MOELLER, "EVELYN" (nee Lilian Evelyn Brown)
Great Britain
Born 10 April 1916
Died 06 June 2015 in her hundredth year at Troutbeck Nursing Home Ilkley.
Married Claude "Curly" Gascoinge Moeller Q3 (July to September) of 1939 in Yorkshire
[Active circa 1950-1960]
Wimbledon record (entered 1950-1952 and 1954 to 1956)
Singles: 0-4
Doubles: 4-4
Mixed: 2-3
Yorshire player noted for her doubles play with Barbara Behr, and for playing the first televised match at Wimbledon.
The Ilkley great gran who featured in Wimbledon's first televised match
by Andrea Hardaker. June 26, 2008
A great-grandmother from Ilkley has told how she played in the first ever televised match at Wimbledon in 1952.
Evelyn Moeller, 92, challenged the legendary American Maureen Little Mo' Connolly, who won the Singles Championship title three times at the famous courts in the 1950s.
Evelyn was defeated by the Ladies Champion 6-2, 6-0 in 1952 but managed to secure a place at the then amateur event for a further eight years between 1950 and 1960.
She told Wharfedale Newspapers; "I don't remember the match being televised but I'm sure it looked better than it felt."
Little Mo was a fabulous player - she was very fast and she hit that ball very hard indeed! But she was also a lovely person and I really enjoyed the matches I played against her. "Back then we were all amateurs at Wimbledon but there were some very good players indeed. Wimbledon was such a lovely place to play and I remember we were all treated incredibly well. We had our hair done in between games and had our own physiotherapists. The courts were immaculate. It was quite an experience."
Evelyn, who is now a resident of Troutbeck Care Home in Ilkley, was brought up in Bradford and joined Heaton Tennis Club as a young girl after learning the game from her father.
It was there that she met her husband, Curly - a textile merchant - after impressing him with her skills on the court.
She became the reigning Yorkshire Champion in the early 1950s when she applied to play at Wimbledon and to date holds an undefeated record after winning the Yorkshire Women's Tennis Doubles nine times alongside her then partner Barbara Behr.
She said: "Barbara was an excellent player and together we had a very special partnership. To my knowledge our record has never been broken.
"Back in those days tennis was very different to how it is now, we played lady-like' tennis.
"Since it went professional there have been big changes and the girls all compete in a very different way. They are much faster these days and really hit that ball! I love watching it and am hoping that Roger Federer wins the men's title this year."
Photographs of that time, cherished by Evelyn, show her standing next to Little Mo at the famous courts dressed in knee-length white pleated skirts, a white Fred Perry' style T-shirt and a little cardigan.
She said: "I think we looked very smart but I still like the fashion at Wimbledon - it's wonderful. I think all the girls look very pretty and I do like to see what they are wearing.
"I haven't seen Serena William's raincoat yet but I'm sure she looked very nice. I used to go down to Wimbledon and watch the matches every year until three years ago - it was great fun."
Although Evelyn follows all of the matches her favourites tend to be the men's.
She said: "There have been some great players at Wimbledon over the years. I used to like McEnroe - he was a real character.
"I think my all time favourite women's player was Billy Jean King.
"This year I do think Fererer will win - he is such an elegant player - I don't think Andy Murray will do it this year!"
Today, the famous tournament, which started on Monday, boasts the most talented players in the world and has annual attendances of over 450,000 people. The first event was staged there in 1877 by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. It had 22 male participants.
Seven years later, the Ladies' Singles and Men's Doubles were introduced but the courts didn't open to professional players until 1968.
Mrs Moeller retired from Wimbledon in 1960 and went on to become a magistrate on the Bradford bench for 25 years, though she continued to play tennis recreationally.
She has a son, Brian and daughter, Ann, (who both played) as well as five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Sources:
http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/score...cbc/index.html
http://www.ilkleygazette.co.uk/news/...levised_match/ (link includes a photo of a young Evelyn with Maureen Connolly)
Birth from 1939 England and Wales Register within ancestry.co.uk
Death date from probate records.
Googling lead to announcement in Yorkshire Post
[Thanks to Rollo and Rosamund for this information]
