Tennis Forum banner

Australian Players: A to Z

71K views 109 replies 10 participants last post by  GeeTee 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Welcome to the A-Z listing of Australian tennis players.

While some modern players are listed below, my initial emphasis will be on adding players from the amateur era.

Although some of the data in here comes from other threads (such as Married Names) - and thanks for everyone's contributions - the majority of information here is from my own research.

Where possible, each biography will contain details of birth, death and marriage and a summary of their tennis achievements.

"Italicised quotes" about some players are mainly from Paul Metzler's 1979 book "Great Players of Australian Tennis".

The Australian colony or state(s) which the player represented in their tennis career are also listed:

NSW New South Wales
VIC Victoria
SA South Australia
QLD Queensland
WA Western Australia
TAS Tasmania
ACT Australian Capital Territory
NT Northern Territory

Over time I'll be adding biographical details to each of the profiles (I've only quickly done a few so far) and adding more names that I've overlooked today.

Any questions or corrections are very welcome. Please feel free to post any other information or trivia which could be included within these individual bios.

GT :wavey:

Indexed (2-7-12)
 
See less See more
#27 · (Edited)
Re: A-z

35 Under Construction :bolt:

OK, hopefully that should do it for now....

I'll leave these last couple of posts for the time being, just in case I've forgotten something that should be listed up the top of this thread..

PS - if you notice a significant player who I seem to have missed or if there's an Aussie player you'd like to know more about, please post your suggestions/requests. GT
 
#31 · (Edited)
You did?? Do mods get psychic powers too? I only decided to do it earlier today!
That's for me to know and you to never find out!:p

P. S. You have a slight typo in Peter Bolton's info-you must have tired as you got towards Z!. If my memory is correct Peter Bolton was killed in combat, shot down in an air raid over Cologne, Germany.
 
#32 ·
That's for me to know and you to never find out!:p

P. S. You have a slight typo in Peter Bolton's info-you must have tired as you got towards Z!. If my memory is correct Peter Bolton was killed in combat, shot down in an air raid voer Cologne, Germany.
So do you! :nerner:

Perhaps at a later date if you have time (and trust me I mean "if") you might be able to use those deleted posts for other areas of expansion-perhaps a listing of players by state for example.
Yeah - that could be something to do. Still not sure - I was going to sleep on it, but even though the first coffee has kicked in, I'm still umming and ahhing.

I could also use them to list some of the "mystery women" - eg the Dransfields - who are still driving me crazy. I could list my suspicions (eg that there are three sisters - Nellie, Mary and Margaret - and that Margaret might well have been known as Peggy - the 'P Dransfield' that you sometimes see) and perhaps others might be able to add their own info/thoughts to (hopefully) help work out who's who.

Though (at this moment) I reckon I might just include them in the general A-Z with a 'work in progress' type text box listing any assumptions/discussion points. Let me know what you think.

Yesterday I was mulling the idea of making this thread an 'A-Z of Australian Tennis History' including tournament notes/honour rolls, facts about the development of the game downunder etc. Then I figured even the A-Z of players was ambitious enough for a start. I think I may eventually do a 'History' thread but I'll think about it a bit more first.

Anyway - time for more coffee!
 
#33 ·
Great work, Graham. I see you even found the first names of the Chenery sisters, who played in some of the Continental (Swiss) tournaments circa 1910. I knew they were from Australia.

Your thread looks fine as it stands - no need to make things too complicated.

Keep up the good work.
 
#35 ·
I've updated some - and added a few more - profiles in the last week or so.


I see you even found the first names of the Chenery sisters, who played in some of the Continental (Swiss) tournaments circa 1910. I knew they were from Australia.
Yeah the names seem to fit well as A. Chenery kept playing in Australia in 1890 after her sister would have had to travel to the UK for her marriage.

I wonder why the sister (was it just one?) who played in SUI kept using her maiden name, though I guess plenty of players at the time used faked names anyway.
 
#34 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rollo
That's for me to know and you to never find out!:p

P. S. You have a slight typo in Peter Bolton's info-you must have tired as you got towards Z!. If my memory is correct Peter Bolton was killed in combat, shot down in an air raid voer Cologne, Germany.


So do you! :nerner:

Nah. That's not a typo. That's German :eek:

(That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

Keep up the coffee and the great infomration GeeTee:)
 
#36 · (Edited)
Hello there GeeTee. Question-could this player be the mother of Kerry Melville Reid?

Dorothy Winifred GREENWOOD (NSW)
Married James Hector MELVILLE on 24 March 1939
and more information on Betty Ward (just in case-you probably have it already)

WARD, BETTY (Ward, Betty J)
Australia (South Australia)
Married Ross Harmer (of Clare) on 12 June 1937 in Gleneig, Australia, her hometown.

1931 Aussie draw. Associated with East Torrens. Her wedding notice stated the couple would settle in Mildura. Mr Harmer also played tennis.
 
#40 ·
I think I already posted most of the corrections/additions I had in your individual year threads and another bunch in the GS results AO thread, so not sure I'll be able to add too much more at this stage. But you never know - go for it!

Louloubelle was also going to try and post some extra Aussie info in this thread, so hopefully that'll motivate me to do a bit more in here too.
 
#41 ·
I think I already posted most of the corrections/additions I had in your individual year threads and another bunch in the GS results AO thread, so not sure I'll be able to add too much more at this stage. But you never know - go for it!

Louloubelle was also going to try and post some extra Aussie info in this thread, so hopefully that'll motivate me to do a bit more in here too.
Thanks GT. I'm excited that Louloubelle may be coming back. It was LLB who originally wrote up most of the notes when we started the Grand slam draws a few years back!:)

Just in case anyone wished to do some real digging-here is more on Le Messurier.

Messurier's papers are in the State Archives of South Australia in Adelaide and are described as having “Newspaper cuttings, photographs, programmes, correspondence, and badges relating to Kathleen Le Messurier's tennis career.”

There might be some real gems in the Adelaide archives relating to her.
 
#42 ·
^^ Hi Rollo. :wavey: Yes, this thread caught my attention and so Im pretty keen to keep adding to it. Ive sent Gee Tee some details about the 1950's... now working on the 60's. Unfortunately, a little more digging is required as most of it is dominated by Margaret Court. :)
 
#43 ·
Great to have you back Louloubelle:bounce:


I'm keen to see what you've dug up for the 50s and 60s. It is a tough era to find info for. It's ironic the Trove gives us a bigger picture for the earlier era. Hopefully they will expand it to include later dates.

In case you missed it here's a bit I found on Kaye Dening:

http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?t=452604
 
#50 ·
Thanks Rollo :) Knew nothing about Kaye until I started digging around abit. Was certainly a handy player with some qtr finals at the Australian Championships. (It helped that I finally worked out that her last name is Dening, not Denning which was used in one of the books I have access too)
 
#44 · (Edited)
Not sure if I'm duplicating other people's work but I have:

Agnes Ellen Abeckett
Birth 25 May 1870 in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia
Death 28 Jul 1963 in Malvern, Victoria, Australia

Youtha Constance Anthony
Born 1905 Malvern, Victoria, Australia
Married Edward Young 1933 in London,England

Marie Ethel Blanche Beegling
Born 1900 London, England
Died 1969

Margaret Ursula Bere
Born 1901
Died June 30 1944 in Oakhill, Somerset, England
 
#45 ·
It was all new to me Olympus:)

I can add some information for Mrs Quinnell.

Here is her obit:

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/4509112?searchTerm=richard james quinnell&searchLimits=


Yet another obit suggests her name was Emma Jane

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/4508931?searchTerm=richard james quinnell&searchLimits=


And other info:

QUINNELL, MAY
Australia (Queensland)
Died 15 November 1932 in Melbourne, Australia
Married Sgt-Major (Brigade-Surgeon) Richard James Quinnell. He died 3 December 1902, in Melbourne, aged 68.

1889 and 1890 Queensland Champion

Former resident of India who came to Australia with her (doctor) husband. A respected artist whose oil paintings had won prizes, May spoke six languages and was reputed to have introduced the game of badminton to Queensland. She may have been considerably younger than her spouse. He had at least 2 sons born in the 1860s, yet May’s obit states she had no children.
 
#46 · (Edited)
May Quinnell
London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921
about Richard James Quinnell
Name: Richard James Quinnell
Spouse Name: Emma Jane Davis
Record Type: Marriage
Event Date:26 Jun 1879
Parish:Ladbroke Grove St Michael and All Angels
Borough:Kensington and Chelsea
Father Name:Richard James Quinnell
Spouse Father Name: David Armytage Davis
Register Type:parish Register
 
#47 ·
Vera Blain
Born 1887 Prahran, Victoria, Australia

Irene Estelle “Rene” Cozens
Born 24 May 1890 Stanmore, NSW
Died 1971 NSW
Married - Henry James Ashburnham Forbes Goodman Smith 1919

Flora Jane Dailey
Born 7 July 1876 Coromandel Valley, Adelaide, South Australia

Edith Lucy DOUST
Born 1875 in St.George, NSW,
Died 28 Jul 1947 in Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia

Dulcie Ethel FREUDENSTEIN
Birth: 1898 in Picton, NSW
Death: 1961 in Sydney, NSW

Edith Mary FREUDENSTEIN
Birth: 15 Mar 1903 - Koorawatha, NSW
Distant cousin to Dulcie
 
#49 ·
Theodora Kinglake 'Dora' GARNSEY
Died 1956 Sydney
Daughter of http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/garnsey-charles-frederick-3593

Birdie Louisa GATEHOUSE

Born 26 October 1904 in Port Sorrell, Tasmania

Flora Hamilton GORDON
Died 1954 Petersham, NSW

Hazel Joan GRASSICK

Born 1907 in Bega, NSW
Death 23 Aug 1976 in Killara, NSW


Lorna Gray GYTON
Died 1953 Richmond, Victoria, Australia
Married Gladstone Askew in 1917

Ellen Annie 'Nellie' HALLEY
Born 1897 Ashfield, NSW

Alison Crago HATTERSLEY
Born 1909 St. Leonards, NSW
 
#53 ·
Alice May HONE
Birth: 31 May 1878 - Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Death: 17 Dec 1953 - London, England

Sydney Helston Stuart HOCKING
Birth 07 MAR 1900 in North Adelaide, South Australia
Married Albert Gordon Benda in 1930

Keyden Ethel IRVING
Birth 14/01/1894 Toowong, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Death 27/03/1984 Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

Betty Margaret KELYNACK
Born 1916 Ashfield, NSW
Died Sep 2006 Noora, NSW
“at Sholahaven District Memorial Hospital, Nowra; late of Ulladulla, formerly of Adelong”

Nion Thelma KENYON
Born 1900 Woollahra, New South Wales
Death: 18 Jun 1982 - Sydney, Nsw

Ivy Sarah KILLER
Born 1911 Queensland

Margaret Alice "Maggie" KNOBLANCHE
Birth: 14 Aug 1913 - Wellington, New South Wales, Australia
Death: 05 Aug 1996- Gerringong, New South Wales, Australia
 
#54 · (Edited)
#55 ·
Hi GeeTee-for Toomey I have
For Toomey I have major :facepalm: embarrassment - lol

a) major brain-fade obviously when typing her name in
b) can't believe I at least didn't notice this when re-editing some of the other entries..

Every now and again there are certain players who (even though I really know their names) I type the wrong one. Frances Hoddle-Wrigley is one I do this all the time with; for some reason I always have to correct myself after typing 'Florence'. Weird!
 
#57 ·
#62 ·
Note to "Olympus": Can you check that no relevant information on Australian players which you're posting in this thread is not missing from the married names thread?
There's probably a fair few bits n pieces that I've added in here without also posting in the other thread. Sorry.

Ruby Beatrice Skinner married on 27 August 1940 to Kenneth Lyle Litchfield.
Nice one. Thanks - added.

I agree with GeeTee. There is no need to tarnish this thread with that football club.
Always knew I liked this guy for some reason (other than his fantastic tennis research skills!) :yeah:
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top