Charles Williams (1888-1935) was
English rackets world champion.
Rackets career
Williams became a professional rackets player and the school coach at a young age, playing from the Harrow Club at
Harrow School
(The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God)
, established = (Royal Charter)
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school
, religion = Church of E ...
. In January 1911 he competed in and won the Open Championship of England defeating Edgar Maximilian Baerlein. Just over three months later he was the challenger for the
World Championship against the holder
Jamsetji Merwanji from India. Williams won the first leg at the
Queen's Club
The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in West Kensington, London, England. The club hosts the annual Queen's Club Championships men's grass court lawn tennis tournament (currently known as the "cinch Championships" for sponsorship reas ...
and then in the second leg played out a draw at the Prince's Club after he had already secured the one game he needed to claim the title outright. He had become the world champion aged just 22.
He lost the Championship to Jock Soutar from the United States in 1913 before failing to regain the title in a rematch in 1922. He finally regained the Championship after beating Soutar in 1929.
Personal life
Born in East Fulham in 1888, he was a ball boy at the
Prince's Club before turning professional. During the journey to defend his title in 1912 he boarded the as a second class passenger. After it sank he was rescued by the and developed
pneumonia.
He resided in the United States from 1924 and was married and had six children.
He died in 1935 while living in Chicago aged 47.
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References and notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Charles
1888 births
1935 deaths
Sportspeople from Fulham
World rackets champion
People educated at Harrow School
RMS Titanic survivors