1880 Women's Tennis season[1] was mainly composed of national, regional, county, local regular amateur tournaments. This year, 13 tennis events for women were staged, one in India, three of them in Ireland and nine events in England between May and October 1880.
Season summary
The women's amateur tennis seasons covers a period of thirty five years from 1876 to 1912. During this period there was no single international organization responsible for overseeing tennis. At the very start in tennis history lawn tennis clubs themselves organized events and some like the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in England (f.1877) and the Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club, Ireland (f.1879) generally oversaw tennis in their respective countries.
This would later change when tennis players started (those that could) traveled the world to compete in events organized by individual national lawn tennis associations (NLTA)'s the oldest of which then was the United States Lawn Tennis Association (f. 1881). In certain countries that did not establish a national association until later, had provincial, regional or state lawn tennis associations overseeing tournaments in a province, region or state within a country, such as the Northern Lawn Tennis Association in Manchester, England (f.1880),[2] had responsibility for coordinating tournaments staged by clubs in the North of England region. In Australia the Victorian Lawn Tennis Association (f.1904) organised tournaments in the state of Victoria, Australia.
In 1880 twelve tournaments for women were staged four of them in Ireland, and nine of them in England. In the spring in May the second Irish Championships are held this was the first major national championships in the world to feature not only a women's singles event won by a D. Meldon, but also a ladies doubles event, and a mixed doubles event.[3] In August the Armagh Tennis Tournament is staged at the Archery Lawn Tennis Club, Armagh that features a mixed doubles event. In India at the close of May the Calcutta Cricket Club (f.1792),[4] inaugurated an open lawn tennis tournament that featured 21 entries.[5]
In June two tournaments are held featuring women's events. At the Devon and Cornwall Archery Society Tournament held at Manadon , Plymouth, Devon, England a mixed doubles event is won by Miss Keate and Mr. A. Radcliffe. From June 14 to 22 the Kemptown Tournament[6] was staged at Kemptown, Brighton, East Sussex, England that featured a ladies doubles event, that was won by two sister Miss Adshead and Miss. Eva Adshead, this event was notable in that this match was played over five sets. On 16 August the fourth annual Waterford Lawn Tennis Tournament was begun.[7] On July 1 the Mersey Bowmen Archery Club Tournament[8] began at Sefton Park, Aigburth in Liverpool, England, however it was not concluded until August 19. On August 16 the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club began the Devonshire Park Championships at Eastbourne, England.[9] Between 16 and 17 August the Mount's Bay Archery and Lawn tennis Clubs staged a two-day Mount's Bay Lawn Tennis Tournament at Mount's Bay. Penzance, Cornwall, England, the ladies singles being won by Miss. Jackson and the gentleman's singles by Mr. H. H. Ley of Truro.[10]
In September 1880 the fifth edition of South of Ireland Championships in Limerick the singles event was won by Annie Rice.[11] The same month the Ealing Cricket Club staged its first Ealing Cricket Club Lawn Tennis Tournament,[12] that was to feature a mixed pairs event won by Blanche Bingley. On 16 September the second Saint Leonards-on-Sea Tournament[13] began at the Archery Gardens, St Leonards-on-Sea, Hastings, East Sussex, England that ended on 18 September.[14] On 24 September the Truro LTC Tournament commenced at Truro, in Cornawall, England.[15] On 1 October 1880 the Sussex County Lawn Tennis Tournament that began on 26 September concluded.[16] At this time 'open' tournaments usually meant men's and women's players can compete.
At the 1880 Wimbledon Championships the world's first major tennis tournament, it still remained an all men's event, no women's events were staged. By 1881 for women there was a tennis circuit of sorts starting to form.[17]
In 1913 the International Lawn Tennis Federation was created, that consisted of national member associations. The ILTF through its associated members then became responsible for supervising women's tour events.
Results
Notes 1: Challenge Round: the final round of a tournament, in which the winner of a single-elimination phase faces the previous year's champion, who plays only that one match. The challenge round was used in the early history of tennis (from 1877 through 1921),[18] in some tournaments not all.
* Indicates doubles ** mixed doubles
Notes 2:Tournaments in italics were events that were staged only once that season
^Heathcote, John Moyer; Pleydell-Bonverie, Edward Oliver; Ainger, Arthur Campbell (1890). "The development of Lawn Tennis". Tennis. London: Longmans, Green, and Company. p. 151.
^Heathcote, J. M. Heathcote: C. G. (1890). Tennis; Lawn Tennis. London: Spottiswoode and Co. p. 164.
^Hedges, Martin (1978). The concise dictionary of tennis. New York: Mayflower Books. p. 124. ISBN0-86124-012-X.
^"History". ccfc1792.com. Kolkata, India: Calcutta Cricket & Football Club. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
^"LAWN TENNIS. A fitting finale to long and pleasant cold weather season, the Calcutta Cricket Club, with its usual sporting energy, inaugurated a lawn tennis tournament, open to members of the services and of the various Calcutta clubs. There were twenty-one entries". The Sportsman. London. 31 May 1880. p. 4.
^"Lawn Tennis Fixtures: May to September". The Field. London, England. 28 April 1880. pp. 35–37.
^"LAWN TENNIS TOURNAMENT. The annual tournament of the Waterford Cricket and Tennis Club begins on Monday. The entries included most the best players in the South Ireland". Waterford Standard. Waterford, Republic of Ireland. 12 August 1880. p. 3.
^"Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Championship Tournament. Eastbourne. First Prize a championship Silver Cup. Will be held from 16 August". The Sportsman. London. 9 July 1880. p. 1.
^"Lawn Tennis Tournament". Cornwall Cornishman. Penzance, Cornwall, England: Newspaper Archive.com. 19 August 1880. p. 7. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
^"Sports and Pastimes". Bazaar Exchange and Mart, and Journal of the Household. 23. London: Alfred Bradley: 335. 29 September 1880.
^Bazaar Exchange and Mart, and Journal of the Household.
^"Archery Gardens: The second Saint Leonards-on-Sea Lawn Tennis Tournament. Grand Three Days' Meetings, scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, September 16th, 17th and 18th". Hastings and St Leonards Observer. Hastings, East Sussex, England. 10 September 1881. p. 4.
^"Lawn Tennis Tournament at Truro under the auspices of the Truro Lawn Tennis Club, a tournament commenced yesterday at the Cricket Field". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Falmouth, Cornwall, England. 24 September 1880. p. 5.
^".Lawn Tennis: Sussex County Lawn Tennis Tournament. This tournament was concluded on Saturday, Brighton, with excellent play and splendid weather". Daily Telegraph & Courier (London). London, England. 3 October 1880. p. 3.
^Berry, David (2020). "2: Feminists". A people's history of tennis. London: Pluto Books. p. 27. ISBN978-0745339658.
^Papers Past, (20 March 1922). Abolition of Challenge Round. Paris International Championships. Evening Post Newspaper: Volume CIII, Issue 65, National Library of New Zealand. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers. Accessed: 14 July 2022 October.
^,Nauright, John, Parrish, Charles, (2012) Sports Around the World: History, Culture, and Practice. ABC-CLIO. Santa Barbara, Calif, USA. ISBN 9781598843002. p. 198.
^Gillmeister, Heiner (1998) Tennis:Cultural History. A&C Black. London. ISBN 9780718501952. p.199.
^Lake, Robert J. (2014) A Social History of Tennis in Britain: Volume 5 of Routledge Research in Sports History: Routledge. Oxford. p.48.
