On the 3 November 1863, the tennis player, Blanche Bingley-Hillyard, was born in Greenford in the London Borough of Ealing.

Blanche competed in the first ever women’s Wimbledon championships in 1884., which she went on to win 6 Wimbledon singles championships [1886, 1889, 1894, 1897, 1898, 1900] and was runner up 7 times.

She also won the Irish championships 3 times [1888, 1894, 1897], the German championship twice (1897, 1900); and the South of England Championships at Eastbourne, 11 times between 1885 and 1905.

Blanche was the second strongest female player of her day, surpassed only by Lottie Dod, who defeated her in five finals.

The daughter of a wealthy London tailoring proprietor, she was a member of the Ealing Lawn Tennis & Archery Club, and competed until the age of 49, playing her last Wimbledon in 1913.

Blanche Bingley-Hillyard died in London in 1946, aged 82, and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2013.

3 November 2019