Yorkshire Lawn Tennis Championships

The Yorkshire Lawn Tennis Championships[1] or simply known as the Yorkshire Championships was a combined men's and women's open grass court tennis tournament established in 1884 as the Yorkshire Lawn Tennis Tournament[2] then later Yorkshire Association and County Open Tournament and ran till 1970. It was first held in Ilkley, then, Harrogate, then Whitby before moving permanently to Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England.

Yorkshire Championships
Defunct tennis tournament
TourNLTA (1884-1910)
Founded1884; 140 years ago (1884)
Abolished1970; 54 years ago (1970)
LocationHarrogate
Hull
Ilkley
Leeds
Scarborough
Sheffield
Whitby
SurfaceGrass

History

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The first Yorkshire Lawn Tennis Tournament was established in 1885 and played at Ilkley, Yorkshire, England. In 1887 the event was renamed as Yorkshire Association and County Open Tournament. In 1889 the name was changed again the Yorkshire Open Championships.[3] In 1906 the event was moved permanently to Scarborough, North Yorkshire.[4] The championships were held as part of the worldwide tennis circuit until 1970. The event is still being held as late as 2017 as the Yorkshire Tennis County Championships.[5]

For the years 1892, 1894–1900 and 1904–1905 the tournament was also valid as the North of England Championships.

Locations

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The championships have been staged in the following towns and cities Harrogate, Hull, Ilkley, Leeds, Scarborough, Sheffield and Whitby

Finals

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Men's singles

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(Incomplete roll)[6]

Year Champion Runner-up Score
Yorkshire Lawn Tennis Tournament
1884   Ernest Browne   Marmaduke Constable 6-1, ret.
1885   Gilbert Mahon   E.W. Fletcher 6-0, 6–2, 6-4
1886   Ernest Browne   Gilbert Mahon 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
Yorkshire Association and County Open Tournament
1887   E.W. Fletcher   Arthur Godfrey Pease 6-2, 6-2, 7-5
1888   Arthur Godfrey Pease   E.W. Fletcher 5-7, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4
Yorkshire Open Championships
1889   David Davy   Arthur Godfrey Pease w.o.
1890   Joshua Pim   Grainger Chaytor 6-2, 6-0 ret.
1891   Joshua Pim (2)   James Baldwin 6-3, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5
1892   Joshua Pim (3)   David Davy 6-1, 6-4, 3-1, ret.
1893   Joshua Pim (4)   George Ball-Greene[7] 6-4, 9-7, 6-4
1894   Roy Allen   Joshua Pim w.o.
1895   Grainger Chaytor   Harold Nisbet 7-9, 4-6, 6-4, 9-7, 6-1
1898   Grainger Chaytor (2)   Ernest Douglas Black 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
Yorkshire Championships
1900   Grainger Chaytor (3)   Charles William Wade 6-2, 6-2, 6-3
1901   Laurie Doherty   Ernest Douglas Black 6-2, 6-1, 6-1
1905   Roy Allen (2)   Charles Gladstone Allen w.o.
1907   Edgar Middleton   Ernest Watson 6-3, 3-6, 6-8, 6-0, 6-4
1908   Ernest Watson   John Francis Moss 6-2, 6-3, 6-2
1909   Sidney Watson   Edgar Middleton 6-4, 6-3, 6-1
1910   Sidney Watson (2)   Edgar Middleton 0-6, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1

Women's singles

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(Incomplete roll)

Year Champion Runner-up Score
Yorkshire Lawn Tennis Tournament
1884   Constance Hodgson   Beatrice Wood 7-5, 6-3
1885   Mabel Boulton   Beatrice Wood 6-2, 6-2
1886   Margaret Bracewell   Mabel Boulton 5-7, 8-6, 3-0 retd.
Yorkshire Association and County Open Tournament
1887   Margaret Bracewell (2)   Ethel Atkinson 4-6, 6-2, 6-0
Yorkshire Association County Closed Tournament
1887   Beatrice Wood   Mabel Boulton 7-5, 5-7, 6-0
Yorkshire Association and County Open Tournament
1888   Mabel Boulton (2)   Margaret Bracewell 6-4,8-6, 6-3
1889   Mabel Boulton (3)   Miss Crossley 2–6, 6–2, 7–5
1890   Beatrice Wood (2)   Jane Corder 6–2, 6–1
Yorkshire Open Championships
1892   Helen Jackson   Beatrice Wood Draffen 6-0, ?,
1894   Beatrice Wood Draffen (3)   Katherine Grey 6-3, 6-1
1895   Lucy Kendal   Marion Crosby Morton 6-2, 6-1
1896   Lucy Kendal (2)   Beatrice Wood Draffen ?
1897   Lucy Kendal (3)   Muriel Robb 6-3, 6-0
1898   Katherine Grey   Alice Simpson Pickering 6-4, 6-4
1899   Alice Simpson Pickering   Bertha Holder 6-1, 6-4
Yorkshire Championships
1900   Alice Simpson Pickering (2)   Ethel Jessop 6-0, 6-2
1904   Lucy Kendal (4)   Gladys Eastlake-Smith 6-0, 4-6, 6-4
1905   Bertha Holder   N. Morton 11-9, 6-1

References

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  1. ^ "Yorkshire lawn tennis championships". Halifax Evening Courier. Yorkshire, England: British Newspaper Archive. 12 August 1953. p. 3. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  2. ^ "YORKSHIRE LAWN TENNIS ASSOCIATION TOURNAMENT". Yorkshire Gazette. Yorkshire, England: British Newspaper Archive. 22 August 1885. p. 5. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  3. ^ "THE YORKSHIRE TOURNAMENT AT ILKLEY. THE CHAMPIONSHIPS: Mr. Joshua Pim, the holder of the Irish and Northern Championships, wins the Yorkshire Open Championship for the fifth time consecutively". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. Yorkshire, England: British Newspaper Archive. 26 June 1893. p. 8. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  4. ^ "Nostalgia: Scarborough cricket ground and tennis courts". The Scarborough News. Scarborough, England: Johnston Press PLC. 28 February 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  5. ^ "Yorkshire Tennis County Championships - LTA". www3.lta.org.uk. Leeds, West Yorkshire: Yorkshire LTA. 2017.
  6. ^ "Tournament – Yorkshire Championships". www.tennisarchives.com. Tennis Archives. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  7. ^ Brown, Val (26 September 2017). Toupie Lowther: Her life. Market Harborough: Troubador Publishing Ltd. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-78803-523-1.