Wellington Provincial Lawn Tennis Championship Tournament
Easter 1909
‘The Wellington Provincial Lawn Tennis Tournament was commenced yesterday on the Thorndon Club’s courts, in weather which for tennis may only be described as abominable.’ (Dominion, 10 April 1909 p8)
The Championships were played over Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter Monday. Several members of the New Zealand Representative Ladies’ Team who were about to leave for Sydney, were also competitors.
Horace Rice, winner of the men’s singles was an Australian tennis player. He was left-handed and his signature look was to play wearing knickerbockers with long black socks. He won the men’s singles title in the 1907 Australian Championships. Horace married Daisy Burman in 1905. He died in 1950 in Sydney, aged 77.
Kathleen Nunneley was winner of the ladies’ singles. Born in England, Kathleen won several championships before she was 15. She arrived in New Zealand with her mother and five of her siblings in 1894, after the early death of her father. She joined the Thorndon Lawn Tenis Club and represented New Zealand in 1896 and 1909. She won 13 national singles titles in an unbroken run from 1895 to 1907.
Outside of tennis, Kathleen had a career as a librarian. She retired from her position as assistant in charge of the reference department at Wellington Public Library in 1935. She made two visits to England in 1949 and 1953 to attend the Wimbledon tournament. Kathleen was made a life member of the Wellington and New Zealand lawn tennis associations. Kathleen died in Wellington in 1956, aged 84.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Rice
https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3n13/nunneley-kathleen-mary
Photos taken at the Wellington Provincial Lawn Tennis Championship tournament at Easter. No 1. H. Rice, winner of men's singles, and Miss Nunnelly, winner of the ladies' singles; No 2 Rice taking a backhander; No 3 Finish of a fore-hand drive; No 4 Miss Travers hitting across court; No 5 Returning a hot one from Rice; No 6 Rice serving; No 7 Rice after playing in the singles; No 8 Miss Nunnelly jumping to a volley.
Credit: Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-19090421-0018-01