Frances Helen Aitchison (6 December 1881 – 26 May 1947) was a

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

-born tennis player who competed in the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...

. In 1912 she won the silver medal with her partner Herbert Barrett in the indoor mixed doubles competition. She also participated in the indoor singles event but was eliminated in the quarter-finals.

Background

Aitchison was born in Sunderland in 1881, the eldest daughter of shipbuilder James Aitchison and his wife Mary, of Grange Terrace, later The Cedars. She competed in the County Championships of 1907 with three of her sisters, Alice, Kathleen and Sibyl, helping Durham to defeat Middlesex 5–4. Aitchison entered the Wimbledon Championships for the first time in 1909, at the age of 27, winning the Ladies Doubles title with partner Agnes Tuckey. She also competed in 1910, 1911, 1913 and 1914, reaching three semi-finals and two quarter-finals in the Ladies Singles. In 1913 she won the singles title at World Covered Court Championship in Stockholm, defeating Kate Gillou in the final in straight sets. Her success at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912 made her the first person from Sunderland to become an Olympic medalist. At Epsom in 1914 she married John Leisk. General Register Office index of marriages in July, August, September 1914 Names: Frances H. Aitchison = John L. Leisk District: Epsom Volume: 2A Page: 66.

References

External links

Olympics profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aitchison, Helen 1881 births 1947 deaths English female tennis players English Olympic medallists Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic tennis players for Great Britain Sportspeople from Sunderland Tennis players at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in tennis Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics British female tennis players Tennis people from Tyne and Wear