Maud Watson
Maud Watson (born October 9, 1864 in London - Harrow , † June 5, 1946 in Charmouth ) was an English tennis player and the first winner of the women's tournament at the Wimbledon Championships .
Life
In 1884, a women's tournament with 13 participants was held for the first time at the tournament in Wimbledon. In the final, Maud Watson, the daughter of the Bishop of Berkswell, beat her sister Lilian 6: 8, 6: 3, 6: 3. While the men were already playing for a trophy worth 25 British pounds in 1877, Maud received a small silver trophy and 20 guineas for her victory. In 1885 she was able to defend her victory, a year later she was replaced by Blanche Bingley .
In 1884 and 1885 she also won the then important Irish Championships .
Although Maud Watson and her competitors at the time played in floor-length dresses with corsets and petticoats, some contemporaries found their clothes "shocking".
During the First World War , Watson worked as a nurse, for which she was later made a Member of the Order of the British Empire .
In 1934 she donated the trophy to the Edgbaston Club , which the Edgbaston Club issued in 1982 as a challenge cup for the “Pre Wimbledon women's grasscourt tournament” .
Watson died in 1946 at Hammersmead House in Charmouth on the English Channel coast.
literature
- B. Collins: History of Tennis. 2nd Edition. New Chapter Press, New York 2010. p. 712. ISBN 978-0-942257-70-0 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ BBC article on tennis fashion and Maud Watson
- ↑ Collins (2010), p. 10
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Watson, Maud |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English tennis player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 9, 1864 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London - Harrow |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 5, 1946 |
| Place of death | Charmouth |