The North of England Championships and later known as the Rothmans Open North of England Championships (for sponsorship reasons), was a 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 founded in 1884 as the North Yorkshire Tournament. It was mainly held at

Scarborough, North Yorkshire Scarborough () is a seaside town in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Scarborough is located on the North Sea coastline. Historic counties of England, Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town lies between 10 ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

from (1884–91, 1893–1903, 1905–1966, 1968). The tournament was discontinued in 1974 when it was staged at

Hoylake Hoylake is a coast, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the north west of the Wirral Peninsula, near West Kirby and where the River Dee, Wales, River Dee meets the Irish Sea. Historic counties of En ...

History

The North Yorkshire Tournament was first staged in 1884 at the South Cliff Lawn Tennis Club at

. In 1886 its name was changed to the North of England Championships. It was for a long period a popular summer tournament in the British lawn tennis calendar. In 1910 it changed venue to be played at the Yorkshire Lawn Tennis Club through until 1966. The only other places to host the North of England Championships was at

Kingston-upon-Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east o ...

in 1892, then

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

in 1904. In 1967 the event temporarily moved to

in what was then Cheshire, before returning to Scarborough the following year. In 1969 the championships moved permanently back to Hoylake until 1974 when it was abolished Notable winners of the men's singles included

Ernest Browne Ernest de Sylly Hamilton Browne (11 July 1855 – 13 April 1946; also ''E. de S. H. Browne'') was an Irish tennis player who was active in the late 19th century. Career Browne played his first tournament in April at 1880 at a tournament staged ...

(1886),

Harry Sibthorpe Barlow Harry Sibthorpe Barlow (5 April 1860 – 16 July 1917) was a British amateur lawn tennis player, active at the end of the 19th century. Career In 1892 he won his first and only Wimbledon title when together with Ernest Lewis they defeated anot ...

, Laurie Doherty (1910),

George Lyttleton Rogers George Lyttleton Rogers (10 July 1906 – 19 November 1962) was an Irish tennis player, promoter and coach. He won the Irish Championships title three times, (1926, 1936–1937). He was the Canadian and Argentine champion as well. He was a three ...

(1937),

Jaroslav Drobny Jaroslav (also written as Yaroslav or Jarosław in other Slavic languages) is a Czech and Slovak first name, pagan in origin. There are several possible origins of the name Jaroslav. It is very likely that originally the two elements of the nam ...

(1949), Ashley Cooper (1958) and

John Newcombe John David Newcombe AO OBE (born 23 May 1944) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He is one of the few men to have attained a world No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles. At the majors, he won seven singles titles, a fo ...

(1970). Previous women's singles champions included Alice Simpson Pickering (1899),

Dorothea Douglass Dorothea Lambert Chambers (née Dorothea Katherine Douglass, 3 September 1878 – 7 January 1960) was a British tennis player. She won seven Wimbledon women's singles titles and a gold medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Tennis In 1900, Dougla ...

(1901),

Elizabeth Ryan Elizabeth Montague Ryan (February 5, 1892 – July 6, 1979) was an American tennis player who was born in Anaheim, California, but lived most of her adult life in the United Kingdom. Ryan won 26 Grand Slam titles, 19 in women's doubles and mix ...

(1919),

Joan Hartigan Joan Marcia Bathurst (née Hartigan; 6 June 1912 – 31 August 2000) was an Australian Champion tennis player. Early life and education Joan Marcia Hartigan was born in Sydney, the daughter of Thomas Joseph (Tom) Hartigan, a railways commissio ...

(1934),

Ann Haydon Ann Shirley Jones, (née Adrianne Haydon on 17 October 1938, also known as Ann Haydon-Jones) is a British former table tennis and lawn tennis champion. She won eight Grand Slam tennis championships in her career: three in singles, three in wome ...

(1956),

Virginia Wade Sarah Virginia Wade (born 10 July 1945) is a British former professional tennis player. She won three Major tennis singles championships and four major doubles championships, and is the only British woman in history to have won titles at all f ...

(1967),

Margaret Smith Court Margaret Court (''née'' Smith; born 16 July 1942), also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian retired former world No. 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, her 24 maj ...

(1968), Billie Jean Moffitt King (1971) and

Evonne Goolagong Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley (née Goolagong; born 31 July 1951) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Goolagong was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s. At the age of 19, she won the French Open singl ...

(1972). For the years 1892, 1894–1900 and 1904–1905 the tournament was also valid as the Yorkshire Championships. For the years 1960 and from 1967 the tournament was also valid as the Hoylake Open Championships.

Sponsorship

In 1968 at the start of the open era the championships were sponsored by the newspaper the

Liverpool Post The ''Liverpool Post'' was a newspaper published by Reach plc, Trinity Mirror in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The newspaper and its website ceased publication on 19 December 2013. Until 13 January 2012 it was a daily morning newspaper, wi ...

and branded as the ''Liverpool Post North of England Championships''. In 1969 the tobacco manufacturer

Rothmans Rothmans may refer to: * Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, a Canadian tobacco company * Rothmans International, a former British tobacco manufacturer, founded by Louis Rothman See also * Rothman, a surname * Rothmans 12 hours, a series of sports car ra ...

took over sponsorship of the event was then called the ''Rothmans Open North of England Championships'' until 1974.

Locations

The championships were mainly held at

from (1884–91, 1893–1903, 1905–1966, 1968), but was also hosted at other locations including

Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within the ...

(1885),

(1892), then

(1904),

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

(1905) and finally

(1967–69, 1970–74) when the event was discontinued.

Finals

Men's singles

(Incomplete roll)

Women's singles

(Incomplete roll)

Tournament records

* Most men's overall singles titles:

(4) * Most men's NOE singles titles: Laurie Doherty &

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the working ...

& Bobby Wilson (3) * Most women's NOE singles titles: Lucy Kendal (6)

References

Sources

* Jeffreys, Kevin (22 April 2021). "The Illustrious History of Tennis in Scarborough". on-magazine.co.uk. On: Yorkshire Magazine. Retrieved 4 October 2022. * Lake, Robert J. (3 October 2014). A Social History of Tennis in Britain. Oxford: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-44557-8. {{Men's tennis seasons Grass court tennis tournaments Defunct tennis tournaments in the United Kingdom Tennis tournaments in England