I would be really grateful if anyone could help me establish the first names of these players
P Girod...1897-1902
De Kermel ...1907
E F Rose...1910-1933
Mrs Colegate...1921-1929
Leroux...1901
D Elva...1907
A Pean...1908
J Tripp...1907-1914
M Tripp...1909-1926
C O Tyrrell...1922-1933
R V Salusbury...1909-1911
Mrs Gilbert Harvey...1911-1921
G Lucas...1926-1939
Mrs Hollick...1909-1930
E E Tanner...1919-1926
E Beckingham...1923-1927
E L Bosworth...1903-1908
M B Reckitt...1921-1934
D C Adams...1901-1910
G E Tomblin...1922-1937
Mrs Drexel Paul...1910-1915
M P Davies...1919-1929
Mrs Bruce May...1920-1937
Mrs J B Perrett...1911-1927
This player enjoyed some success in Austrian, Bohemian and German tournaments at the turn of the nineteenth century. I put her down as being from Austria in the "Tournament winners by event" section, but she was from Pilsen in Bohemia.
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The A. Tabor who reached the All-Comers' Final at Wimbledon in 1886 was Helen Amy Tabor (23 December 1863-16 September 1946), not Agneta Tabor, as stated in at least one source.
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The H. Ridding who won the singles title at the Welsh Championships in 1897 was Henrica Ridding.
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Mrs Norton Barry, who won the singles title at the Irish Championships in 1911 and 1913, was Adelaide Norton Barry (née Adelaide Maude Wrixon-Becher). She was English, but married an Irishman.
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In the early 1900s, two sisters, A.G. Ransome and L.H. Ransome, featured in the Wimbledon draw. These were Amy Gertrude Ransome and Lucy Helen Ransome, respectively. Amy enjoyed the more success on the tennis circuit.
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Three sisters named Boadle were in the draw at Wimbledon in 1907. These were D. Boadle, M. Boadle and W. Boadle. Their first names were Dorothy, Marjorie and Winnifred. They appear to have been born in Argentina of English parentage and to have spent most of their time in that South American country. Dorothy in particular enjoyed success in South American tennis tournaments in the years 1907-16.
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Helen and Winifred Kersey were two tennis-playing sisters from Cosford in the English county of Suffolk. Their brother, Henry Maitland Kersey (b. 1859), also played some tournament tennis.
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Two more English tennis-playing sisters, from the town of Wellingbro, on the border of the counties of Bedfordshire and Northhamptonshire. Their brother Basil (b. 1869) also took part in some tennis tournaments.
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The following are some early players, most of whom were from Austria, Germany or what used to be known as Czechoslovakia, although they all played before World War One, when Czechoslovakia as such didn't exist (some of them played after World War One, too):
Countess Giulia Blome
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Eva Busch
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Milada Cifka
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Martha Duschenses
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Alice Ederer
sister of Olga Ederer
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Margarethe Ellissen (see next entry)
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Alice Heller
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Ella Hlawatsch
sister of Mimi Hlawatsch
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Ida Jersualem
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Carla Klima
possibly a sister of Mita and Willy Klima
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Clara Körner
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Alice Landsmann
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Frida Mader
sister of Grete Mader
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Käthe Mendl
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Ottilie Merch
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Frida Pietrzikowski
sister of Grete Pietrzikowski
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In 1881, an A. Layard was runner-up to Grace Gibbs in the women's singles event at the inaugural West of England Championships tournament in Bath.
According to the 1871 Census of England, Annie Jane Layard was born in Wembley, London, in 1859. Her parent were Charles and Sarah; the former was a native of Bath. One of Annie's siblings, George (Soames) Layard, was born in Clifton, Bristol (a future venue for the West of England Championships), in 1861. George's name also features in the lists for some early lawn tennis tournaments.
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The Noon family produced a number of early lawn tennis players, both male and female. The Noons were natives of the county of Leicestershire; their parents were Charles and Lucy. They had six children, two sons and four daughters. Some basic biographical information on the sons, Francis (Frank) and Sidney, can be found here: http://www.tennisarchives.com/zoekcoureurvrij2.php
The four daughters were Effie (b. 1866), Florence Ethel Broughton (b. 1863), Agnes Emily (b. 1860) and Edith Lucy (b. 1858).
At least three of the Noon sisters played competitive tennis, the best of them being Agnes who enjoyed most of her success under her married name of Mrs Frederick Watts. In 1878, Agnes married Frederick, a brewer by profession and also a native of Leicester. Frederick also took part in some lawn tennis tournaments.
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In 1881, the nascent Darlington tournament had an interesting draw in that it featured three sisters from the Fenwick family of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in Northumberland: May (probably christened Julia Margaret; b. 1851), Winifred (b. 1856) and Alice (b. 1858).
The sisters were three of the dozen or so children (six boys and six girls) of Henry William Fenwick and Charlotte Fenwick. Mr Fenwick appears to have come from a long line of distinguished lawmen and was himself a solicitor. At least four of his sons also played tournament tennis: Percival (b. 1860), William (b. 1862), Minden (b. 1864) and Mark (born?).
In the 1880's, some of the Fenwicks emigrated to New Zealand, where they continued to take part in tennis tournaments. Percival Fenwick won the New Zealand Championships in 1886, 1887 and 1888; Minden won it in 1889. The brothers excelled more at lawn tennis than did the sisters.
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The Langleys were the sons and daughters of Henry Langley, of Portarlington in Ireland, and his wife Harriet, who had been born in Naples, Italy. There were at least seven Langley children, four girls and three boys.
The girls were Augusta (b. 1858 in Koblenz, Germany), Flora (b. 1860), Constance Laura Mary (b. 1862) and Marion (b. 1866). The three youngest daughters were all born in London, England.
Constance was easily the best player of the four daughters. She later married fellow player Charles J. Smith and thereafter was known as “Mrs C.J. Smith”.
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The player who took part in some lawn tennis tournaments in the early 1880's under the name of Mrs Bagnall-Wild was Alice Pfeil (b. 1851), a native of London. She married fellow tennis-player Ralph Bagnall-Wild in 1871. Her husband was also involved in the administration side of things during the early years of lawn tennis.
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Dr Heiner Gillmeister has kindly sent me the first names of the following German tennis players who were active between the two world wars, especially in the period 1925-30:
Dr Heiner Gillmeister has kindly sent me the first names of the following German tennis players who were active between the two world wars, especially in the period 1925-30:
Great finds Mark! I am an admirer of Mr Gillmeister's work-his book the Cultural History of Tennis is one of the few comprehensive works on the early game.
A note on the English Snook family, the children of which were born in Nottinghamshire, although the parents James and Frances were from Dorsetshire and Wiltshire respectively. They produced at least nine children, four boys and five girls. Information on the tennis-playing sons Frederick, Herbert and Walter can be found here: http://www.tennisarchives.com/zoekcoureurvrij2.php
There is little doubt that at least three of the daughters also took part in lawn tennis tournaments in the British Isles. However, because of poor record-keeping it is sometimes quite difficult to say which daughter played where and when. The following are the known daugthers' names:
Arundel Backer (b. 1861)
Jane Mary (b. 1862)
Charlotte B. (b. 1866)
Frances Ellen May (b. 1871)
Mabel Louise (b. 1873)
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There might have been one or two more siblings.
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I might be wrong, but I do believe that Virginia Wade was born Sarah Virginia Wade. Also, do the fllowing have any middle names? Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Martina Navratilova? I know Chris Evert's is Marie.
You're right about Virginia Wade, who always featured as "Miss S.V. Wade" on the old Wimbledon scoreboard. I'm sure some, if not all, of the other three players have a middle name, or middle names, but I don't know what they are.
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