Charles Gladstone Allen (1868 – 1924) was a British

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player in the early years of Wimbledon. He was an all comers finalist at

1896 Wimbledon Championships The 1896 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from 13 July until 21 July.2010 Wimbledon Compendium, by Alan Little (The All Engl ...

in men's doubles event partnering with his brother Roy Allen, where the lost to Reginald Doherty and

Harold Nisbet Harold Adair Nisbet (22 June 1873 – 12 March 1937) was a British lawn tennis player who was active at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. During his career he reached four doubles finals at the Wimbledon Championship ...

. He was active from 1887 to 1914 and contested 17 career finals in singles and won 8 titles.

Career

Charles played his first event at the 1887 Stevenage LTC Tournament where he reached the quarter-finals. In 1890 he won his first singles title in Saxmundham LTC Tournament (later known as the

Suffolk Championships The Suffolk Championships was an open tennis tournament for both men and women held at Saxmundham, Suffolk, England from 1883 to 1968. History On 12 August 1883 an annual open ''Saxmundham Lawn Tennis Tournament'' was established at Hurts Hall Park ...

) against his brother Roy Allen. He was a semi finalist at the

Northern Championships Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

in 1893, then considered the third most important tournament in the world at that time, and a quarter finalist at the

Irish Championships Irish Open may refer to: *Irish Open (golf), a golf tournament on the European Tour **Irish Senior Open, a golf tournament on the European Seniors Tour **Ladies Irish Open, a golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour * Irish Open (darts), annual ...

in 1895. At the

he reached the all comers final of the men's doubles event partnered with his brother Roy Allen, but were defeated by Reginald Doherty and

. In 1898 won his last singles title at the

Boulogne International Championship The Boulogne International Championship or Championnat international de Boulogne or simply called the Boulogne International was a combined men's and women's open clay court tennis tournament established in 1887 and was first played at the Tennis ...

held at the Tennis Club Boulogne Sur Mer, Boulogne-sur-Mer, France on clay courts. In 1914 he played his final tournament at the

Monte Carlo Championships Monte may refer to: Places Argentina * Argentine Monte, an ecoregion * Monte Desert * Monte Partido, a ''partido'' in Buenos Aires Province Italy * Monte Bregagno * Monte Cassino * Montecorvino (disambiguation) * Montefalcione Portugal * Mont ...

held at La Condamine, Monaco (known today as the Monte Carlo Masters) His career singles highlights include winning the Saxmundham LTC Tournament two times (1890–1891), the Bradford LTC Tournament two times (1893, 1897), the

East of England Championships The East of England Championships also called the East of England Lawn Tennis Championships was a men's and women's grass court tennis tournament founded in 1885 as the Felixstowe Open Lawn Tennis Tournament. In 1889 the event had by this time beco ...

(1890), the Chichester Open (1893), the Craigside LTC Tournament at Edinburgh (1896) and the Boulogne International Tournament (1898). Additionally he was also a finalist at the

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 ...

(1893), the

Sheffield and Hallamshire Championships The Sheffield and Hallamshire Championships was an open men's and women's international grass court tennis tournament founded in 1888 as the Sheffield and Hallamshire Tournament. The tournament was played at the Sheffield and Hallamshire Lawn Tenn ...

(1894), the Colchester Championship (1895), the Warwickshire Championships (1898), the

Riviera Championships The Riviera Championships also known as the Championship of the Riviera and informally known as the French Riviera Championships was an open men's and women's international tennis tournament played at the Menton Lawn Tennis Club,Town and Country ...

(1902), Mid-Kent Championships (1905), the

Yorkshire Championships Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

(1905), the

Leicestershire Championships Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

(1905), the

Swiss International Championships The Swiss International Championships also called the International Swiss Championships or Championship of Switzerland or simply Swiss Championships was a combined men's and women's clay court tennis tournament established by the Swiss Lawn Tennis ...

(1908)

Personal

Charles was born in 1868

Saint Neots St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was one of the twin sons of Rev. Hunter Bird Allen, the Rector of Colmworth Parish, and Adelaide Mary Gladstone. His twin brother was the other notable tennis player Roy Allen It was Hunter Bird who taught the Charles and Roy how to play tennis which proved very successful for both of them. He died on 24 December 1924.

References

Sources

* Council, Bedford (21 June 2019). "The Allen Family of Colmworth". bedsarchives.bedford.gov.uk. * Kelly's (1885). directory of Bedfordshire, Hunts, and Northamptonshire. Kellys Directories Limited. * Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England. "Player Profile: Charles Allen". www.wimbledon.com. Lawn Tennis Association. * Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England. "Draws Archive: Gentleman's All Comers Doubles". www.wimbledon.com. Lawn Tennis Association. * Myers, Arthur Wallis (1903). "The Northern Championship". Lawn Tennis at Home and Abroad. London: Scribner's sons. * Nieuwland, Alex. "Player – Charles Gladstone Allen". www.tennisarchives.com. Netherlands: Tennis Archives. Retrieved 9 October 2022. * The Age Newspaper. (1924). Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Trove: National Library of Australia. * Tennis Club Boulogne Sur Mer, "History:TCB". tennisclubboulognesurmer.net. {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Charles Gladston 1868 births 1924 deaths 19th-century male tennis players English male tennis players British male tennis players