George Henry Dodd (16 January 1882 – 21 July 1957) was a South African

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. George was the son of Douglas William Dodd, an Anglican minister from

Eton, Buckinghamshire Eton ( ) is a town in Berkshire, England, on the opposite bank of the River Thames to Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor, connected to it by Windsor Bridge. The civil parish, which also includes the village of Eton Wick two miles west of the town, had ...

, and Elizabeth Saffrona (née Pruen). He competed for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in the tennis event at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

where he took part in the men's singles and doubles events. In the singles competition he reached the fourth round in which he lost to

Ichiya Kumagae was a Japanese tennis player and the first Japanese Olympic medalist. Biography Kumagae was born on 10 September 1890 in Ōmuta, Fukuoka Prefecture. He attended Keio University. In 1913, he, along with other members of the Keio University Ten ...

in straight sets. In the doubles he partnered

Cecil Blackbeard Cecil Roberts Blackbeard (26 January 1900 – 19 April 1954) was a South African male tennis player who represented South Africa in the Davis Cup and the Olympic Games. He competed in the doubles event at the 1920 Summer Olympics. With compa ...

and reached the third round. Dodd won the 1912 men's singles title at the South African Championships, defeating R.F. Le Sueur in the final in five sets. In addition he was runner-up on five occasions (1914, 1922, 1925, 1928, 1929). George was married thrice: his first marriage was to Grace Lilian Floquet (1887-1959) at St Mary's Anglican Church, Pretoria on 10 August 1906. They divorced at Johannesburg on 25 January 1921. His second marriage was to Anna Catherine Boshoff at the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court on 1 October 1921; this marriage also culminated in divorce on 26 October 1933 at Johannesburg. George's third and final marriage was to Agnes Ruth Joy Sackville-West (1903-1969), granddaughter of

Lionel Sackville-West, 2nd Baron Sackville Lionel Sackville-West, 2nd Baron Sackville, GCMG (19 July 1827 – 3 September 1908), was a British diplomat. Background Sackville-West was the fourth son of George Sackville-West, 5th Earl De La Warr, by Lady Elizabeth, daughter of John Sackv ...

and Pepita de Oliva on 15 October 1938 at the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court. They were married until his death on 21 July 1957. George died at the Durban sanatorium, his cause of death cited as congestive cardiac failure, uraemia and hypertensive disease. His widow, Ruth, went on to marry Samuel Wells Coutts of Benoni, son of John Alexander Coutts and Sarah Green.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dodd, George 1880s births 1957 deaths Cape Colony people 19th-century male tennis players South African male tennis players Olympic tennis players of South Africa Tennis players at the 1920 Summer Olympics South African people of English descent