A HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX 



and purchase of lands adjoining them, in two 

 treasury warrants of 1729 ; 114 and also by 

 the record of payments of 90 los. dd. to 

 Thomas Chaplin ' on his salary of 120 per 

 annum as keeper of the tennis courts,' on 

 29 April in that year, and of 60 2s. 8</. 

 'to Charles Fitzroy, esq., keeper of H.M. 

 tennis courts,' on 26 March, 1729, and on 

 19 August, 1730."* The game, how- 

 ever, seems to have then fallen somewhat into 

 decay, and great as its reputation appears to 

 have been, the court in James Street was 

 most probably the sole survivor of the private 

 courts. 



It was not until the second quarter of the 

 nineteenth century that there was any revival 

 of interest in the game, and modern tennis 

 must be held to date from the opening of the 

 court at Lord's, the first stone of which was 

 laid by Mr. Benjamin Aislabie on 15 October, 

 1838. 



The dimensions of this court were taken 

 from those of the court in James Street, 

 Haymarket, 116 but it is pointed out by Mr. 

 Marshall that it differs as regards the height 

 of the net from that at Hampton Court and 

 that, in addition to other imperfections, the 

 galleries are all of wrong sizes. 117 Two of 

 the first matches played in it were those 

 between J. Edmond Barre, the celebrated 

 French player, and Peter Tompkins, the 

 Brighton marker, on 10 and 16 July, 1839, 

 in both of which the former who in the 

 second match gave his opponent half thirty and 

 a bisque was victorious after a hard contest. 118 

 Among the most noted players who frequented 

 it in early days were the Hon. C. Ashburton, 

 the Hon. Captain Spencer, Captain Taylor, 

 6th Carabineers, and Messrs. G. Taylor, W. 



Cox, C. Derby, H. Everett, Thorold Murray 

 Crook, H. Clay, and J. M. Heathcote, the 

 amateur champion in 1878. 119 In 1867 a 

 gold and a silver prize for the best and next best 

 amateur of the year, open only to members, 

 was instituted by the Marylebone Club, the 

 winners of which during the following ten 

 years were : 



Gold 1867-77 J- 

 year). 



. Heathcote (every 



Silver 1867 Julian Marshall. 

 1868 G. B. Crawley. 

 1869-73 Hon. C. G. Lyttelton. 

 1874-75 G. B. Crawley. 

 1876-77 R. D. Walker. 



The winner of the gold prize in 1906 was 

 Mr. Eustace H. Miles, and of the silver prize 

 Major A. Cooper Key. 



In addition to the court at Lord's there are 

 two at Prince's a social club established for 

 the practice of tennis and racquets in 1853 

 and two at the Queen's Club, West Ken- 

 sington, which was founded in 1886 for 

 the practice of these games and of lawn 

 tennis. 



The match for the amateur champion- 

 ship in tennis, founded in 1889, is played 

 at the Queen's Club. The winners have 

 been : 



Sir Edward Grey 1889, 1891, 1895, 1896, 

 1898; Mr. F. B. Curtis 1890; Mr. H. F. 

 Crawley 1 892, 1 893, 1 894 ; Mr. J. B. Gribble 

 1897; Mr - V - Pennell 1904; Mr. E. H. 

 Miles 1899-1903, 1905, 1906, 1909, 1910; 

 Mr. Jay Gould 1907, 1908. 



BOXING 



Middlesex has always been the centre of 

 the art of self-defence both for professionals 

 and amateurs. A very large proportion of 

 the champions of both sections have been 

 Londoners or men long located in the metro- 

 polis. The first record that we find of public 

 exhibitions and instruction in the art is 

 in 1719 when one Figg, the champion 

 boxer and back-sword player of his time, 



114 Calendar of Treas. Books and Papers, i, no. 



533. P- J 33 5 no. H 6 3<5. 

 14 Ibid. 5,254,552, 588. 

 m Ann. of Tennis, 101. 

 117 Ibid. 36. "' Ibid. IO2. 



opened an amphitheatre near Oxford Street. 

 He also had a boxing booth at Southwark 

 fair and at other similar gatherings. His 

 prowess is commemorated by his pupil, Cap- 

 tain Godfrey, who in his Treatise upon the 

 useful science of Defence speaks feelingly of the 

 rugged way in which the preceptor imparted 

 instruction to his pupils. 



To Broughton, however, who was cham- 

 pion in 1734, belongs the honour of in- 

 venting the horsehair gloves and teaching 

 boxing on scientific lines. His academy 

 was situated in what is now Hanway Street, 



118 Ibid. MI, 112. 



292 



