J. F. Foulkes

Foulkes was born in Middlesex, England, the second of six children born to Rev. Augustine Lempriere Foulkes and Francesca Forster (née Godfrey). His father, who had been a cricket player, was a graduate of Queen's College, Oxford, vicar of Steventon.[3] He had three brothers (Godfrey, Louis Augustine and Leonard) and two sisters (Francesca and Catherine). Louis was the father of Sir Nigel Foulkes.[4]

On 2 December 1899 he married Margaret May Thomas and they had two children.[5]

He moved to Canada as a teenager in 1891, and quickly began winning tournaments. A member of the Victoria Lawn Tennis Club, Foulkes may have captured the Canadian national championship in singles 1907, 1909, and 1910 - at least one source says otherwise however.[6] His 1907 win, if it did occur, broke a string of 13 consecutive wins by an American player and only the second for a Canadian in 18 years. The source that disputes that Foulkes won his titles claims he was, instead, runner-up in 1907 and again in 1908.

He competed in the men's singles and doubles events at the 1908 Summer Olympics.[7]

Foulkes along with fellow Victoria natives B. P. Schwengers, R. B. Powell and Victoria-based Henry Mayes reached the final of the 1913 Davis Cup in the country's first attempt. (All four players were members of the Victoria LTC.[8]) With the entire tournament played at Wimbledon in June–July, the upstart Canadians, with Powell and Schwengers playing each match, beat South Africa, 4 wins to 1 and then Belgium, 4-0, to reach the final. In the final, however, they were overwhelmed by the Americans losing each set of three matches they contested.

Foulkes was also a British Columbia, five-time Pacific Northwest champion, and two-time Washington State champion. He was ranked No. 1 singles in the USTA Pacific Northwest in 1914.[9]

Foulkes has been elected to both the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame as a member of the 1913 Davis Cup team. He was also elected to USTA Pacific Northwest Tennis Hall of Fame in 2008.[2][10]

Foulkes served in the Canadian Army during the Boer War, earning the Queen's Medal with four clasps. From then on he was frequently referred to as "Captain" Foulkes.[11][12][13] He served again during the First World War in the 4th Canadian Division in the Canadian Service Corps.[2] He was awarded the Order of Agricultural Merit from France and was mentioned in despatches three times in 1917 and 1918.[14] In the 1919 New Year Honours following the war, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.[15]

His wife's younger sister was the poet Rosemary Thomas. Her book of poems, Immediate Sun (1951), includes a poem about Foulkes entitled "The Colonel".[16]

• GVS Hall of Fame profile