Everett and N. Pope, both of whom appear to have been English, in the final, 6-0, 6-3.

One week later, at the Cheltenham tournament, Florence Stanuell again reached the singles final before again falling to the all-conquering Louisa Martin. This time the score was 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. In the mixed doubles event in Cheltenham, Florence Stanuell teamed up with the Irishman Arthur Wilson (full name Arthur John de Courcy Wilson). They won the title together, defeating Louisa Martin and the Englishman Wilfred Milne in the final, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2.

After taking part in the Cheltenham tournament in early June of 1889, Florence Stanuell did not reappear in tournament play until mid-August, when she entered the Derbyshire Championships in Buxton. She had last entered this tournament in 1886. In 1889, Florence lost her first match in the singles event at Buxton to Connie Butler, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. Florence was also runner-up in the doubles event with Louisa Martin. In the final they were beaten by the English sisters Bertha and Mary Steedman, 6-4, 6-1. However, as they had done in Cheltenham in June, Florence and Arthur Wilson again won the mixed doubles event, this time by defeating Louisa Martin and the English player Patrick Brown in the final, 8-10, 6-1, 6-3.

In 1890, Florence Stanuell again began the lawn tennis season by taking part in the Irish Championships in Dublin in late May. She lost her first match in the singles event to Louisa Martin, 6-0, 6-4, but with the same player won the doubles event for the third time by defeating Blanche Hillyard and D. Meldon, the latter a rather obscure Irish player, in the final, 6-4, 6-2.

After her success in Dublin, Florence travelled across the Irish Sea to Bath to take part in the West of England Championships, held during the first week in June. In the singles event Florence lost once again to Louisa Martin, 6-3, 8-6, and in the doubles event Florence and Louisa Martin once again won the title. In the final they beat the English player Constance Bryan and the elusive N. Pope, 6-3, 6-3.

Sticking to her routine of taking part in very few lawn tennis tournaments, Florence Stanuell did not appear again until mid-August 1890, when she participated in the Derbyshire Championships in Buxton. Florence appears to have had a special liking for this particular tournament, which she entered almost every year. The Stanuell family might well have had connections in the county of Derbyshire before 1890. This was certainlly the case from 1890 onwards, when Florence’s eldest brother, Charles, married Ida Turner, a native of Buxton, there in April 1890.

In the Derbyshire Championships tournament itself, Florence lost her first match in the singles event, to Mary Steedman, 6-0, 6-4. She had better success in both doubles events, although she was unable to win the title in the either event. In the doubles event Mary Steedman and her sister Bertha defeated Florence and Louisa Martin in a close three-set final, 8-6, 6-8, 6-3. In the final of the mixed doubles event Louisa Martin and her partner, the Englishman Henry Nadin, beat Florence and her partner and countryman Harold Mahony, 6-2, 8-10, 6-0.(1890 had been another triumphant year for Louisa Martin who, with the exception of the doubles title in Bath, had won the singles, doubles and mixed titles at the Irish Championships, the West of England Championships and the Derbyshire Championships.)

Although she only took part in two lawn tennis tournaments during the 1891 season, Florence Stanuell had arguably her most successful season to date in this particular year. In late May, at the Irish Lawn Tennis Championships in Dublin, Florence reached the singles final for the first time before losing to Louisa Martin 6-2, 5-7, 6-0. In the doubles event in Dublin Florence and Louisa Martin won the doubles title together for the third year in a row and the fourth time in all when they beat N. Pope and Helen Jackson, the latter a native of Hexham in the English county of Northumberland, in the final, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. For good measure Louisa Martin won the ‘triple crown’ again, taking the mixed doubles title with the Dubliner (David) Grainger Chaytor.

In the middle of June in 1891, Florence Stanuell took part in the Northern Championships lawn tennis tournament, which that year was held in Manchester. The best players of the time, Louisa Martin, Lottie Dod and Blanche Hillyard, were absent that year and from a modest field of ten players Florence made her way to the All-Comers’ Final of the singles event. In this match, which was also the championship match (Mary Steedman, the holder, was not defending, so there was no Challenge Round), Florence met and defeated the Yorkshire-born player Beatrice Wood, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.

Despite the modest make-up of the singles draw at the Northern Championships in 1891, Florence Stanuell’s victory was nevertheless an impressive one in what was another excellent year for Irish lawn tennis. Just one week after Florence’s victory in Manchester another Irishwoman, Mabel Cahill from County Kilkenny, won the singles title at the United States Championships at the Philadelphia Cricket Club in Pennsylvania. In the Challenge Round Mabel defeated the holder, the American Ellen Roosevelt, 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. Mabel Cahill also won the doubles title at the United Championships in 1891. (One year later, she would win the ‘triple crown’ of singles, doubles and mixed doubles at the same tournament.)

In 1892, Florence Stanuell limited her participation to just one tournament, the Irish Championships in late May. Here, she lost in quarter-finals to another Irishwoman, a Miss G. Crofton, 6-3, 10-8. At the same tournament Louisa Martin won the singles title for the fourth year in a row by defeating Miss G. Crofton in the final. However, her most impressive victory had come in the quarter-finals when she beat the virtually invincible Lottie Dod, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5.

The lawn tennis season of 1893 marked one of the last occasions on which Florence Stanuell took part in tournament play. She restricted therself to taking part in only one tournament, the Irish Championships, where, rather fittingly, she enjoyed the biggest success of her career in singles. From a modest field of ten, which did not include the very best players in the British Isles, Florence came through to the final where she faced the elusive Miss N. Pope. After a one-sided contest Florence emerged victorious, 6-2, 6-3, thus becoming singles champion of Ireland, a noteworthy achievement despite the modest nature of the entry in this particular event.

In the doubles event, which Florence Stanuell had won on four previous occasions with Louisa Martin, Florence was not quite so successful in 1893 as she been in previous years. Together with Miss G. Crofton, she reached the final round, but they were unable to take to the court so gave the other finalists, Jane Corder and a Miss Shaw, two of the top Scottish players of the time, a walkover.

As already indicated, Florence Stanuell took part in virtually no more lawn tennis tournaments after 1893. One exception to this came in 1895, when she and Louisa Martin teamed up for the doubles event at the Irish Championships in late May. However, they were unable to add to their tally of four titles in this event, losing in the semi-finals. Louisa Martin would continue to take part in lawn tennis tournaments on into the early twentieth century, eventually winning a record nine singles titles at the Irish Championships.




Source:

A Biographical Sketch of the Irish Sportswoman Florence Stanuell by Mark Ryan.
A Biographical Sketch of the Irish Sportswoman Florence Stanuell - TennisForum.com

[Thanks to Newmark for this biography]
 
#1,861 · (Edited by Moderator)
STARKIE, “ELIZABETH" (D. Elizabeth Starkie)
United Kingdom
Born 31 August 1938
Married David Wagstaff in 1970
Nickname: "Liz"
[Active circa 1960-1966]

Listed as DE Starkie in Wimbledon guide by Barrett.

Called a “Leeds Gym mistress” by the NYT in 1964. Played Wimbledon from 1960-66, making the Round of 16 in 1961 and 1963.

Her one quality finish in slam was at the 1963 Australian Championships. Liz made the quarterfinals in singles, losing a tough 3 setter to #2 seed Lesley Turner. Starkie also made the semis in the doubles and mixed.

Starkie filled in for an injured Christine Truman at the 1965 Wightman Cup in Cleveland. Nancy Richey delivered a 6-1 6-0 thrashing.

Wimbledon record (1960-1966)


Singles: 9-7 (4R in 1961 and 1966)
Doubles: 10-7
Mixed: 3-6

Sources:

[Video of the 1965 Wightman Cup]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-lOjHmKdCU

Archive - Draws Archive : Liz Starkie - 2015 Wimbledon Championships Website - Official Site by IBM
 
#1,863 · (Edited)
STAWELL-BROWN, ELLEN (Ellen Mary Stawell-Brown)
England
Born 6 August 1878 in Eastbourne
Died 13 September 1948 in Newbury, Berkshire

Married Dr Edmund Spencer Hemsted on 19 April 1906 in Saint Mark’s Church, Surbiton, Surrey

Active circa 1898-1906. Ellen Stawell-Brown was the daughter of Stephen Stawell-Brown (1854-1909), an architect and native of the parish of East Shefford in Berkshire, and Mary Louisa Stawell-Brown (née Grantham; 1855-1945), who was from the village of Heytesbury in Wiltshire. Ellen Stawell-Brown had one sibling, a brother called Stephen Richard Stawell-Brown (1877-1954), who became a schoolteacher.

Ellen Stawell-Brown married Dr Edmund Spencer Hemsted, a medical practitioner, on 19 April 1906 in Saint Mark’s Church in Surbiton. Edmund Hemsted (1870-1948) was a native of the town of Whitchurch in Hampshire. He was one of the eight children – six sons and two daughters – of Henry Hemsted (1836-1916) and Ellen Hemsted (née Bound; 1840-1921).

Ellen (Stawell-Brown) Hemsted and Edmund Hemsted had three children together: Stephen Tobias Rustat Hemsted (1909-1966), Evelyn Susan Hemsted and Edmund Henry Hemsted (1914-2002). Evelyn Hemsted, who would also become a lawn tennis player, was born on 16 March 1911 in the village of Kintbury in Berkshire and died on 31 October 2006. Evelyn married, first of all, Captain Geoffrey Allan Sheppard (1890-1940), circa December 1935, and was widowed on 22 May 1940. She married, secondly, Henry Billington (1908-1980), a Wiltshire farmer and another lawn tennis player, on 7 January 1944 in Saint Mark’s Church, Cold Ash, Newbury, Berkshire.

Evelyn (Hemsted) Billington and Henry Billington had three children together, Timothy John Billington (1944-2020), Anthony Billington (b. 1945) and Susan Jane Billington, a designer of tennis wear (b. circa 15 January 1947). Their youngest child and only daughter is known to family and friends as Jane, and showed good promise as a tennis player when a junior.

Jane Billington married Anthony John Shirley (‘Tony’) Henman (b. 12 April 1940) in October 1967 in Newbury, Berkshire. A solicitor by profession, Tony Henman was also gifted at several sports, particularly hockey. He and Jane (Billington) Henman had three children together: Michael Anthony Henman (b. 1969), Richard Peter Henman (b. 1971) and Timothy Henry Henman, known as Tim (b. 6 September 1974 in Oxford, Oxfordshire).

Tim Henman became a world-class tennis player in the late 1990s, winning eleven singles titles on the ATP circuit and rising to a career high ranking of no. 4 in July 2002. He married Lucy Elizabeth A. Heald (b. 1972), a television producer, on 11 December 1999 in All Saints’ Church, Oldham, Hampshire. They have three daughters together.
--

A photo of Ellen Stawell-Brown:

1630681007639.png


--

An alphabetical list of the some of the singles title won, and singles finals reached, by Ellen Stawell-Brown

East Surrey Championships
, Croydon

1905 Ellen Stawell-Brown d. Dora Boothby 6-1 2-6 6-4
1906 Gladys Eastlake-Smith d. Ellen Stawell-Brown Hemsted 6-3 4-6 8-6
--

Hampshire Championships, Bournemouth

1903 Connie Wilson d. Ellen Stawell-Brown 6-4 6-2
--

Irish Championships, Dublin

1904 Winifred Longhurst d. Ellen Stawell-Brown 6-3 6-3
--

London Championships, Queen’s Club

1904 Agnes Morton d. Ellen Stawell-Brown 6-2 6-3
--

Northumberland Championships, Newcastle

1903 Dorothea Douglass d. Ellen Stawell-Brown [score?]
--

Surrey Championships, Surbiton

1904 Connie Wilson d. Ellen Stawell-Brown 6-4 7-5
--

West Sussex Championships, Bognor Regis

1902 Alice Greene d. Ellen Stawell-Brown 6-0 6-0
--

Worthing, West Sussex

1901 Alice Greene d. Ellen Stawell-Brown 6-1 6-3
--

1905 Ellen Stawell-Brown d. Alice Greene 7-5 8-10 6-3
-----


[Info provided by Newmark401]
 
#1,864 · (Edited by Moderator)
STEBBING, OLIVE (Olive Edna Stebbing)
United Kingdom/Australia (NSW)
Born in Great Britain
Died 17 July 2005
Did not marry.
[Active 1935-1941]

British-born, she had lived much of her life in India where she made a name for herself as a top player, particularly in doubles.

Olive later returned to her land of birth.

NSW Champ 1941
Cumberland Champ 1939

[Thanks to Gee Tee and Newmark for this information]
 
#1,865 · (Edited by Moderator)
STEEDMAN, BERTHA
United Kingdom
Born 1865 in Ercall Magna, Shropshire, England
Died 11 January 1945 in Seaford, East Sussex, England

Entered Wimbledon in 1889, 1891-92, 1898-99, and 1902-3
Wimbledon SF 1889,1891-92,1899
Wimbledon QF in 1898 and 1902

Titles

1889-Buxton

Her 4 SF and 2 QF mark her a solid singles player. Her only failure to reach the final 8 was in 1903, when she defaulted in the 1R.

Active in 1892. Myers, in his book Lawn Tennis at Home and Abroad, refers to her as a major force in doubles rather than singles. “She comes from a family reared in the playing field, and familiar with all branches of athletics. She won the All-England doubles with her sister Mary in 1889 and 1890. In all she was 8 times All-England doubles winner. ‘Miss Steedman and her sister were the first ladies to play at net in doubles, and wrought havoc on the baseliners.” (p 181-182). Myers closed his description by noting how Bertha used gymnastics to keep in shape.

In 1911 she was living in St Peter and St Andrew, Worcestershire, England
Died at Stoneleigh Nursing Home, Seaford, Sussex. Effects worth 17,759 pounds.

Wiki entry at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_Steedman

Steedman before 1903 (from the wiki page)
 
#1,866 · (Edited by Moderator)
STEEDMAN, MARY
United Kingdom
Born 1864
Died 29 July 1921
Married Gilbert Holles Farrer Vane, 24 June 1891, deceased, 27 June 1905
[Active 1887-1890]

Lost both of her opening Wimbledon matches in 1889 and 1890. Her younger sister Bertha was a level above Bertha. The Stedman sisters were among the first to volley-a real bonus in their doubles. Their brother John Francis (b 1854) was another early stalwart of the sport.

In 1889 Mary won the Middlesex Championships at Chiswick Park.

Doubles titles won with sister Bertha

1887 North of England Championships
1888 Irish Championships
1889-1890 All England Championships (at Buxton); Northern Championships

For Bertha see: http://www.tennisforum.com/showpost.php?p=25514698&postcount=1865

[Thanks to Rollo for this information]
 
#1,868 · (Edited by Moderator)
STENZ, JULIE (nee Julie M Makin)
United States
Born circa 1881-1882 in Pennsylvania
Died 28 May 1970 in New York City, New York
Married Bernard Francis Stenz (1876-1953) by 10 June 1906
Children Claire Julie (born circa 1906) and Arline (born circa 1911).
[Active from 1917-1935]

No known activity as Miss Makin. She won the Florida State title in 1930 and competed several times at Forest Hills
 
#1,871 · (Edited by Moderator)
STEPHENS, RUTH (Ruth Elizabeth Janet Stephens)
Australia (Victoria/Queensland)
Born in 1903 in Malvern, Victoria
Died in 1968 in Richmond, Victoria
Married Percival Clifford Tann on 27 March 1930. Daughter born May 1933
[Active circa 1919-30]

Victorian player of the 1920s who competed overseas in 1928. Later Mrs Clifford Tann of Queensland.

Her name is NOT Stevens, as sometimes reported.

[Thanks to Gee Tee for this information]
 
#1,873 · (Edited by Moderator)
STERRY, CHARLOTTE (nee Charlotte Reingale Cooper)
United Kingdom
Born 22 September 1870 in Ealing, England
Died 10 October 1966 in Helensburgh, Scotland
Married Alfred Sterry, 12 January 1901 in Surbiton, Surrey, England
Nickname: "Chattie"
[Active 1884-1913]

A 5 time Wimbledon champion; she loved to come to the net despite having to play in ankle length skirts. Chattie's wins came in 1895, 1896, 1898, 1901, 1908.

Her first 3 Wimbledon wins came while Mrs Blanche Hillyard was not entered. Hillyard had beaten her 4 times at Wimbledon when Chattie at last defeated her in the 1901 final.

Outside of Wimbledon Cooper won the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris. To her belongs the distinction of being the first female gold medalist in Olympic history.

"Her smiling good temper and sportmanship made her as popular a competitor as ever set foot on Centre Court", wrote Frank Burrow. Healthy as a horse, she claimed she didn't even know what is was to have a headache.

Daughter Gwen (b. 09 July 1905) was a noted player. Her son Rex Batthyany Sterry was born in 10 May 1903 and died in December 1981.

Winning my first championship of the Ealing Lawn Tennis Club at the age of 14 was a very important moment in my life. How well I remember, bedecked by my proud mother in my best clothes, running off to the Club on the Saturday afternoon to play in the final without a vestige of nerve (would that I had none now!), and winning—that was the first really important match of my life.---Chattie, from the 1910 book Lawn Tennis For Ladies


Source:

https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/charlotte-cooper-sterry/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Cooper_%28tennis%29

1899 Wright and Ditson Guide [profile of Cooper on page 93]

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.30000097479327;view=1up;seq=117
 
#1,874 · (Edited)
STERRY, “GWEN” (Gwyneth Reingale Sterry)
United Kingdom
Born 09 July 1905 in Surbiton, Surrey
Died ????
Married William Maxwell “Max” Simmers (1904-1972), 09 July 1932 in Surbiton, Surry
[Active c. 1923-1950]

The daughter of 5 time Champion Charlotte Cooper Sterry. This delightful woman was a favorite of fans and players alike. Generally not a top player, she had a superlative serve.

Per her birth registration in Kingston, Surrey, England, United Kingdom, her first name is spelled "Gwenneth".

Her last singles match was in Glasgow, Scotland in June 1950. Her first match was in Hurlingham, England in July 1923.

She won 12 singles titles, with the first in August 1925 at age 20 and the last in June 1947 at age 41. She also was the runner-up in 11 singles tournaments (first in August 1923 and last in June 1950 at age 44).

Her most memorable match was in 1927 at Wimbledon. Sterry had Helen Wills on the ropes, winning the second set in a match she eventually lost 6-3 3-6 6-3. Wills would not lose another set for 6 years until 1933.

She was a member of the Surbiton Club. Ted Tinling designed her wedding dress, which was the first of many he designed for top tennis players, including Katharine Stammers, Dorothy Round, Maureen Connolly, and Chris Evert.

William Maxwell Simmers
Born: August 7, 1904, Glasgow, Scotland
Died: November 14, 1972, Helensburgh, Scotland (aged 68 years 99 days)
Major teams: Scotland
Position: Wing

http://www.espnscrum.com/scotland/ru...ayer/3315.html

Max won 28 consecutive rugby caps for Scotland. The couple lived in Scotland, and Gwen represented Scotland in a test series vs Australia as late as 1938.

Sons Brian (born February 26, 1940 in Glasgow) and Graeme were also active in sports.


Tournaments Won:
Budeleigh (1925); Manchester (1928); Peebles and Eastbourne (1931), and Surbiton (1932).







TENNIS STAR MARRIES RUGBY INTERNATIONAL-Mm Gwen blerry and Mr. W.H. Simmers after their marriage on 9th July at Surbiton, London. 'Miss Betty Nuthall was bridesmaid. Mr. Simmers is a Scottish Rugby international. (Evening Post, 24 August 1932).

[Thanks to Newmark for information on her husband; additional info by Austimrunner1]
 
#1,876 · (Edited by Moderator)
STEVENS, GREER (Greer Ruth Stevens)
South Africa
Born 15 February 1957 in Pietermaritzburg
Married Kevin Leo-Smith, 14 February 1981
Height: 5' 6" (1.68 m)
Nickname: "Cat" (for both her style of play and after singer Cat Stevens).
Trademark: a knee brace
[Active 1974-1980]

Won 3 mixed doubles majors with Bob Hewitt- Wimbledon in 1977 and 1979 and the US Open in 1979. In singles QF at Wimbledon and the Aussie Opens in 1980.

Wimbledon was always my favorite-it is something that is magical-from an interview in 2012
Greer's only coach was her mother, who taught her the game from the age of 6. Always good on grass and faster surfaces favoring her movement and attacking serve and volley game. Off the ground her forehand was particularly strong; her backhand weak by comparison. She was, in Chris Evert's words, a "hit-or-miss" player.

World Team Tennis helped hone her game. Playing for the Boston Lobsters, Greer credited the coaching of legend Roy Emerson with building her game. Stevens was named the WTT rookie of the year in 1976. In 1977 she and Martina Navratilova were the #1 doubles team in the league.

She came into real prominence by winning the mixed with Bob Hewitt at Wimbledon in 1977. A serious knee injury early in 1978 set her back before Wimbledon. She was off the tour over 9 months. It required a brace and shortened her career. When tennis fans recall the sunny blonde with pigtails they inevitably recall the cumbersome looking metallic brace and wonder how she got about the court at all.

For much of 1979 and 1980 she was just inside or near the world top 10. The first indication of her increased prowess came when she shocked Chris Evert in the opening round at the Avon of Florida-going on to win the event. It was just her 2nd event back from her injury.

Her highest computer ranking (#7) came in 1980 after reaching the quarters at Wimbledon and the Australian Open late in the year. In December of 1980 Stevens retired to wed, buy a dairy farm and raise a family. With husband Kevin she had two sons and for many years was part of a family operation running safaris in Botswana.

Her high quality is in evidenced by noting the names of some of her victims: Chris Evert, Tracy Austin, Evonne Goolagong, Billie Jean King, and Virginia Wade-slam winners all.

Today she coaches and runs a tennis academy.

Titles:

1975: Surbiton, Chichester, and Beckenham
1976: Avon Futures of McAllen
1979: Avon of Florida (Hollywood)

Stevens at the 1977 US Open





Sources:

http://www.tennisforum.com/59-blast-past/428690-greer-stevens.html
[A Blast thread by Colin B]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greer_Stevens

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Lobsters_%281974%E2%80%931978%29

1978 World of Tennis, page 349.

1978 Boston Lobsters Media Guide at: https://app.box.com/s/lfqrpho2xh0scaherpp2

[Thanks to Colin B, Preacherfan, and Rollo for this information]
 
#1,878 · (Edited by Moderator)
STEVENSON, “GWEN” (Gwynneth Doreen Stevenson)
Australia (Victoria)
Born in 1908 in Essendon, Victoria
Died 15 January 1950
Married Graham Waddell in 1943
[Active circa 1924-34]

Popularly known as Gwen, she was the sister of fellow lawn tennis player Dot Stevenson. Both sisters were coached by Meryl O'Hara Wood. Gwen's husband, Graham Waddell, was the brother of Dorothy's husband, John Waddell.

1938 Australian international team. Played for South Yarra. Did not play competive tennis after marriage.

She is often listed as "Gwyn".

[Thanks to Gee Tee and Newmark for this information]
 
#1,880 · (Edited by Moderator)
STEWART, "PAT " (Patricia Ann Stewart)
United States
Born 19 August 1934
Married (1) John Hugh Edrich (b 1937) on 23 September 1961 at Blofield Norfolk England. He filed for divorce in 1963 and the divorce was finalised in 1965. John Edrich then married Judith Cowan in JUL-AUG-SEP 1965.
Married (2) David Bellin (02 October 1918 to 23rd April 2011) on 26 August 1991 in Clark County California.
Height: 5’ 8”
[Active 1959-1963]

Entered Wimbledon every year from 1959 to 1963

Listed as Mrs Stewart Edrich after marriage, which took place in 1961 after Wimbledon. A New York model, she wed an English cricket player.

Famous cricket player John Edrich’s first marriage was a short-lived one, to the American tennis player Pat Stewart - who, legend has it, once wrote her phone number on her tennis panties for the benefit of would-be suitors (this was presumably not during their marriage!). When the future Wimbledon champion Virginia Wade played her first singles match there, in 1962, her opponent was Mrs JH Edrich. May have used the name Edrich after her divorce.

Pat and her husband John Edrich




Sources:

The Championships, Wimbledon 2018 - Official Site by IBM
 
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