Tynedale Open Tournament

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Tynedale Open Tournament
Defunct tennis tournament
Founded1881; 143 years ago (1881)
Abolished1931; 93 years ago (1931)
LocationHexham, Northumberland, England
VenuePriors Flat Grounds
SurfaceGrass

The Tynedale Open Tournament[1] was a grass court tennis tournament founded in 1881 as the Hexham Tournament and first staged at Priors Flat Grounds, Hexham, Northumberland, England.

History[edit]

The Hexham Tournament was a late 19th century tennis event first staged around August 1881 at Priors Flat Cricket Grounds, Hexham, Northumberland, England.[2] The first winner of the men's singles was England's Jasper Gibson.[3] The first tournament was staged until 1885. In 1888 the Tynedale Lawn Tennis Club,[4] and Tynedale Cricket Club were founded and staged events on the land leased by the Tyndale Athletic Association. In 1890 a second Hexham tournament was revived as the Tynedale Open Tournament (allowing women's competitions) that was organised by the Tynedale Lawn Tennis Club. that event ran until 1931 before it was discontinued.

Location and Venue[edit]

Hexham is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administrative centre for the Tynedale district.

Tennis first appeared in Hexham in the early 1880s as a cement court built in the Hexham Abbey grounds. Its success led to acquiring the leasehold of Prior's Flat with a contract to lay turf on the tennis courts.[5] Tynedale Lawn Tennis Club’ itself was founded in 1888 and moved to its present-day location on Prior's Flat in 1889.[5] Beginning in the 1940s through to the 1940s 3 hard (shale) tennis courts which were replaced by three tarmacadam courts in the late 1960s.[5] In 1977 a new Tynedale Sports Club was created; merging the hockey, cricket and tennis sections as one sports club. In 2021 The Tyndale lawn Tennis Club changed its name to the Hexham Lawn Tennis Club.[6]

Finals[edit]

Men's Singles[edit]

(incomplete roll)

Year Winner Runner-up Score
Hexham Tournament
1881 England Jasper Gibson United Kingdom M. Liddell 6-0, 6–0, 6–2.[7]
1882 England Jasper Gibson United Kingdom John Arthur Jackson 6-0, 6–0, 6–2.[7]
Tyndale Open Tournament
1908 England Stanley Gate United Kingdom Frank Widdas 1-6, 6–1, 6–4, 4–6, 6–2.[7]

Women's Singles[edit]

(incomplete roll)

Year Winner Runner-up Score
Tyndale Open Tournament
1890 England Jane Corder England Helen Jackson 8-6, 6-0
1894 England Helen Jackson Scotland Lottie Paterson 6-3, 6-2
1895 England Lucy Kendal United Kingdom B. Jackson w.o.
1896 United Kingdom Beatrice Wood Draffen England Lucy Kendal 6-4, 8-6
1897 England Lucy Kendal United Kingdom Miss Lister 6-0, 6-3
1898 United Kingdom Muriel Robb United Kingdom Mrs Lewis 2-6, 6–4, 6-2
1907 United Kingdom Helen Aitchison United Kingdom Mrs J.E. Day divided title
1908 United Kingdom Mrs J.E. Day United Kingdom P. Lee 6-2, 6-1
1909 United Kingdom Mabel Hurlbatt Dudgeon United Kingdom Annie Mack 7-5. 6-4
1911 United Kingdom Mabel Hurlbatt Dudgeon United Kingdom Mrs Wilkinson def
1912 United Kingdom M. Fergus United Kingdom Miss Walton-Brown 6-0, 6-1
1914 United Kingdom M.E. Morton United Kingdom Mrs Neilson 6-4, 6-2
1915/1919 Not held (due to world war one)
1920 United Kingdom Ruth Watson United Kingdom Mrs Spoor 8-6, 6-4
1921 United Kingdom M. Hart United Kingdom Mrs Helps 3-6, 6–1, 9-7
1923 United Kingdom Lesley Cadle United Kingdom Dorothy Alexander 6-2, 2–6, 6-2
1924 United Kingdom Lesley Cadle United Kingdom C.D. Shafto 6-1, 7-5
1925 United Kingdom Ruth Watson United Kingdom Kathleen Aitchison 10-8. 8-6
1926 United Kingdom Ruth Watson United Kingdom Lesley Cadle w.o.
1927 United Kingdom Ruth Watson United Kingdom Kathleen Aitchison 6-4, 6-3
1928 United Kingdom Ruth Watson United Kingdom V. March 7-5, 6-1
1929 United Kingdom E. Carrick United Kingdom V. March 6-2, 6-1
1931 United Kingdom Ruth Watson United Kingdom Dorothy Alexander 6-4, 3–6, 6-0

References[edit]

  1. ^ Orcutt, William Dana (1897). Official Lawn Tennis Bulletin. Boston: The Horace Partridge Company. p. 77.
  2. ^ LAWN TENNIS HEXHAM. This tournament that was played yesterday on the Priors Flat Grounds, concluded in a victory for Jasper Gibson in the gentleman's singles, a mixed pairs event was won by Miss Cruddas and Mr. J. Gibson against Mr J. H. Nicholson and Miss. Kirsopp. The Field. British Newspaper Archive.31 August 1881. London, England. p.8
  3. ^ The Field
  4. ^ "History". www.hexhamtennisclub.co.uk. Hexham Tennis Club. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  5. ^ a b c Hexham Tennis Club
  6. ^ Tulip, Joseph (8 April 2021). "It's all in a name change for long-serving tennis club in Hexham". Hexham Courant. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  7. ^ a b c "Tournament – Hexham". www.tennisarchives.com. Tennis Archives. Retrieved 23 February 2023.