Beatrice Mary Ann Draffen (1865 – 13 July 1962) (nee Beatrice Wood) was a British tennis player from Ackworth,

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active from 1884 to 1897. She was a two time semi finalist in the women's singles at the 1895

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...

and 1896

. She won 10 career singles titles.

Career

Beatrice was born in 1865 in Ackworth,

. She played her first tournament at the

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held at the

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grounds in June 1884 in

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where she lost to Ann Dod in the first round. In major tournament singles events she played at the 1892 Wimbledon Championships under the name of Mrs G.A. Draffen and reached the quarter-finals before losing to Blanche Hillyard. At the 1894

she reached the quarter-finals stage of the competition before she was beaten in straight sets by Constance Bryan. At the 1895 Wimbledon Championships she progressed to the semi-finals, but lost to

Charlotte Cooper Charlotte Cooper may refer to: * Charlotte Cooper (author) (born 1968), British author and LGBT activist * Charlotte Cooper (tennis) (1870–1966), British tennis player * Charlotte Cooper-Andrade, wife of Vernon Andrade * Charlotte Cooper (born 19 ...

. She played the Championships one more time in 1896, and again reached the semi-finals losing in three sets to

Alice Pickering Alice Pickering (1860 – 18 February 1939; née ''Alice Mabel Simpson'') was an English tennis player. Pickering played at the Wimbledon Championships from 1895 to 1901. In 1896, she won the all-comers-competition at Wimbledon 1896,Arthur Wall ...

. Her other career singles highlights include winning the Ilkley Open Tournament three times (1886, 1888, 1890), and the Sheffield and Hallamshire Tournament twice (1890–1891).

North of England Championships The North of England Championships and later known as the Rothmans Open North of England Championships (for sponsorship reasons), was a men's and women's grass court tennis tournament founded in 1884 as the North Yorkshire Tournament. It was mainly ...

two times in (1892, 1894). She also won the Badsworth Hunt Tournament at

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the towns in the City of Wake ...

(1886), the Yorkshire Open Championships in (1894) and the Tyndale Open Tournament in (1896). She was also finalist at the prestigious

three times (1890, 1891, 1894), the North Yorkshire Tournament two times in (1884, 1885), the Yorkshire Lawn Tennis Tournament two times (1884, 1885), the Ilkley Open (1889), the

East Gloucestershire Championships The East Gloucestershire Championships also called the Cheltenham Lawn Tennis Championships was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament held from 1879 through 1969. History The East Gloucestershire Championships was played at the Cheltenha ...

(1890), the

Derbyshire Championships The Derbyshire Championships originally known as the Championship of Derbyshire was a men's and women's grass court tennis tournament held at the Buxton Lawn Tennis Club, Buxton, Derbyshire, Great Britain from 1883 to 1953 History A tennis tournam ...

(1891), the Hull Westbourne Avenue Open Tournament in (1892) and

(1896). In doubles play she won titles at the Ilkley Open (1886) partnering Miss Tannett. In mixed doubles she won Chapel Allerton LTC Tournament (1886) with Arthur H Meysey-Thompson. She retired from playing singles tennis in 1897, she did occasionally take part in doubles and mixed doubles up to the early 1900s.

Personal life

She was born in 1865 as Beatrice Mary Ann Wood the daughter of Dr. John Wood of Ackworth, West Riding of Yorkshire. She married Captain George Algernon Draffen on 26 April 1892 at Ackworth, West Riding he was the youngest son of Colonel W. Pitt Draffen, and later had two children .

References

External links

Official Wimbledon Player Profile: Beatrice Draffen.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Draffen, Beatrice 19th-century female tennis players 19th-century British sportswomen British female tennis players 1865 births 1962 deaths