East of England Championships

The East of England Championships^[1] also called the East of England Lawn Tennis Championships^[2] was a men's and women's grass court tennis tournament founded in 1885 as the Felixstowe Open Lawn Tennis Tournament.^[3] In 1889 the event had by this time become a regional level tournament that ran until 1983 when it lost its status as a senior international tour level event. However the championships are still being staged today as the East of England and an LTA British Tour (Premier Event).^[4]

The Felixstowe Open Lawn Tennis Tournament hosted by the Felixstowe Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club became a regional level tour event called the East of England Championships in 1889. It was located Felixstowe, Suffolk, South East England. In 1890 the Felixstowe Open was revived as a stand alone event played alongside this one for two editions only until 1891.

The tournament was usually staged in mid-August, this later changed the middle or third week of July following the Wimbledon Championships. The East of England Championships ran for 98 years before it was discontinued in 1983 as a senior international tour level event. However the championships are still being staged today as the East of England an LTA British Tour (Premier Event).^[5]

This tournament became an interrelating regional event to the North of England Championships (f.1884), the South of England Championships (f.1881) and the West of England Championships (f.1881).

Notable winners of the men's singles championship title included Reggie Doherty (1906), Herbert Roper Barrett (1897-1899, 1901-1902, 1910), George Hillyard (1907-1908), Héctor Cattaruzza (1926), Jiro Yamagishi (1934-1935, 1937), George Worthington (1949), Jan Leschly (1957-1957), Mark Cox (1963, 1965-1967) and Saeed Meer (1977).

Former women's singles winners included Dorothea Douglass Chambers, (1902, 1906-1908, 1910-1911), Geraldine Ramsey Beamish (1921-1922), Elsie Goldsack Pittman (1931-1932), Jadwiga Jędrzejowska )1937), Shirley Bloomer (1954), Jill Blackman (1966), Patti Hogan (1967) and Greer Stevens (1973).

Incomplete roll included:^[6]

Year	Champion	Runner Up	Score
Felixstowe Open Lawn Tennis Tournament
1884	Francis William Monement	Maurice Welldon	6-4, 1-6, 6-1
1885	Francis William Monement (2)	Herbert Davy Longe	6-1, 6-0
1886	Alfred Penn Gaskell	Charles Hoadley Ashe Ross	5-6, 6-3, 6-3
1887	William Herbert Cohen	Charles Sidney Cullingham	6-3, 6-4
1888	Francis St. Barbe Haskett-Smith	Herbert William Kersey	6-1, 9-7, 6-3
Eastern Counties Championships
1889	William Nevill Cobbold	Charles Gladstone Allen	1-6, 6-5, 6-3
1890	Charles Gladstone Allen	Francis Walter Eicke	6-1, 1-6, 6-3
1891	Roy Allen	William Nevill Cobbold	6-4, 6-2, 6-2
1892	Roy Allen (2)	Charles Gladstone Allen	w.o.
1893	Roy Allen (3)	Herbert William Kersey	6-4, 6-1, 10-8
East of England Championships
1894	Ernest Wool Lewis	Rupert L. Hamblin-Smith	6-0, 6-2
1895	Roy Allen (4)	Sydney Howard Smith	6-4, 1-6, 7-5
1896	Reginald Doherty	Roy Allen	6-4, 8-6
1897	Herbert Roper Barrett	Charles Gladstone Allen	7-5, 7-5
1898	Herbert Roper Barrett (2)	Roy Allen	3-6, 6-3, 6-1
1899	Herbert Roper Barrett (3)	Roy Allen	3-6, 8-6, 6-3
1900	Charles Percy Dixon	Roy Allen	3-6, 6-3, 6-2
1901	Herbert Roper Barrett (4)	Charles Percy Dixon	7-5, 6-8, 6-1, 6-3
1902	Herbert Roper Barrett (5)	Charles Smeathman Hatton	6-3, 6-3, 6-4
1903	Roy Allen (5)	George Greville	6-3, 6-3, 6-4
1904	Roy Allen (6)	Herbert Roper Barrett	6-3, 6-1
1907	George Hillyard	Alfred Beamish	6-2, 6-2
1908	George Hillyard (2)	Alfred Beamish	6-1, 6-2
1909	Alfred Ernest Beamish	Dunstan Rhodes	6-1, 6-1, 6-2
1910	Herbert Roper Barrett (6)	George Hillyard	4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3
1914/1918	Not held (due to world war one)
1919	Charles Ernest Leonard Lyle	Basil Henty	6-4, 6-2, 6-3
1920	Hugh Walter Davies	Charles Ernest Leonard Lyle	2-6, 6-3, 6-1
1921	Thomas Bevan	Charles Ernest Leonard Lyle	6-2, 6-4
1922	Thomas Bevan (2)	Charles Ernest Leonard Lyle	9-7, 4-6, 6-1
1923	Sydney Jacob	Donald Greig	6-4, 6-4, 6-3
1924	Donald Greig	Charles Ernest Leonard Lyle	6-4, 7-5, 6-2
1925	Max Woosnam	Charles Kingsley	3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2
1926	Héctor Américo Cattaruzza	Ronaldo Boyd	6-4, 6-4, 8-6
1927	Charles Herbert Kingsley	Max Woosnam	6-2, 6-2, 6-3
1928	Gordon Crole-Rees	Sydney Jacob	3-6, 8-6, 6-2
1929	Gordon Crole-Rees (2)	G.R. Ashton	6-2, 6-2
1930	Arthur W. Hill	Gordon Crole-Rees	6-0, 6-4
1931	Franz Matejka	Charles Frederick Scroope	6-2, 6-3
1932	George Godsell	George S. Fletcher	8-6, 6-3
1933	Henry Scriven Burrows	Alan Stedman	6-4, 1-6, 6-4
1934	Jiro Yamagishi	Charles Aeschlimann	6-4, 6-0
1935	Jiro Yamagishi (2)	George Lyttleton Rogers	6-3, 6-3
1936	Richard (Dickie) Ritchie	Eikichi Itoh	6-4, 6-3
1937	Jiro Yamagishi (3)	Henry Billington	6-1, 6-4
1938	Lawrence Shaffi	P. Martinelli	2-6, 6-3, 6-2
1939	Constantin Tanacescu	Eric Filby	4-6, 6-4, 6-3
1940/1946	Not held (due to world war one)
1947	Jeff Robson	John Barry	6-2, 6-4
1948	Zoltan Katona	R.J.E. Mayers[7]	6-8, 6-0, 6-2
1949	George Worthington	Naresh Kumar	6-2, 6-8, 6-4
1950	Anthony (Tony) Starte[8]	Bobby Nicholl	2-6, 7-5, 6-1
1951	Torben Ulrich	Derrick Leyland	8-6, 6-2
1952	Gerry Oakley	Ivo Rinkel	2-6, 6-4, 6-0
1953	Geoff Ward[9]	Nigel Lowe	8-6, 6-3
1954	Jeff Robson (2)	Geoff Ward	8-6, 9-7
1955	Ivor Warwick	Khwaja Saeed Hai	14-16, 6-4, 6-4
1957	Jan Leschly	Gordon Lawrence Talbot	1-6, 6-2, 6-3
1958	Jan Leschly (2)	Claus Storm Pallesen	6-0, 6-0
1959[10]	John Kebble	Tariq Afridi	7-5, 6-1
1962	Robert G. Clarke[11]	Mark Cox	6-4, 6-3
1963	Mark Cox	Geoff Bluett	6-4, 6-3
1964	Keith Wooldridge	Graham Stilwell	6-2, 6-0
1965	Mark Cox (2)	Gerald Battrick	4-6, 7-5, 6-3
1966	Mark Cox (3)	Lew Gerrard	5-7, 7-5, 6-4
1967	Mark Cox (4)	Keith Wooldridge	6-2, 6-4
1968	Stanley Matthews	Keith Wooldridge	10-12, 7-5, 7-5
Open era
East of England Open Championships
1969	Bob Giltinan	Byron Bertram	8-6, 1-6, 8-6
1970	Bob Giltinan (2)	Syd Ball	7-5, 6-2
1971	Alvin Gardiner	Jeff Simpson	5-7, 7-5, 6-4
1972	John Feaver	Tony Fawcett	9-8, 6-4
1973	Armistead Neely	Larry Parker	5-7, 6-4, 8-6
East of England Championships
1974	Willem Prinsloo	Dave Segal	6-3, 6-0
1975	Mike Collins	Saeed Meer	3-6, 6-3, 9-7
1976	Mark Farrell	Stephen Alger	6-3, 6-4
1977	Saeed Meer	Ali Kahn	2-6, 6-4, 9-7
1978	Willie Davies	Dean Mathias	6-3, 6-4
1979	Rob Hak[12]	Willie Davies	9-8, 3-6, 6-3
1980	John Paish	Willie Davies	6-1, 6-4
1981	Ian Currie	Martin Guntrip	w.o.
1982	Willie Davies (2)	John Paish	3-6, 6-1, 6-2

(Incomplete roll)

Year	Champion	Runner Up	Score
Felixstowe Open Lawn Tennis Tournament
1886	A. Ridley	Helen Kersey	6-1, 6-5
1887	No women's event
1888	Nellie Turner	Freda Green	4-6, 6-2, 10-8
Eastern Counties Championships
1889	Ivy Arbuthnot	Helen Kersey	6-3, 6-4
1890	Florence Noon Thompson	Winifred Kersey	6-3, 6-4
1891	Winifred Kersey	C. Tidbury	6-4, 6-2
1892	No women's event
1893	Elsie Lane	Henrietta Horncastle	6-3, 11-9
1894	M. Burton	E. Burton	6-3, retired.
1895	Elsie Lane (2)	A. Inge	6-1, 6-3
1896	Emma Ridding	Henrica Ridding	divided prizes
East of England Championships
1897	Mrs White	Henrietta Horncastle	6-3, 6-3
1898	Edith Austin	Miss Tootell	6-1, 6-2
1899	Beryl Tulloch	Elsie Lane	6-8 6-2 6-4
1900	Beryl Tulloch (2)	Winifred Kersey	4-6, 6-0, 6-2
1901	Connie Wilson	Hilda Lane	6-2, 6-4
1902	Dorothea Douglass	Winifred Longhurst	6-3, 4-6, 9-7
1903	Alice Greene	Connie Wilson	6-3, 3-6, 7-5
1904	Connie Wilson (2)	Agnes Morton	6-3, 6-3
1905	Alice Greene (2)	Marion Colbatch-Clark	8-6, 6-2
1906	Dorothea Douglass	Connie Wilson	14-14, retired
1907	Dorothea Douglass Chambers (2)	Agnes Morton	6-2, 6-2
1908	Dorothea Douglass Chambers (3)	Agnes Morton	6-1, 6-3
1909	Agnes Morton	Mary Gray Curtis-Whyte	6-0, 6-1
1910	Dorothea Douglass Chambers (4)	M. Messom	6-0, 6-2
1911	Dorothy Holman	Winifred McNair	6-3, 3-6, 6-2
1912	Agnes Morton (2)	Dorothea Douglass Chambers	5-7, 6-3, retired
1913	Winifred McNair	Elizabeth Ryan	7-5, 7-5
1914-18	Not held (due to World War I)
1919	Muriel Ledger Hextall	Mrs F.W. Hodges	6-4, 4-6, 6-2
1920	Mabel Davey Clayton	Phyllis Carr Satterthwaite	6-4, 6-3
1921	Geraldine Ramsey Beamish	Mabel Davey Clayton	6-3, 7-5
1922	Geraldine Ramsey Beamish (2)	Mabel Davey Clayton	6-0, 6-2
1923	Mabel Davey Clayton (2)	Geraldine Ramsey Beamish	1-6, 6-2, 10-8
1924	Ermyntrude Harvey	Claire Beckingham	6-4, 6-1
1925	Claire Beckingham	Geraldine Ramsey Beamish	3-6, 6-3, 6-3
1926	Geraldine Ramsey Beamish (3)	Elsie Goldsack	6-4, 6-2
1927	Joan Ridley	Geraldine Ramsey Beamish	6-3, 4-6, 7-5
1928	Joan Ridley (2)	Geraldine Ramsey Beamish	6-4, 6-3
1929	Joan Ridley (3)	Elsie Goldsack	5-7, 6-3, 6-3
1930	Nancy Lyle	Elsie Goldsack Pittman	6-4, 6-3
1931	Elsie Goldsack Pittman	Joan Ridley	6-2, 6-2
1932	Elsie Goldsack Pittman (2)	Ermyntrude Harvey	6-0, 8-6
1933	Geraldine Ramsey Beamish (4)	Lucy Bond Pretty	6-1, 6-1
1934	Freda Scott	Joan Ridley	12-10, 8-8, retired
1935	Leila Row	Freda Scott	6-3, 6-2
1936	Audrey de Smidt Allister	Nancy Palmer	6-2, 6-2
1937	Jadwiga Jędrzejowska	Audrey Wright	6-1, 6-4
1938	Elsie Goldsack Pittman (3)	Rosemary Thomas	7-5, 9-7
1939	Elsie Goldsack Pittman (4)	Iris Hutchings	2-6, 6-1, 6-3
1940-46	Not held (due to World War I)
1947	Jadwiga Jędrzejowska (2)	Bibi Gullbrandsson	6-1, 6-2
1948	Jean-Nicoll-Bostock	Jean Quertier	11-9, 6-2
1949	Patricia Ward	Joey Physick David	7-5, 6-2
1950	Margaret Emerson	Anne Shilcock	6-2, 6-2
1951	Anne Shilcock	Joey Physick Lloyd	1-6, 6-4, 6-4
1952	Jean Quertier Rinkel	Baba Lewis	6-1, 4-6, 6-2
1953	Lucille van der Westhuizen	D. Midgley	6-0, 6-3
1954	Shirley Bloomer	Heather Redwood Robson	6-3, 6-1
1955	Bea Walter	Anthea Gibb	6-4, 6-2
1956	Elaine Becroft	Christine Truman	6-4, 3-6, 6-4
1957	Patricia Hird	Inge Overgaard	6-2, 6-0
1958	A. Hardwick	Pia Balling	7-5, 6-2
1959	Sheila Griffin Bramley	J. Stedman	6-3 6-2
1960	Sheila Griffin Bramley (2)	Elaine Watson Shenton	divided title
1961	J. Watts	Sheila Griffin Bramley	7-5, 1-6, 6-3
1962	Judy Davidson	Elizabeth Terry	6-2, 6-3
1963	Alison Stroud	Mrs S. Stevenson	6-4, 4-6, 6-4
1964	Elizabeth Starkie	Deidre Catt	9-7, 4-6, 6-4
1965	Rita Bentley	Elizabeth Starkie	7-5, 3-6, 6-2
1966	Jill Blackman	Laura Rossouw	6-3, 6-4
1967	Patti Hogan	Lynn Abbes	6-2, 6-3
1968	Janice Townsend	Jenny Staley Hoad	11-9, 6-1
Open era
East of England Open Championships
1969	Anita van Deventer	Brenda Kirk	6-2, 6-4
1970	Corinne Molesworth	Robin Blakelock Lloyd	2-6, 6-4, 6-2
1971	Jill Cooper	Corinne Molesworth	6-3, 6-2
1972	Patricia Coleman	Wendy Turnbull	7-5, 8-6
1973	Greer Stevens	Diane Riste	6-2, 6-1
East of England Championships
1974	Gwen Stirton	Lois Raymond[13]	6-3 7-5
1975	Lindsay Blachford	Annette Coe	2-6, 6-2, 6-2
1976	J. Wilton	Julia Lloyd	6-3, 7-5
1977	Linda Geeves	Jill Cottrell	6-2, 6-4
1978	Deborah Stewart	Hagit Zubary[14]	6-2, 9-7
1979	Phyllis Blackwell	E. Sharp	6-4, 6-3
1980	Elizabeth Little	Sonia Davies	6-1, 6-1
1981	Deborah Stewart (2)	Jane Plackett	6-3, 6-3
1982	Joy Tacon	Belinda Cordwell	4-6, 6-3, 6-2
1983	Jane Langstaff	Paulette Moreno	7-6, 6-0

• Most Men's Singles Titles– Herbert Roper Barrett & Roy Allen (6)
• Most Men's Singles Finals– Roy Allen (10)
• Most Women's Singles Titles– Dorothea Douglass Chambers & Geraldine Ramsey Beamish & Elsie Goldsack Pittman (4)
• Most Women's Singles Finals– Geraldine Ramsey Beamish (8)

In the late 1880s an East of England tournament was established in Filey, North Yorkshire, but was predominantly a local tennis meeting only.

• Felixstowe Open Lawn Tennis Tournament (1885-87)
• Eastern Counties Championships (1889-96)
• East of England Championships (1897–1967)
• East of England Open Championships (1968–72)
• East of England Tournament (1973)
• East of England Championships (1974–82)

• Daily Mail Year Book. (1966) London: Associated Newspapers Groups.
• Events. clubspark.lta.org.uk. Felixstowe Lawn Tennis Club.
• The Ipswich Journal. (14 August 1886) Ipswich, Suffolk, England.
• The Sketch: (1924) A Journal of Art and Actuality. Ingram brothers. 110: 127.