Violet Summerhayes

Violet Summerhayes (May 31, 1878 – 1974) was an English-born Canadian tennis player in the early twentieth century. She won the Rogers Cup championship from 1899 to 1905.

Violet Summerhayes, from a 1902 publication.
Violet Summerhayes, from a 1906 publication.
Violet Summerhayes in action, circa 1908.

Early life

Violet Marian Summerhayes was born in England and raised in Toronto, Ontario. Her father William F. Summerhayes was a barrister and tennis supporter.[1] She developed her tennis skills with her siblings, at the St. Matthew's Church Tennis Club in Riverdale.[2] She also trained as a kindergarten assistant in Toronto, passing the government examination in 1896.[3]

Career

Summerhayes dominated Canadian women's tennis at the turn into the twentieth century, with seven singles wins at the Canadian Open.[4][5] She won the International Championship Ladies' Singles event at Niagara in 1905.[6] She competed at Beckenham and Wimbledon in 1907,[7][2] and at Niagara again in 1908 and 1909.[8][9]

Summerhays competed in women's doubles with Myrtle McAteer at Niagara in 1903[10] and mixed doubles in 1909.[11][12] A "Miss Summerhayes" was reported as competing in women's doubles at Toronto in 1920.[13]

Summerhayes' streak of four consecutive Rogers Cup victories stood as a record for almost a century, until Monica Seles tied the record.[14]

Personal life

Violet Summerhayes appears in the Toronto City Directory in 1928 in connection with the Women’s Auxiliary to the Church of England Missionary Society.[15] She died in 1974, aged 96 years, in Toronto.

References
  1. "Former Liberal Organizer Dead" Ottawa Journal (April 14, 1936): 13. via Newspapers.comopen access
  2. M. Ann Hall, The Girl and the Game: A History of Women's Sport in Canada, Second Edition (University of Toronto Press 2016). ISBN 9781442634145
  3. "Inspector's Annual Report" Annual Report (Toronto Board of Education 1896): 19.
  4. Violet Summerhayes, Tennis Canada Hall of Fame.
  5. M. Ann Hall, Immodest and Sensational: 150 Years of Canadian Women in Sports (James Lorimer & Co. 2008): 20. ISBN 9781552770214
  6. "Tennis Cup for Wright" New York Times (September 3, 1905): 11. via ProQuest
  7. "Lawn Tennis" The Bystander (June 19, 1907): 625.
  8. "Niles in Winning Form" New York Times (August 28, 1908): 5. via ProQuest
  9. "Beals Wright Wins at Niagara" New York Times (August 27, 1909): 4. via ProQuest
  10. "Miss McAteer to Play Miss Neely" Chicago Tribune (August 30, 1903): 10. via Newspapers.comopen access
  11. "Women's Tennis at Niagara" New York Times (August 30, 1903): 14. via ProQuest
  12. "May Sutton Wins from Mrs. Hannam in Tennis" Oakland Tribune (August 28, 1909): 15. via Newspapers.comopen access
  13. "Ontario Championship at Toronto" American Lawn Tennis (October 15, 1920): 492.
  14. James Bisson, "Seles to Rogers Cup Hall of Fame" The Globe and Mail (August 13, 2009).
  15. Might's Greater Toronto city directory (Might Directories Limited 1928).
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