REALLY Ancient History

[Henry Hub]

The ladies’ singles, doubles and mixed doubles national titles are to be won, as ever, at Wissahickon on the grounds of the Philadelphia Cricket Club.

The major absence is the ladies’ champion, Mabel Cahill. For some reason, she has elected not to defend her title in 1893. Her great rival, Eleanor Roosevelt is also a no-show, leaving the path clear for Bessie Moore.

However, the crowds and probably Moore herself don’t account for one Aline Terry of Princeton. Terry defeats Moore in three tough sets then cruises to the title against Augusta Schultz, the championship match being best of 3 sets in 1893 before returning to best of 5 in 1894. Caspar Whitney enthuses about Terry’s power game in Harper’s Weekly.

https://imgur.com/a/XQ2wWYg

Terry also wins the ladies’ doubles, while Eleanor Roosevelt and Clarence Hobart take the mixed in 4 sets (the mixed final still being best of 5).

 

[Henry Hub]

Terry’s game, and in particular her brand of hard hitting, comes in for some attention among the US sporting papers, some comparing her pace off the ground favourably to the men.

This results in this enjoyable and forward-thinking article in Life magazine.

https://imgur.com/a/oEY6lC7

 

[Henry Hub]

What has Mabel Cahill been occupying her time with in her absence from Wissahickon? Well, she seems to have been snapped up by Outing for some tennis long-forms.

Her first article is the usual introduction to the game for women.

https://imgur.com/a/39CHI9K

Cahill advises a lighter racket than her English cousins in print - 11.5 to 13oz being her suggested range.

Her articles provides a useful glimpse into her game. Her shots are of the English orthodox variety, with the thumb down the back of the handle on the backhand and the racket held perpendicular to the ground (contrast the Irish and US method that has the racket parallel to the ground).

The serve she recommends is squarely in the frying pan hold camp and she is a fan, in doubles, of delivering it on the furthest edges of the tramlines.

 

[Henry Hub]

The next month, Cahill is back with another article, this time on tournament play.

Again, the champion covers a lot of ground in her article, though the section on how to hold a successful tennis party is not something you can imagine Serena Williams agreeing to write.

https://imgur.com/a/lWQuqbO

That said, despite some good stuff about nerves on court (the dreaded “rattle”) and ladies’ tennis outfits (I am far too slovenly and fashion-unconscious to understand that section), the most fascinating bit to me is the tennis party section.

In particular, I enjoyed the 1890s US social niceties that need to be observed in putting the players together, as detailed in the “Inviting the Guests” section. Tennis ladies are reluctant to play at other clubs’ events in the fear that they will be cold-shouldered as some kind of racket-wielding cuckoo in the nest. Therefore all sorts of ingratiating and comforting entreaties have to be made, basically to get them over the hump.

This article also contains one of the most pithy and clear descriptions of the Bagnall-Wild drawing system that I’ve come across - Cahill obviously had a mathematical brain.

A contemporary American artist, Sheldon Parsons produces this 1891 painting called “Lawn-Tennis Party”, giving an indication of the mise en scene of one of Cahill’s garden joints.

https://imgur.com/a/Ko5QxGY

 

[Henry Hub]

The interscholastic tournament ends with the title staying in Rhode Island. 1892 finalist Clarence Budlong of the Providence High School takes the win against another name to remember, Leo Ware of the Roxbury Latin School.

Seeing as we just took a gander at two-handed backhands, it’s perhaps of interest that J. Parmly Paret later criticises Budlong’s habit of hitting double-fisted volleys on the backhand wing.

https://imgur.com/a/oPkjfzX

The snide remarks Paret levels at this technique are largely representative of the majority view until McGrath appears on the scene.

In Geoffrey Youll’s case, this is pretty fair, as he only seems to hit scooped lobs on that wing. However, according to a 1911 report, Harold Bache “goes to war” with the shot, a particularly unfortunate phrase, given his demise in a Flanders field only 5 years afterwards.

One final anecdote about Bache - he is the first player to use a two-handed backhand at Wimbledon, losing in the first round of the singles and doubles in 1911. And not to much of a sympathetic reception either, it must be admitted.

https://imgur.com/a/IEqaVVl

 

[Henry Hub]

The Middle States championships are held in Orange, NJ in late June. The baseline plodder, Richard Stevens, easily defends his title against newcomer Arthur Foote, while Mabel Cahill makes a successful return to the green sward in the ladies’ event.

The season really kicks off for the men the following week, with the Tuxedo NY invitational tournament. The two stories coming out of the singles event are the shock defeat of Bob Wrenn against the unknown JW Nichols and Clarence Hobart’s win on his favourite dirt courts. Hobart is running into an uncommonly rich seam of form, while Wrenn has not played up to his 1892 standard since the Spring swing through Florida.

In the doubles, Hobart and Hovey win, thrashing along the way the worryingly off-colour Ollie Campbell and Valentine Hall.

 

[Henry Hub]

Over in the West (ie Chicago), Sammy Chase remains facile princeps, defending his Western Championship title.

The NY Championships at Saratoga see Hobart picking up more silverware after tough matches against Fred Hovey and the holder, the indefatigable Percy Knapp.

Of more interest to readers and spectators alike is the long-awaited rematch between Mabel Cahill and Bessie Moore, a restaging of the 1892 Wissahickon final. Again, it is nip and tuck through the first set, Cahill eventually edging it 9-7. The Irishwoman races away with the second to win in straight sets. Moore handles Cahill’s powerful shots capably in the first set and both women show off their top-class backhands throughout.

 

[Henry Hub]

The New Jersey championships are held at Seabright and feature a strong field. William Larned comes out the winner after beating the out of sorts Eddie Hall in the ACF and Richard Stevens in the Challenge Round. Ollie Campbell teams up with Larned to win the doubles against the Hall brothers.

Upon Larned’s death at the end of 1926, Fred Alexander, a key Davis Cup player at the end of the following decade, warmly recalls Bill and Ollie Campbell staying at his house during the above event.

https://imgur.com/a/92zzLuW

 

[Henry Hub]

The Longwood tournament outside Boston starts with an upset, Richard Stevens beating Bob Wrenn to underline the latter’s declining form. Stevens, who, like Percy Knapp, is an inveterate baseline player without any real pace on his shots but who can run all day, backs up this win by taking down a fellow back court player in the form of Malcolm Chace.

The Stevens-Chace match is a 5-set strategic grind of trench warfare proportions.

https://imgur.com/a/Gnu1uG2

At the end, the two combatants fall into their chairs and pose for a photo. I am struggling to recall seeing another 19th century photo that shows the aftermath of a long match - Stevens in particular looks an absolute wreck.

https://imgur.com/a/YlYMsCu

So it is perhaps unsurprising that Stevens cannot displace the holder and hometown hero, Fred Hovey, in the challenge round. However, he makes a good go of it, losing 8-6 7-5 8-6 and saving god knows how many championship points in the final, 36 point game.

 

[Henry Hub]

The US National doubles championship is held in Chicago, at the St George cricket ground. It’s a bit of a damp squib, with only one match of note. The eventual champions Hobart and Hovey play the Neel brothers Carr and Sam. The latter pair came onto the scene as Oakland High School players in 1892 but, by 1893, have matriculated at and are representing the University of Chicago.

https://imgur.com/a/YQ8CCqV

Carr Neel makes for the net at a speed that makes Campbell’s progress look like continental drift. Although his serve is delivered in the midst of a flat sprint, he apparently rarely if ever foot faulted.

This is Carr in 1907, looking like he’s just stepped out of the Miyagi-Do Dojo.

https://imgur.com/a/Msd4TXo

Keep the Neels in the back of your mind. For now, it’s enough to note that the brothers do themselves proud with a tight straight sets loss against the eventual winners.

Campbell and Huntington Jr don’t put up much of a fight in the Challenge Round, with Campbell’s volleying being pretty patchy.

 

[Henry Hub]

The form book is all over the place in the final events before Newport, with no clear stand-out player.

Larned wins the Long Island Championships at Southampton, beating Hobart and Eddie Hall. At Sorrento, Wrenn continues his winning run against Chace.

The World’s Fair event in Chicago features numerous Western and Pacific Coast players, the latter disappointing horribly. Hovey wins out, though he almost throws away an unassailable lead against the above Carr Neel in the challenge round. Here is a photo of WH Taylor and Tobin, the Pacific Coast doubles champions.

https://imgur.com/a/fK3gd3J

The Essex County Club of Manchester, Mass. holds another round robin invitational which is won by Chace, who takes a rare win against Wrenn, whose form has nosedived again. Valentine Hall avenges his brother’s early defeat by winning Bar Harbor, though Eddie wins the lesser Newport event the following week.

Narragansett is the final event. Larned blasts through a strong field to win.

Just before Newport starts, Caspar Whitney drops the big news that the three-time champion, Ollie Campbell, will not be defending his title. As hinted at by Pastime in its 1892 bio, Campbell is taking his first steps into the world of business and, as is expected by the American corporate machine, the time is right for him to put away childish things.

https://imgur.com/a/LsrnkiR

The path is clear for a right royal rumble among the other contenders for the title.

In Whitney’s opinion, Hobart is the most likely to succeed, though Knapp and the mercurial Hovey and Larned are pecking at his heels.

Here is a photo of Hovey, Valentine Hall, USNLTA Hon Sec Joe Whittelsey and Hobart himself. With Hovey bearing an uncommon resemblance to a pre-Live Aid Freddie Mercury and Clarence looking a bit like Brian May without 18 months of letting the hair go, this pic looks like a Queen alumni meet ‘n’ greet.

https://imgur.com/a/KdAE4Se

 

[Henry Hub]

Let’s take our leave of the US as the contenders catch their trains or steamers from Boston and New York over to Rhode Island.

Lurching back a couple of weeks and a few thousand miles, we find ourselves in the home straight into Wimbledon. Just to reacclimatise ourselves before getting into the action, let’s see what Pastime considers to be the hot tennis issues of the day.

Amusingly, it’s fashion and, in particular, men’s tennis fashion. Jackson has all sorts of fun at the expense of the male peacocks of the courts after the appearance in “Hearth and Home” of a lady’s savage criticism of men’s tennis outfits.

https://imgur.com/a/4I4QFHM

Particular feminine ire is directed at sleeveless tops (there goes your garden party invite, Rafa!) and “neck arrangements of the most pronounced Byronic type, and nude ankles, about which their socks wobble”. As a habitual sporter of wobbly socks, I feel rather seen.

Another item of derision is the foppish silk scarf used as an ersatz belt. This apparently rarely does its job properly, causing the wearer to resort to a frequent “nautical hitch”.

According to “Hearth and Home”, the correct outfit for men should be grey flannel trousers, a canvas shirt with highly starched collar, tight blazer, a cap and a cigarette languorously hanging from the lips. Apparently, from what I’ve seen, Harry Grove is the player who comes closest to this Platonic Ideal.

 

[Henry Hub]

This chap seems to have adopted the approved line:

https://imgur.com/a/xlM1ljM

As ever, the French have their own views on tennis haute couture. This is an 1893 French cartoonist’s forecast of future ladies’ tennis kit.

Gussie Moran, eat your heart out.

https://imgur.com/a/J9DRgz1

 

[Casey 1988]

As ever, the French have their own views on tennis haute couture. This is an 1893 French cartoonist’s forecast of future ladies’ tennis kit.

Gussie Moran, eat your heart out.

https://imgur.com/a/J9DRgz1

This looks very similar to the early 1920's Women's Swimusits before the legs got shorter like shorts above the knee.

 

[Henry Hub]

Back on court and the final Wimbledon warm-up event is held at the Queen’s Club.

Maud Shackle continues to dominate the metropolitan ladies’ events, though Edith Austin has a match point against her in the final of the Queen’s Cup. In the men’s, it’s yet another Pim-Mahony final for the London Championships.

The two men have by now got the measure of the bone dry courts. These ones needed the rain more than other grounds because the damage done by the football players and golfers over the winter has never been remedied by a good soaking and rolling.

As such, the two Irishmen resort to all-out serve and volleying, Pastime reporting that they come charging in on balls “good, bad or indifferent and some very mediocre play was the result”. However it is mediocre play to Pim’s advantage, taking him to the first set.

It is at 2-1 Mahony in the second set that the heavens finally open after 4 months. Harold would have been well within his rights to shake a stick at the sky but, doubtless to his delight, the match gets moved indoors.

Mahony aka May swept the Covered Courts titles earlier in the year, while Pim doesn’t indulge in this aspect of the game, being otherwise occupied over winter. So Harold must have been favourite, right?

Of course, things are never that simple and Pim ends up winning - though he tries his best to blow it with a bit more disastrous serve and volleying, stringing out the match for the full 5 sets.

 

[Henry Hub]

Pastime wraps up the tournament with some observations on the behaviour of the Queen’s Club crowds and the shortcomings of the courts’ layout.

https://imgur.com/a/jgsR7wP

 

[Henry Hub]

The serve and volleying trend shows no sign of ending as Wimbledon rolls around, much to Pastime’s dissatisfaction.

In a plaintive tone that would have been equally at home in the late 1990s as the early 1890s, Nick Jackson begs for a bit of all-court play to break up the monotony of serving and volleying. The editorial bemoans the error-strewn performances from these arriviste forecourt players and the woeful baseline games on display.

https://imgur.com/a/adgyuGl

 

[Henry Hub]

Out comes the men’s singles draw for Wimbledon and there is one first round tie that catches the eye above all others. William Renshaw is to play his brother, Ernest.

Unfortunately for tennis fans and writers alike, William scratches the match.

As we have seen, this kind of thing is entirely normal at this time, Charlie Allen always withdrawing rather than play his brother Roy and Herbert Baddeley sidestepping when drawn against Wilfred.

However, I do wonder if there’s more to this than meets the eye. The twins played out their challenge rounds in the past so this is an unusual course of action. Perhaps they are indeed sick of each other and recognise that a confrontation by way of a tennis match is the last thing that their foundering fraternal relationship needs.

Whatever the reason, it’s a bitter blow for the tournament. There are precious few compelling matches in the first couple of days, the highlights probably being Barlow’s regulation 5 set win against EG Meers or Goodbody’s equally protracted victory over George Hillyard. Sidney Smith wins a round before running into Pim, who doesn’t allow him a set.

Ernest Renshaw doesn’t last much longer than his brother. He meets Harold Mahony in R2 and loses a typically up and down 5 setter. Renshaw wins the first set 6-1 and is in a strong position in the second before his mind wanders. He squares the sets up but is never really at the races in the 5th. Mahony’s volleying comes in for a great deal of praise.

 

[Henry Hub]

On the Wednesday, there is an enormous thunderstorm in London but Worple Road somehow escapes with minimal disruption.

That said, one player tries to blame his poor volleying on the ball getting singed by lightning before he hit it - which, to his credit, is one I haven’t heard before.

https://imgur.com/a/soka5I5

The men’s singles field continues to be whittled down (I ought to have said that, like recent years, the ladies’ singles and men’s doubles is to follow the men’s singles). Mahony and Eaves have a great match which is one of the casualties of the thunderstorm. Eaves has been on a poor run of results in 1893 but has come good at Wimbledon and is more than a match for the Irishman. However the rain comes just at the wrong time and, upon resumption, the Australian cannot get a solid grip on the muddy ground. Mahony on the other hand takes to the boggy conditions like a duck to, well, a swamp.

The semi-finals feature an easy win for Mahony against the unfancied Palmer and a similarly straightforward victory for Pim against Barlow, who has played a five setter in practically every round.

Anyone who knows the history of Pim-Mahony matches could have had a reasonable guess as to the probable outcome of the All Comers’ Final. The match goes pretty much as expected, Pim winning in 3. However, the manner of his win is what makes the spectators sit up in attention. One of those spectators is Herbert Lawford and he must have been purring with delight at Pim’s game. After a tight first set, Joshua hits his stride and takes total control, allowing his countryman a mere 3 games in the second and not a single game in the third.

 

[Henry Hub]

https://imgur.com/a/ikfAvoB

The Challenge Round is held on Monday 17 July in bright but fresh conditions. Pastime reports that the unreserved seats are well filled but that the stands are by no means well occupied.

This comes across in the above sketch of the final. It’s the only sketch or other visual representation I’ve seen of the view from the west stand. You can see the scoreboard being staffed in the east stand next to the railway line. The umpire still sits on a chair on a table while there doesn’t seem to be any linesmen in attendance. The draftsman has also managed to draw a sideline straight through Pim’s waist. There’s not much to be said on the players’ outfits, though both players have rolled-up sleeves.

 

[Henry Hub]

Heavy rain has fallen on the Sunday, giving the groundsman Coleman the chance to get the roller out and flatten some of the bumps and lumps. This unsung hero of Wimbledon answers Nick Jackson’s prayers for respite from endless serve and volleying and a return to an all-court style of play. He delivers a court that is free of the horrors of the Manchester ground.

That said, Pim is all over the place to start with, Baddeley racing to a 5-0 lead before the Irishman rescues his blushes with a three game run. Baddeley, as ruthlessly efficient as ever, caps off the set without further fuss.

The second set is when Pim starts to take control. He has the ball on a string and is blasting away from the baseline. Baddeley is by no means playing badly but can only win 13 points in the set, Pim taking it 6-1.

There is a bad call in that set on an important point and the crowd makes its feeling known to the umpire.

https://imgur.com/a/rc5tf4o

Baddeley digs in and tries to establish a bridgehead over the next two sets. He is always on the back foot, though - Pim is keeping him at the back of the court and making him do all of the running. The Irishman takes the third and fourth sets at 6-3.

https://imgur.com/a/k7RflR1

As is traditional, the British sporting press wastes no time in going completely over the top, hailing Pim as the greatest male player ever. Here is the man himself with his trophy and a mugshot.

https://imgur.com/a/jCRzoh6

https://imgur.com/a/BDFQPKg

 

[Henry Hub]

https://imgur.com/a/ULO5vao

Nick Jackson, editor of Pastime, rejoices in Pim’s all-court game and compares the Irishman to his predecessors Renshaw and Lawford. There’s some useful detail in here of Pim’s nonchalant style of play and what makes him so special.

 

[Henry Hub]

I’m saving the ladies’ singles for last so let’s deal with the men’s doubles quickly.

The defending champions are Harry Barlow and Ernest Lewis, the latter fitting in his challenge round match around his swotting for his final medical exams.

Pim and Stoker and the Baddeley are the most fancied pairs. The former team opens its account with an all-stars match against William Renshaw and Harold Mahony. This match draws a big crowd - little wonder, as between them there will be 10 Wimbledon singles titles and 7 Wimbledon doubles titles represented on court.

https://imgur.com/a/lplubpq

Despite some brilliant play from William Renshaw (Pastime does tend to fangirl over Billy R though, so I usually take their reportage on him with a grain or two of salt), Pim and Stoker win a hard match in 4 sets - 6-4 10-12 6-0 9-7.

The All Comers’ Final is between the Irish and English pairs. Like the Northern, it is a five set affair but it doesn’t seem to come close to that classic in terms of quality. Unusually for a men’s doubles match, there are breaks galore, Herbert Baddeley being the unlucky prime culprit. Pim and Stoker gallop through the final set and book themselves a place in the challenge round.

That match takes place on Thursday 20 July after the weather breaks spectacularly the previous day just as the players walk onto court. Unfortunately, the deferral has a deleterious effect on attendance, resulting in empty stands around the centre court.

It’s an error-fest initially, neither side seemingly capable of holding serve. The holders win the first set almost by default. The next two sets go to the challengers as they raise their games. However, Stoker goes to pieces in the fourth, missing easy volleys and smashes, and two sets all is called.

The fifth set is a complete contrast to the fourth. Stoker is as good in that stanza as he was wretched in its predecessor. Barlow, who frankly has been carrying his partner all match, finally tires and the Irishmen take a 6-0 set.

 

[Henry Hub]

Pim and Stoker now hold both the Irish and English doubles titles. Pim is also the only Irishman to hold both of these premier titles at the same time.

Enhancing his reputation, Stoker appears to have won the Wimbledon doubles with a knackered racket.

https://imgur.com/a/6XSJCP9

And what of Pim’s racket?

According to this 1899 ad, the good doctor won his Irish and Wimbledon titles in 1893 with a Slazenger. Specifically, he is an early adopter of the new EGM racket.

https://imgur.com/a/YAZvVst

 

[Henry Hub]

The EGM marks a new direction in racket design, introducing a longer oval face to the frame. The more technically gifted of you will probably be able to suggest what benefits this brings to the player - maybe a larger sweet spot?

In any event, Pim is not the only man to trade in his old stick for the EGM. Slazenger does us a huge favour by sending Pastime the names of the men playing the EGM racket at Wimbledon.

It’s terribly embarrassing to say this, but one of the highlights of doing this whole project was when I saw one of the names on this list.

https://imgur.com/a/EECHesO

There has been speculation for many years as to the rackets used by the Renshaws.

Obviously we know they played Tates through the 1880s, though Ernest switched to Holden either temporarily or permanently towards the end of the decade.

If you remember, when William Renshaw played the Queen’s Club indoor event at the start of 1893 it was noted that he was using “an entirely new racket”.

Renshaw is now a Slazenger player.

 

[Grafil Injection]

The EGM marks a new direction in racket design, introducing a longer oval face to the frame. The more technically gifted of you will probably be able to suggest what benefits this brings to the player - maybe a larger sweet spot?

In any event, Pim is not the only man to trade in his old stick for the EGM. Slazenger does us a huge favour by sending Pastime the names of the men playing the EGM racket at Wimbledon.

It’s terribly embarrassing to say this, but one of the highlights of doing this whole project was when I saw one of the names on this list.

https://imgur.com/a/EECHesO

There has been speculation for many years as to the rackets used by the Renshaws.

Obviously we know they played Tates through the 1880s, though Ernest switched to Holden either temporarily or permanently towards the end of the decade.

If you remember, when William Renshaw played the Queen’s Club indoor event at the start of 1893 it was noted that he was using “an entirely new racket”.

Renshaw is now a Slazenger player.

Sadly I haven't hit with an EGM, although there is one on UKbay at the moment... To me it looks more tear-dropped, which means it is naturally polarised producing a higher SW for any given weight. Additionally, the widest point and hitting zone being higher means the contact point is moving slightly faster for the same hand-speed. So a potential double power-boost! I think I read the EGM had some nice woods in it too.

 

[Henry Hub]

Back to the ladies’ challenge round, which brings together Blanche Hillyard and the champion, Lottie Dod, for the umpteenth time.

The match is held immediately before the Pim/Stoker & Baddeleys All Comers’ Final. Apart from a gusty breeze, the weather is on the whole pretty good, with only a few spots of rain falling.

There’s nothing remotely like the size of the crowds that watched their tussle in Old Trafford. Both ladies are off their games to start, with errors aplenty. The first set is eventually won by Hillyard, the final shot being a dead net cord that apologetically trickles over onto Dod’s side.

Maybe Dod took that shot personally or perhaps she just finds her rhythm from that point on - whatever the reason, she hits the afterburners. After Blanche takes the first game to love, Lottie reels off 6 games on the spin.

Up until then, the challenger had profited from her deep forehand drives, hit on the rise into the champion’s backhand corner, and her passing shots whenever Lottie made a foray to the net. In the second and third sets, Dod’s backhand improves markedly, drawing starry-eyed praise from the Pastime reporter.

 

[Henry Hub]

The cheap points dry up for Hillyard, while Dod starts red-lining her returns of serve, battering the ball cross-court past her opponent. If that’s not bad enough for the West London heiress, Dod is now volleying (and half-volleying) out of her mind.

The third set opens with Dod taking a nasty spill on the dewy court. The game is stopped immediately but Lottie soon signals that she can continue. The set goes with serve until Hillyard blasts one long at break point, 3-4 down. Lottie gets to 40-0 up in the 5-3 game. Three championship points.

She then has a Kyrgios moment of madness, blowing all three match points including a spectacularly ill-advised decision to serve and volley on one of them. Lest it be forgotten, Dod serves underarm…

Dod goes on to lose the game. To a lesser soul (me, for one), this would have led to the kind of meltdown, loss and general mental trauma that would make one give up the game and become a hermit.

Not Lottie Dod, though. She bangs in three heavy forehands onto the Hillyard backhand, all three subsequent shots ending up in the bottom of the net. Blanche smacks a regulation forehand long and that’s all, folks - title number 5 for the Little Wonder.

 

[Henry Hub]

Dod takes the applause of the crowd, walks off the court and heads back into London.

Amazingly enough, that’s the last we see of her on court. She never plays another first class tennis event.

But, ladies and gentlemen, I think you’d agree that we’d be doing her (and us) a terrible disservice if we didn’t see what Lottie did next.

The only thing I found in these old sports pages that came close to rivalling the revelation that William Renshaw ended his career with a Slazenger was this little nugget.

https://imgur.com/a/EOOAfWu

Some persistent journo pigeon-holes Dod and gets what I think is only one of two interviews I’ve seen with her - we’ll come to the second one shortly.

There’s some good stuff about her training regime and thoughts on the benefits of the game. But the real gem here is her dislike of being called “Lottie”. Oops.

Instead, the 22 year old veteran prefers to be called Charlotte, at least in public. How disappointed she would be in all of us.

 

[Henry Hub]

Lottie, ahem Charlotte, is quite the Renaissance Woman.

In 1904, this little potted history of her successes appears. You will not be staggered to learn that this appears in the context of another glorious victory - but we will come to that in a sec.

https://imgur.com/a/dFDSjOE

I do love that she played a mean banjo. I like to think that, on some celestial plane, Dod and Spencer Gore are playing duelling banjos together. Actually, maybe not.

Anyway, let’s kick off with the skating. As noted above, she passes the fearsome St Moritz ladies’ skating test in 1896 and is one of a handful of ladies to also pass the men’s test the following year. Of course, she then becomes a judge in 1903 because - well, because she is a marvel.

This article is from 1902.

https://imgur.com/a/HwhPnZ1

 

[Henry Hub]

Quick aside, if any of this is of interest (and frankly I am butchering what is an amazing story), then please do read Sasha Abramsky’s fabulous “Little Wonder” - it’s a superb book about Dod.

Back to the rink and the restive Dod soon bores of the monotony of ice skating. No, what she yearns for is something a little more challenging.

So, ice cricket it is, then. With bowling figures of 5-4 (is it too finicky to want an overs figure here?), Dod is truly the Curtly Ambrose of the Eislaufbahn.

https://imgur.com/a/nrPfREb

 

[Henry Hub]

Back on drier land, Dod casts around for something else for her to do. Needlework is right out - she was born to bash a ball with a stick. And so she alights upon hockey (or field hockey for our American cousins).

Would you credit it, she turns out to be a natural. She plays for club and, on a number of occasions, country. Frustratingly, you can’t make her out in any of the photos of the English teams I’ve seen.

She plays for England against Ireland on at least 3 occasions, in each case ending up on the winning side.

Here’s a photo of the 1899 tie at Richmond. God knows if Dod features in this photo.

https://imgur.com/a/zG9PJKX

In the March 1900 fixture, she whacks in a couple of goals to rescue England in a 2-1 win. The main controversy around this match is the Irish ladies’ crafty curtseying during the game to stop the ball with their long dresses.

https://imgur.com/a/mqBnOlf

 

[Henry Hub]

But while Dod is undoubtedly an asset to her hockey team (just as Chatty Cooper is to the Surrey team around 1900), she is not satisfied. Living up in Birkenhead, she is dragged along by her brother Tony to play golf at Hoylake.

She hates the game and decides it’s not for her.

I’m joking - she loves it, she’s amazing at it, is there nothing she cannot do?

Success comes almost immediately- this is from 1898.

https://imgur.com/a/tpY1Al6

To us tennis fans, there is something simply not right about a photo of Dod with a golf club. Get used to it - she loves the game. In 1898 she comes in third in the 19th century predecessor to the Women’s Open.

https://imgur.com/a/H5WF6ok

 

[Henry Hub]

In May 1904, with a continued absence of any meaningful golfing silverware on the mantlepiece, Dod suggests she might come back and play Wimbledon.

https://imgur.com/a/ATEPmRd

In a move straight out of Hollywood, that’s when Dod gets it properly together on the links. She rocks up to Troon in May 1904 for the ladies’ championship and wins the title. The scriptwriter would probably get fired for adding that she changes grip just before the tournament…

https://imgur.com/a/DJfTCvb

Here is a photo of the champion golfer of 1904.

https://imgur.com/a/5yBefx3

 

[Henry Hub]

It goes without saying that Dod immediately withdraws from Wimbledon, depriving us of the never-to-be-repeated possibility of a golf and tennis champion in the same year.

https://imgur.com/a/9O6CFvq

 

[Arrie]

Lottie, ahem Charlotte, is quite the Renaissance Woman.

In 1904, this little potted history of her successes appears. You will not be staggered to learn that this appears in the context of another glorious victory - but we will come to that in a sec.

https://imgur.com/a/dFDSjOE

I do love that she played a mean banjo. I like to think that, on some celestial plane, Dod and Spencer Gore are playing duelling banjos together. Actually, maybe not.

Anyway, let’s kick off with the skating. As noted above, she passes the fearsome St Moritz ladies’ skating test in 1896 and is one of a handful of ladies to also pass the men’s test the following year. Of course, she then becomes a judge in 1903 because - well, because she is a marvel.

This article is from 1902.

https://imgur.com/a/HwhPnZ1

I love St Moritz. Tennis at least from 1885. I have some pics. If you wish I can send them.
It was claimed in 1913 first indoor court on continent at Badrutts Palace. think however it was much earlier in Austria. I will dig in my files.
What do you judge as first world wide and on continent and in USA?

 

[Henry Hub]

I love St Moritz. Tennis at least from 1885. I have some pics. If you wish I can send them.
It was claimed in 1913 first indoor court on continent at Badrutts Palace. think however it was much earlier in Austria. I will dig in my files.
What do you judge as first world wide and on continent and in USA?

Hmm… that’s a headscratcher.

• UK: there was indoor tennis at drill halls by 1876, occasionally lit by gaslight. However, in terms of a purpose-built facility, the earliest I know of is the Maida Vale LTC (successor to the Carlton Club) on Portsdown Road, now Randolph Avenue next to Paddington Rec in London. It was originally a roller-skating rink and then converted to a tennis court. Its court was inaugurated by a match between the real tennis professionals, the Lambert brothers, on 19 May 1877. http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/really-ancient-history.246089/post-17741764 . It’s so old that, years later, it still has traces of the old hourglass court faintly visible on the floor.
• A more ad hoc affair was the court laid out in late 1878 by the Renshaws at the Winter Gardens in Cheltenham - http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/really-ancient-history.246089/post-17778470 . Holden’s indoor court next to Lord’s is also up and running by 1880.
• USA: according to James Dwight, the Providence Club of Providence, RI had the first, and apparently the shonkiest, purpose-built indoor court in the US. It is in use by 1881.
  http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/really-ancient-history.246089/post-17803044
• Ireland: a court is drawn out on the indoor roller-skating rink on Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin in 1877 - see the bottom of this post- http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/really-ancient-history.246089/post-17741086
• Europe: I don’t know, to be honest. I’ve skimmed through my files and can’t spot anything in the 1880s. It’s very unlikely that there wasn’t an indoor facility in Northern Europe at some point in that decade so I suspect we will stumble across something in due course. I know there were about 30 indoor courts in Paris by 1895 so I would imagine we’ll find something was built in Hamburg, Paris, St Petersburg or Vienna at some point in the 1880s.

 

[Henry Hub]

Back to our sporting jack-of-all-trades and Dod, as the British ladies’ golf champion, gets to pop over to the US to play at their national championships, held at the Merion Cricket Club at Philadelphia.

She loses in the first round against home player Pauline Mackay, which elicits this reproving headline in the London Daily Mirror.

https://imgur.com/a/QOYwft7

The next year, Lottie skippers the British team against the Americans in the first international ladies’ golf fixture, a precursor of sorts to the Solheim Cup. The tie is held at Cromer in Norfolk and the British team records a dominant victory by 10 rubbers to 1. Who is the one player to lose? Capt. L-Dodz herself.

Lottie stays involved in golf for decades to come, moving into the administrative side of things. She is a leading member of the Ladies’ Golf Union, an organisation founded in 1893 and merged into the R&A in 2017. Here she is at an annual dinner in 1939 - she is standing on the far right.

https://imgur.com/a/JZX0d89

 

[Henry Hub]

But by 1907, Lottie’s sporting eye has already started to wander once again. Her brother William has got into archery of all things, so our modern day Diana follows suit.

Golf’s loss is toxophily’s gain.

https://imgur.com/a/C8813oC

She contends for prizes over the next year, taking the Southern England ladies’ title in early July 1908. Here’s a photo of her on the range.

https://imgur.com/a/ARPTwSX

 

[Henry Hub]

She has timed her run perfectly. The Olympics are held in London later in July. There’s not exactly the most international of fields in the archery competition, with only GB being represented in the ladies’ event, but the Dod family still takes more than its fair share of precious metal.

William ends up winning gold in the men’s event, while Lottie has to free up another scrap of space on her busy mantelpiece after she claims the silver in the ladies’.

https://imgur.com/a/QzZnAtU

 

[Henry Hub]

Now, Lottie’s dominance across the sporting spectrum may have made Bo Jackson look like a bit of a one-trick pony, but it is tennis that guarantees her ascent to legendary status.

We saw above that she never played another tournament after leaving the centre court at Wimbledon in 1893. That, however, is not to say that she never played again, nor did she ever fall entirely out of love with the game.

In early 1902, Reggie Doherty appears at the Hôtel Metropole at the Parc St-Paul in Cannes. He has just come from St Moritz, where he managed to get Lottie to have a hit with him. Apparently, she is as good as she ever was and is considered to still be a cut above any active lady player.

https://imgur.com/a/bJlhYkk

 

[Henry Hub]

In the tennis doldrums of February 1910, American Lawn Tennis is scrabbling about for content. They find a welcome means of filling some column inches in a report on tennis in Egypt.

As part of this, there’s an account on the author’s visit to the Khedivial Sporting Club or KSC (today, the Gezira Sporting Club, which still awards annual trophies for singles and doubles called respectively the “Doherty” and the “Slazenger”).

Look who is name-checked as a player at the KSC.

https://imgur.com/a/uThyeQO

Now, I would say that the above is presented under some advisement. ALT is a rip-roaringly entertaining read but its editor Stephen Wallis Merrihew does have to do most of the proofing himself and it does occasionally show. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a reference to Annie rather than Lottie Dod.

 

[Henry Hub]

In 1926, Lottie is of course invited to the 50th anniversary celebrations at Wimbledon. The past champions come onto an unfamiliar court to be presented with commemorative medals from the Queen.

On a glorious summer’s day, the capacity crowd at New Wimbledon once again rises to the Little Wonder.

https://imgur.com/a/oh5hbFE

She is second from the left. To her right is Blanche Hillyard, wearing gloves as always. On her left, in order, are Charlotte Sterry (nee Cooper), Dorothea Lambert Chambers, Dora Geen (nee Boothby), Ethel Larcombe (nee Thomson), Suzanne and Kitty Godfree (nee McKane).

Just in case you think I have somehow become some kind of tennis savant, they then sit down for the photo you’ve seen a few times before and their names are helpfully printed below.

https://imgur.com/a/J9Jt02Q

Doesn’t Dod seem to be having a grand old time in these photos?

 

[Henry Hub]

Dod remains a touchstone of Wimbledon history.

When a tennis fancy dress dinner is held in 1934 at a London hotel, one of the most photographed attendees (next to Suzanne Lenglen, who is dressed up as Blanche Hillyard) is Mary Seeley. Seeley is a British player who in 1932 made it to the Wimbledon semifinals before getting thumped by Helen Wills.

According to the papers, Seeley is dressed in an actual dress worn by Lottie at Wimbledon in 1887.

https://imgur.com/a/h4OAyRe

 

[Henry Hub]

Time rusts all, even reputations. By the 1950s, Lottie Dod is no longer the darling of the crowds or even the popular legend of the sport. Now, her name is only known to the aficionados of the game.

But on she marches into another decade.

This oh so poignant article captures Lottie in her 80th year, living alone in Earl’s Court and watching the tennis crowds throng by onto District Line trains down to Southfields for the Championships. It’s the other interview I referenced above.

https://imgur.com/a/lm4AqTt

Nowadays, you’d hope that a chauffeured courtesy car would have rolled up to Lottie’s modest flat and whisked her off to Church Road, where a seat would await this living legend each day in the Royal Box.

Not in 1952, though. Dod watches the crowds pass by and makes her way home to listen to the play on the radio instead, too infirm to make the journey herself. It’s such a shame.

 

[Grafil Injection]

I've watched some funny games at St Moritz, but ice cricket is taking the biscuit!

 

[Grafil Injection]

There should be a Lottie trophy for multisports, modern pentathlon or racketlon.

 

[Henry Hub]

She remains a tennis fan to the end.

Lottie Dod dies on 27 June 1960 at the grand old age of 88, a lifespan that she filled to the gills.

https://imgur.com/a/RjhF499

As she gently fades away on that summer day in her nursing home bed, the background noise is from her radio, tuned to the BBC’s Wimbledon broadcast. She never lost her love for the game.

As she drifts in and out, perhaps she hears snippets of Neale Fraser’s quarterfinal against Earl Buchholz, a match effectively decided when the 19-year old American rolls his ankle in a marathon 4th set. Here is Fraser tossing away a ball and racing to his writhing opponent’s side.

https://imgur.com/a/qSoTfCt

Fraser goes on to win the men’s singles.

Neale in turn passed away this week. Vale to another great champion of the sport.

 

[Henry Hub]

The centre court so recently vacated by Lottie Dod doesn’t stand unused for long.

Immediately after the end of the Championships, the second international tennis fixture is held.

This is a return leg between England and Ireland. In 1892, this event was held in Ballsbridge in Dublin as part of the centenary fundraising efforts for the Masonic Female Orphan School of Ireland. Ireland won after a close contest.

As we have seen, the Irish men are out in force at Wimbledon and so it makes logistical sense to hold the second meeting of the teams here before they make their way home to Dublin or, in the case of Mahony and Goodbody, to West London.

There are two strong sets of players selected for this royal rumble. If the ATP’s marketing team had been around, they would have had a field day - so let’s imagine what they would have been trumpeting.

In England’s corner, we have the “Consumptive Curate” (Wilfred Baddeley - http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/really-ancient-history.246089/post-18379092 ), “The Leamington Legend” (William Renshaw), the “Chiswick Champ” (Ernest Lewis), the “Marathon Man” (Harry Barlow), the “Boffin” (Meers) and “The Doppelganger” (Herbert Baddeley).

Ranged up against them though is a formidable Irish team. It features the “Dublin Doctor” (Pim), the “Lansdowne Smasher” (Frank Stoker), “The Professor” (Harold Mahony), “Elle MacPherson” (Goodbody - ho ho ho), “The TermiChaytor” (Tommy Chaytor) and “Better See a Doctor” (Ball-Greene).

 

[Henry Hub]

There is no Ernest Renshaw in the English team and that’s probably just as well - the howling wind would have been a disaster for his lobbing game. The courts, not having had any recovery time after the Championships, are described as being “on their last legs” and bad bounces, erm, abound.

The organisers (WH Collins is referee) have weighted the dice in favour of the English. The contest lasts two days, with six singles matches on day one and nine doubles matches on day two. Other than Pim and Stoker, the English have superior doubles pairings so this does not appear entirely fair.

The Irish dominate the singles, leading 4-2 after day one. The most notable performances are Pim’s win (still undefeated for the season) against Wilfred Baddeley and William Renshaw’s defeat of Manliffe Goodbody (which included a 6-0 first set to the ex-champion).

The spectators run from match to match, calling out the scores to their fellow fans.

https://imgur.com/a/EjdQX0l

Day two brings a monumental shift in fortunes, however. England take the doubles 7-2, winning the tie 9 rubbers to 6.

Each doubles pair plays 3 matches on that Saturday - at least they are all best of 3 sets. That said, all nine possible sets are played by Renshaw and (of course) Barlow - they lose all of their matches. More surprisingly, Pim and Stoker lose two out of three, while the Baddeleys and Lewis and Meers win all of their matches.