PHILLIMORE, CORDELIA (nee Cordelia Mary Stiff)
United Kingdom
Born in 1858 in Snenton, Nottinghamshire
Died 22 July 1934 in Uley, Gloucestershire
Did not marry.
[Active circa 1890-1910]
Cordelia Phillimore was actually christened Cordelia Stiff, but her father, William, later changed the family name. William Phillimore is listed in census as a physician and landowner. For several years he was Superintendent of what the 1871 Census of England and Wales lists as the Nottingham Pauper Lunatic Asylum.
When the 1881 Census of Scotland was taken, Cordelia Phillimore was staying with some of her Stiff relatives in North Berwick in East Lothian. Interestingly, this census lists her occupation as "Formerly Art Student". There is evidence that Cordelia drew and, possibly, painted.
In later life Cordelia Phillimore travelled widely, not just to the European Continent, but also to South America and South Africa. There is evidence that she visited Portugal on several occasions. This would make sense as a Miss C. Phillimore several times won the women's singles title at the Portuguese Championships in the early years of the twentieth century.
Below is a link to a Portuguese sports and entertainment publication from October 1907 that features on page 8 a photograph of "Miss Phillimores", women's singles champion at that year's edition of the Portuguese Championships. As the photo indicates, Cordelia Phillimore played competitive lawn tennis well into her forties. This was not an uncommon habit in the early decades of the sport.
http://hemerotecadigital.cm-lisboa.pt/Periodicos/tiroesport/1907/N366/N366_master/TiroeSportN366.PDF
On 28 June 1934, Cordelia Phillimore arrived in London on the ship Almeda Star whose point of departure had been Buenos Aires, Argentina. The record of this voyage gives her age as 66, but it is more likely that she was in fact 76. Less than one month later she died in Uley, a small village in the western English county of Gloucestershire.
Could she be the same 'Phillimore' who entered and then defaulted at Wimbledon in 1888? No solid evidence supports this at present.
[Thanks to Newmark for this biography]