Spencer William Gore (10 March 1850 – 19 April 1906) was an English
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 cov ...
player who won the first
Wimbledon tournament in
1877
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Queen Victoria is proclaimed ''Empress of India'' by the ''Royal Titles Act 1876'', introduced by Benjamin Disraeli, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom .
* January 8 – Great ...
and a
first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...
er who played for
Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club (Surrey CCC) is a first-class club in county cricket, one of eighteen in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Surrey, including areas that now form South London. ...
(1874–1875).
Early years
Spencer William Gore was the son of the Hon. Charles Alexander Gore, grandson of the second
Earl of Arran, and Lady Augusta Lavinia Priscilla (''née'' Ponsonby), a daughter of the fourth
Earl of Bessborough
Earl of Bessborough is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1739 for Brabazon Ponsonby, 2nd Viscount Duncannon, who had previously represented Newtownards and County Kildare in the Irish House of Commons. In 1749, he was given t ...
. His mother's first marriage was to
William Petty-FitzMaurice, Earl of Kerry, who died in 1836. His father was the
Commissioner of Woods and Forests. His two brothers were the theologian
Charles Gore
Charles Gore (22 January 1853 – 17 January 1932) was a Church of England bishop, first of Worcester, then Birmingham, and finally of Oxford. He was one of the most influential Anglican theologians of the 19th century, helping reconcile the c ...
, the first
Bishop of Birmingham, and Sir Francis Charles Gore, Solicitor to the
Board of Inland Revenue.
Spencer was born and raised within a mile of the All England Croquet Club at
West Side House,
Wimbledon Common
Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, southwest London. There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Commons totalling 46 ...
,
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...
. He was educated at
Harrow School
Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (sc ...
, where he excelled at all games, especially football and cricket, and was the captain of the school cricket team in 1869.
Sporting career
Gore made his first-class cricket debut for Surrey against
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
in 1874 hitting 17 runs off the first four balls he received in his first match. He played again for Surrey against Middlesex in 1875 when Surrey won by 10 wickets and he did not have a chance to play a second innings. He played cricket mainly for
I Zingari
I Zingari (from dialectalized Italian , meaning "the Gypsies"; corresponding to standard Italian ') are English and Australian amateur cricket clubs, founded in 1845 and 1888 respectively. It is the oldest and perhaps the most famous of the 'wa ...
at club level, playing his last match for them in 1893. He played two first-class matches for I Zingari which were against
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
in 1878 and 1879 and one match for Gentlemen of the South in 1879.
In 1877 the first
Wimbledon lawn tennis championship was held at the
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, also known as the All England Club, based at Church Road, Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members' club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam ...
which had been renamed from the All England Croquet Club when tennis had been added there two years earlier. Gore won the
Gentleman's Singles beating
William Marshall 6–1, 6–2, 6–4 on 19 July 1877. He was the first player who ever used the technique of
volleying, therefore he is considered the creator of the style of volley.
Gore was among the twenty-two men who paid a
guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
to enter the inaugural
1877 championship (women did not have a competition until 1884). The 21 matches were spread over five days. The championship was suspended for the weekend so as not to clash with the annual
Eton v Harrow cricket match at
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County ...
. The scheduled final on Monday was postponed for four days because of rain.
Dropping only two sets in four rounds, the 27-year-old Gore reached the final after beating
CG Heathcote in the semifinal. Against Marshall, he won in straight sets, 6–1, 6–2, 6–4, in forty eight minutes.
[2006 Wimbledon Compendium, Alan Little, p.336] Gore collected the first prize of 12 guineas and a silver cup presented by ''
The Field'', a sporting magazine.
As the reigning champion Gore did not have to play through the tournament in the following year's
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
but instead played in the challenge round against the winner of the All-Comers tournament. He lost the
Gentleman's Singles challenge round to
Frank Hadow 7–5, 6–1, 9–7 and did not compete in the Wimbledon Championships again after that match.
Business career
Gore joined Pickering and Smith, the property advisory firm of his father-in-law Edmund James Smith who became president of the
Surveyors' Institute
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is a global professional body for surveyors, founded in London in 1868. It works at a cross-governmental level, and aims to promote and enforce the highest international standards in the valu ...
. Gore was promoted to
partnership
A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments ...
and the firm was renamed
Smiths and Gore.
Personal life
On 9 January 1875 Gore married Amy Margaret Smith, with whom he had four children—Kathleen Amy, Florence Emily Frances, George Pym (1875–1959) and Spencer Frederick (1878–1914). The last became well known as the artist
Spencer Gore while George was a boxing champion and played cricket for Durham.
Gore died on 19 April 1906 at
the Granville Hotel, Ramsgate,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
aged 56. He was buried in Ramsgate Cemetery on 23 April 1906 (grave number AA511).
Grand Slam tournaments
Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)
Notes
Further reading
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gore, Spencer (Sportsman)
1850 births
1906 deaths
19th-century English people
19th-century male tennis players
English cricketers
English cricketers of 1864 to 1889
English male tennis players
People educated at Harrow School
People from Ramsgate
Surrey cricketers
Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era)
I Zingari cricketers
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles
History of tennis
Gentlemen of the South cricketers
Spencer Gore
Cricketers from Greater London
British male tennis players
Tennis people from Greater London