The Edgbaston Open Tournament was an early

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

men's and women's

grass court A grass court is one of the four different types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis, originally known as "lawn tennis", is played. Grass courts are made of grasses in different compositions depending on the tournament. Although grass c ...

tennis tournament first staged in June 1881, at the Edgbaston Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club,

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family a ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

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 ...

. This distinct tournament ran until 1908.

History

Edgbaston Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club founded in 1878 and continued to stage both events the Edgbaston Open Tournament until 1908 and the Midland Counties until November 1964. Priory Lawn Tennis Club founded in 1865 and in May 1963 the Priory Club was destroyed by a fire, talks about merger took place of the coming months with the Edgbaston C.L.T.C. In December 1964 the new club was formed the Edgbaston Priory Club, which continued to host the Midland Counties event until 1977. The Edgbaston Open Tournament was established on 21 July 1881, and first staged at the ground of Edgbaston Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club, in Hall Hill Road, Edgbaston. A description of the event that concluded on 23 July 1881: On 5 September 1882 the second edition of the Edgbaston Open Lawn Tennis Tournament was held, on the same dates and venue a dual tournament was staged called the Midland Counties Lawn Tennis Tournament (1882-1977),Birmingham Daily Post. Thursday 23 August 1883. Midland Counties Lawn Tennis Tournament. The second annual lawn tennis tournament in connection with the Edgbaston Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club was commerced yesterday, on the club ground, Hall Hill Road. the men's singles was won by Mr. R.W. Smith, and the Edgbaston Open Tournament was won by George Reston Brewerton. This tournament continued to be held separately to that of the counties championship until 1908.

Finals

:''Incomplete Roll''

Mens Singles

References

{{Reflist, 2

Sources

* Birmingham Daily Post. Thursday 23 August 1883. Birmingham, Warwickshire. England. * Cole, Dr. Matt (2013). "History" (PDF). edgbastonpriory.com. Edgbaston Priory Club, Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. * Heritage, (2021). edgbastonpriory.com. Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. Defunct tennis tournaments in the United Kingdom Grass court tennis tournaments