Henry George Mayes,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(14 February 1880 – 1928) was a British-Canadian

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, military figure and businessman. He won the

Queen's Club Championships The Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is part of the ATP Tour 500 series on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) T ...

in 1922, 1926 and 1927.

Biography

Born in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

, Mayes was educated at

Northampton Grammar School Northampton School for Boys (NSB) is a secondary school in Northampton, England. It was founded as Northampton Town and County Grammar School in 1541 by Thomas Chipsey, Mayor of Northampton. Education in England#Stages of compulsory education, Yea ...

. He served in the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

in 1898, joining the Natal Horse as a trooper. He was promoted to a captain and was awarded the King's and Queen's medals. In 1908, he resigned his commission after marrying Frances Hazard of

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, and moved to

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, Canada in 1909. There he founded a tanning company with business associates. However, he was called to military duty against with the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and was a founding member of

The Fort Garry Horse The Fort Garry Horse is a Canadian Army Reserve armoured regiment based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is part of 3rd Canadian Division's 38 Canadian Brigade Group. It traces its history to a cavalry regiment first formed in 1912 that first took ...

, serving under the Canadian forces on the Western Front from 1914 to 1916 in France, during which he was promoted from captain to major. After the war he was again promoted to lieutenant-colonel and was the head of Bayonet Fighting. His sporting expertise saw him appointed head of physical training with the

Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environme ...

and in the same position in the UK for the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, which saw him awarded an

in January 1918. He later became based in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Mayes was a good all-round sportsman, participating in

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

, and

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...

on an international level. He excelled at tennis, and his hard-court play was reported to be his strongest surface and he enjoyed much popularity as a tennis player. Mayes was on the 1913 Canadian

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

team along with

J. F. Foulkes John Fortescue Foulkes (10 July 1872 – 22 June 1948), also known as Captain Foulkes, was an early star of Canadian tennis. Foulkes may have been a three-time winner of the Canadian national championship, today known as the Rogers Cup. He ...

Robert Powell Robert Powell (; born 1 June 1944) is an English actor who is known for the title roles in ''Mahler'' (1974) and '' Jesus of Nazareth'' (1977), and for his portrayal of secret agent Richard Hannay in '' The Thirty Nine Steps'' (1978) and its ...

and

Bernie Schwengers Bernard Peter Schwengers (26 May 1880 – 6 December 1946). was a British-born Canadian tennis player, baseball player, and all-round sportsman. He is considered the finest Canadian tennis player of the early twentieth century and is amongst Can ...

. It was Canada's first entry into the Davis Cup and they reached the final of the Cup only to be defeated by the United States in the summer of 1913 at Wimbledon where the Cup was being held. In 1926 he won the

North London Championships The North London Championships also known as the Gipsy Championships or simply Gipsy was a combined men's and women's grass court tennis tournament founded as the Gipsy Lawn Tennis Tournament in 1894. The tournament was held at the Gipsy Lawn Tenni ...

at the Gipsy Lawn Tennis Club, Stamford Hill, London, England against

Gordon Lowe Sir Francis Gordon Lowe, 2nd Baronet (21 June 1884 – 17 May 1972) was a British male tennis player. Lowe is best remembered for winning the Australasian Championships in 1915 (where he beat champion Horace Rice in the final). and for winni ...

. He won the

in 1922, 1926 and 1927, defeating Donald Greig (6–8, 6–2, 6–2, 6–1),

Arthur Lowe Arthur Lowe (22 September 1915 – 15 April 1982) was an English actor. His acting career spanned 36 years, including starring roles in numerous theatre and television productions. He played Captain Mainwaring in the British sitcom ''Dad' ...

(6–3, 6–2) and D.M. Evans (6–3, 6–3) respectively. He was also a competitor at the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...

. Mayes also won the

Côte d'Azur Championships The Côte d'Azur Championships or Championnats de la Côte d'Azur also called the Championship of the Côte d'Azur was a men's and women's international clay court tennis tournament held at the Cannes Lawn Tennis Club, Cannes, Provence-Alpes-Côte ...

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

two times (1923. 1927). Winning his last championship at the age of 47, when most modern players have long since been retired, he died just a year after his last win in London in 1928 of blood poisoning, aged 48. According to the

United States Lawn Tennis Association The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...

, Mayes was reported to have still been in peak physical shape before his death, "approaching a half century".

References

External links

Wimbledon players archive – Henry Mayes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayes, Henry Canadian Air Force personnel Canadian male tennis players Canadian Expeditionary Force officers Deaths from sepsis English emigrants to Canada English male tennis players Sportspeople from Northampton Royal Air Force officers British military personnel of the Second Boer War British male tennis players 1880 births 1928 deaths Tennis people from Northamptonshire Members of the Order of the British Empire