Special Collections & Archives: Snapshots from the Archives

Snapshot from the Archives: Anyone for Tennis?

This week sees the launch of the world-famous annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships, just up the road from our campus. In this Snapshot, Gilly King, Southlands College Archives Historian, reflects on the history of the game at Roehampton’s colleges in the years since the very first Wimbledon Championships were held, in 1877.  

Tennis at Southlands
The second Principal of Southlands College (who served from 1881 – 1886), the Reverend George Bate, was known for his very modern ideas, particularly about exercise. In 1881, except for a little croquet, the students had only a daily walk to the park in demure procession. Croquet was a popular Victorian game, but Bate introduced more, such as battledore (similar to Badminton), bat-trap and ball, and the latest fashionable game that Bate considered suitable for the young ladies: tennis, which could be played in the gardens of the College. He said in his valedictory address of 1883, “I tried by means of lawn-tennis and other lively games to induce them to take the kind of exercise which I recommended. Very many of the young women who come scarcely know how to play any good out-door game.” The College's archives reflect this early take-up of tennis and its ongoing importance.

This picture, taken in 1887, illustrates Mr Bate’s success at encouraging tennis:

Tennis at Froebel

The game was clearly popular at Froebel Institute too. This photograph, taken in 1903-04, shows students enjoying a game in the Institute's former grounds in Talgarth Road:

These photos from the archives show various tennis teams outside Froebel's current home of Grove House:

"Tennis Six 1926-27: ?,  A. Wallace, M. Richards, J. Lansdale, D. Dobree, H. Brewis."

Tennis players outside Grove House, dated "1938-39".

First and Second Tennis teams of six, Froebel Educational Institute, 1938.

Tennis at Whitelands
When Whitelands College moved to Putney in 1931, tennis became more accessible as there were four tennis courts in the grounds. Whitelands Annual of that year reports that the Bishop of London, Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram, invited the whole college to Fulham Palace one Saturday in the summer term. After playing five sets of tennis with the college team he took the party for a tour of the palace. (You can read more about the Bishop's love of tennis in this blog post from Fulham Palace). 

The tennis playing Bishop of London, Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram (left); and with the 1931 Whitelands College tennis team (right). Their captain's report that year recorded that they had beaten several other college  teams in tournaments - including Southlands!

Not to be outdone, however, the Southlands College sports report of the same year records that the tennis team beat two other colleges to win a Challenge Cup - one of those colleges being  St Charles', the college that later became Digby Stuart! Could this  be a forerunner of our College Cup?

The All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon 
By the early 1930s Froebel, Southlands and Whitelands were all within walking distance of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, home of the Wimbledon Championships, even though most could not afford the entry price. Former student Heather Castle (née Chamberlain), who attended Southlands College 1952-1954, recalls in her reminiscences (held in the archives):

"Several of our group enjoyed tennis and were therefore happy to be so close to the Lawn Tennis Club. However, students had no money and tickets for 'Wimbledon' were way beyond our means. So it was our practice to get down there late afternoon/ early evening and hope that people coming away early would be very kind and let us have their tickets so that we could see the rest of the day's play." 

Another Southlands alumna, Freda Smith, has reached the tremendous age of 106 and retains remarkably vivid memories of her time as a student here in the 1930s. At last year’s Southlands reunion she was asked if she ever attended the Wimbledon Championships. "Yes,” she replied, “but only once in my first year [1936], I was sitting in the front row and saw Fred Perry play." This would certainly have been memorable: Perry was World Amateur number one tennis player at this time, winning three consecutive Wimbledon Championships from 1934 to 1936. Prior to Andy Murray in 2013, Perry was the last British player to win the men's Wimbledon championship, in 1936.

Liam O'Reilly, High Ranking Wheelchair Tennis Player and Roehampton Alumnus

More recently, Liam O'Reilly studied Sports Psychology at Roehampton University (2009 – 2012). Throughout his time at Roehampton, he was first and foremost a high world ranking wheelchair tennis player, playing at the Wimbledon Championships on numerous occasions. His highest ranking was 20. 
Liam described a typical day in the life of a tennis player/student: “I usually start bright and early at 5:45am, three days a week. I train at 7am due to court time, I try to beat slow morning starts as much as I can by having my first breakfast of the day bright and early. I cannot go out the door without cereal. I finish this session around 8:30-9am and it is then time for my second breakfast, sadly not a full English, but scrambled eggs or a protein shake. Then I jump in the shower before I head off to my university lectures. I count myself lucky as I only have four lectures a week this year. However, the amount of work I must do in preparation for these lectures and my assessments is intense and makes up for the lack of contact hours in university. Studying for my degree, combined with my training schedule, is definitely comparable to a full-time job.” (Source: Inside the Games, 13 December 2011: read the full article here). 

Sport and physical activity are still very much on the curriculum at Roehampton today, with established degree programmes in Sport & Exercise Sciences and Dance, and new programmes in Sports Management and Sports Therapy launching this year. Physical movement has always been an integral part of the Froebelian “kindergarten” system of pre-school education, which includes games and dances for healthy activity. And, yes, we still have tennis courts, as well as a fully equipped gym and many other sporting facilities for all staff and students to enjoy on campus.