Francis Owen Stoker (29 May 1867 – 8 January 1939) was an Irish
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 ...
and
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
player.
[Fran Cotton (ed.) ''The Book of Rugby Disasters & Bizarre Records'' (Compiled by Chris Rhys. London. Century Publishing. 1984. )][Player profile]
on scrum.com, retrieved 27 February 2010 He was a member of the pair that won the
Wimbledon doubles title in 1890 and 1893
and is the only rugby international to have been a Wimbledon champion.
[
]
Birth and background
Frank Stoker was born at Dublin on 29 May 1867, the youngest of the five sons of Edward Alexander Stoker, FRCSI, and his wife Henrietta, née Wisdom, of Rutland Square in that city. The father, himself the son of Dr William Stoker (Senior Physician to the Cork Street Fever Hospital), was "one of the most distinguished of Irish anatomists" and, apparently on account of his prowess in the hunting field, acclaimed "a fine sportsman". All his sons followed him into the medical profession. They were distantly related to Sir Thornley Stoker, President of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and his brother, the novelist Bram Stoker.
Rugby career
Frank Stoker was a member of the Second XV of Dublin's Wanderers F.C.
Wanderers Football Club was an English association football club. It was founded as "Forest Football Club" in 1859 in Leytonstone. In 1864, it changed its name to "Wanderers", a reference to it never having a home stadium, instead playing at v ...
from 1883 onward. He played for Irish Schools at their annual meeting with English Schools in 1885, and for Dublin United Hospitals in the following year when a student at Jervis Street Hospital
Jervis Street Hospital ( ga, Ospidéal Shráid Jervis) was a hospital in Jervis Street in Dublin, Ireland. The site of the hospital became the Jervis Shopping Centre.
History
The hospital was founded by six Dublin surgeons, George Duany, Patric ...
. He was in Wanderers' First XV by the beginning of 1886, was second in the club’s drop-kick contest shortly afterwards (kicking an average of 44 yards with both feet), and was elected its captain for the following season.
He played in the Irish international team that met Scotland in 1886 and again (in what was described as "the best match ever played in Scotland") in 1888. He was named as a reserve for his country's match against England in 1887, played for Ireland against both Wales and the New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
touring side in 1888, and appeared once more against Scotland in 1889. His brother Ernest Stoker, also of Wanderers F.C., represented Ireland alongside him in the 1888 games against Scotland and Wales; both men played as forwards.
While studying in London in 1893-94 Frank played for Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...
and Blackheath F.C.
Blackheath Football Club is a rugby union club based in Well Hall, Eltham in south-east London.
The club was founded in Blackheath in 1858, and is the fourth-oldest rugby club in continuous existence in the world, after Dublin University Fo ...
, scoring a try in the latter's match with Hartlepool Rovers
Hartlepool Rovers F.C. are a rugby union club who play at The New Friarage, West View Road in Hartlepool. The club play in Durham/Northumberland 1, the seventh tier of the English rugby union system after being relegated from North One East at ...
. He was President of Wanderers F.C. in 1899-1900.
Tennis career
Frank and Ernest Stoker, playing as a pair, figured in Irish tennis tournaments of the mid-1880s and in 1886 were successful in a doubles semi-final at the Greystones Tournament in Bray, County Wicklow
Bray ( ) is a coastal town in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It is situated about south of Dublin city centre on the east coast. It has a population of 32,600 making it the ninth largest urban area within Ireland (at the 2016 census). Bray is ...
. The last set of that match was "entirely won by the place-volleying and smashing of Frank Stoker who scarcely allowed a ball to pass him at the net", but the pair were outplayed in the final.
Frank subsequently found a new doubles partner in Joshua Pim
Dr Joshua Pim FRCSI (20 May 1869 – 15 April 1942) was a medical doctor and Irish amateur tennis player. He won the Wimbledon men's singles title two years in a row, in 1893 and 1894, and was ranked British number one in both those years. H ...
, a fellow member of Dublin's Lansdowne Club, and the pair began to compete in the annual Irish championships at Fitzwilliam Square
Fitzwilliam Square ( ga, Cearnóg Mhic Liam) is a Georgian garden square in the south of central Dublin, Ireland. It was the last of the five Georgian squares in Dublin to be built, and is the smallest.
The middle of the square is composed of a ...
. They were Irish national doubles champions on five occasions between 1890 and 1895 and, bringing their talent to England, took 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 ...
title in 1890, 1892, 1893 and 1894 and the All England title at Wimbledon in 1890 and 1893.
By June 1891 the tennis pairing of Pim and Stoker "had been pronounced the finest combination the world had ever seen". This accolade was promptly followed by the pair's temporary loss of their Northern and Wimbledon titles, but they had returned to dominance by 1893.
In 1894, shortly before their victory in the Northern Championships, Stoker was admitted a Licentiate in Dental Surgery by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Aged 27, he was anxious to commence practice as a dentist without further delay and he elected not to defend his Wimbledon title. After he retained his Irish title in 1895 his tennis career largely came to an end, although in 1896 (as in 1893 and 1894) he represented Ireland against England in both the singles and doubles matches of the international fixture.
Stoker's tennis reputation has been somewhat overshadowed by Pim's additional successes in the singles format of the game, but his own strengths in that format were regularly demonstrated. He was a winner of the Dublin County Championship and the Fitzwilliam Purse, was runner-up in many singles tournaments (including when defeated by Pim in the 1891 Northern contest), and during the whole of 1892 was the only player to win a match against the reigning Wimbledon champion, Wilfred Baddeley
Wilfred Baddeley (11 January 1872 – 24 January 1929) was a British male tennis player and the elder of the Baddeley twins.
Career
Wilfred, the better-known competitor, made his debut at Wimbledon in 1889 and he went on to win singles ti ...
. His form in 1894 was such that, among Irish players, only Pim and Tom Chaytor
Thomas (Tom) Chaytor (13 November 1870 – 30 January 1951) was an Irish tennis player. He was Irish Lawn tennis Championships finalist in 1894 losing to Joshua Pim. He was a semi finalist at the 1894 Wimbledon Championships in the men's singl ...
were regarded as his equals, it being observed that "His tremendous service, his hard driving and accurate placing both fore and backhand would alone make him a dangerous opponent for the most skilful players, but with these good points he combines volleying of a high order, and quickness which is quite remarkable in a man of his size". He was 6'1½" in height and over 13 stone in weight.
Personal life
He was licensed to practice medicine and surgery by the Irish Royal College in August 1892 but, wishing to specialise in dentistry, obtained a place at the recently established Dental School of Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...
in 1893. After obtaining his dental degree he practised from 23 Westland Row
Westland Row is a street on the Southside of Dublin, Ireland.
Location
The street runs along the east end of Trinity College Dublin.
History
Westland Row first appears on maps in 1776. It was originally known as Westlands after Willi ...
(next to Oscar Wilde's birthplace) in Dublin, and in June 1899 he married Margaret (Rita) Maunsell, niece of Surgeon General Thomas Maunsell, CB, of the Army Medical Service.
He took up golf, playing at and for the Portmarnock
Portmarnock () is a coastal suburban settlement in Fingal, Ireland, with significant beaches, a modest commercial core and inland residential estates, and two golf courses, including one of Ireland's best-known golf clubs. , the population was ...
and Royal Dublin
The Royal Dublin Golf Club, founded in 1885, is Ireland's third oldest golf club. It is a private members' club, with an 18-hole links course on Bull Island, Dublin, Ireland. The championship routing that we recognise today was by designed by H ...
clubs and competed, unsuccessfully, in the Irish Amateur Open Championship in 1907.
He died at St Vincent's University Hospital, St Stephen's Green
St Stephen's Green () is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by ...
, Dublin, on 8 January 1939, aged 71. He and his wife had five daughters, of whom Monica, Joan and Norma survived to adulthood. Norma Norma may refer to:
* Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
Astronomy
*Norma (constellation)
*555 Norma, a minor asteroid
* Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral arm in the Milky Way galaxy
Geography
*Norma, Lazi ...
won the Irish Girls' Lawn Tennis Championship in 1922, was for several years Irish Ladies' Doubles Champion, and represented Ireland at both tennis and hockey.[''Sport'', Dublin, 26 August 1922, p. 12; ''Evening Herald'', Dublin, 14 July 1930; ''Belfast News-Letter'', 27 February 1928, p. 3, and 27 July 1931, p. 13; ''Northern Whig'', 3 March 1928, p. 4; ''Dictionary of Irish Biography]
Grand Slam finals
Doubles (2 titles)
See also
* James Cecil Parke
James Cecil Parke (26 July 1881 – 27 February 1946) was an Irish rugby union player, tennis player, golfer, solicitor and World War I veteran. He became an Olympic silver medallist, Davis Cup champion, Wimbledon Mixed Doubles winner and A ...
References
External links
Ireland's Greatest All -Round Sportsman?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoker, Frank Owen
1867 births
1939 deaths
Sportspeople from Dublin (city)
19th-century male tennis players
Ireland international rugby union players
Irish male tennis players
Irish rugby union players
Irish dentists
Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era)
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles
Alumni of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Rugby union forwards
Rugby union players from County Dublin