Wilberforce Vaughan Eaves

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 ...

(10 December 1867 – 10 February 1920) was an Australian-born

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 from the United Kingdom. At the

1908 London Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...

he won a bronze medal in the Men's Singles tournament.

Biography

Eaves was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, son of William and Eunice Eaves of

St Kilda, Victoria St Kilda is an inner seaside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 6 km (4 miles) south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip Local governmen ...

.Captain Wilberforce Vaughan Eaves
CWGC casualty record. He reached the Men's Singles All-Comers' final 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 ...

in 1895 and lost against

Wilfred Baddeley Wilfred Baddeley (11 January 1872 – 24 January 1929) was a British male tennis player and the elder of the Baddeley twins. Career Wilfred, the better-known competitor, made his debut at Wimbledon in 1889 and he went on to win singles ti ...

despite having had a match point in the third set. In 1897 he became the first non-American to reach the final in the U.S. National Singles Championships. He lost the final in five sets to American

Robert Wrenn Robert Duffield Wrenn (September 20, 1873 – November 12, 1925) was an American left-handed tennis player, four-time U.S. singles championship winner, and one of the first inductees in the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Biography Wrenn w ...

. He was particularly successful on clay courts at the Dinard International Tournament in Brittany, France organized by the Dinard Lawn Tennis Club where he won that title ten times between (1894-1896) and (1902-1909). Eaves won the

Welsh Championships The Welsh Championships (Welsh: Pencampwriaethau Cymru) its original name until 1970 was also known as the Championship of Wales (1951), the Welsh Open (Welsh: Cymraeg Agored) (1947–50) the Greenshields Welsh Championships and Greenshields Wel ...

in 1895 and the

Irish Championships Irish Open may refer to: *Irish Open (golf), a golf tournament on the European Tour **Irish Senior Open, a golf tournament on the European Seniors Tour **Ladies Irish Open, a golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour * Irish Open (darts), annual ...

in 1897, defeating

in a five-set final. He became the Scottish singles champion in 1901 and won the

British Covered Court Championships The British Covered Court Championships (BCCC) was an indoor tennis event held from 1885 through 1971 and played in London, England. The dates of the tournament fluctuated between October and March. History For its first five years the tournament ...

, played on wooden courts at

Queen's Club The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in West Kensington, London, England. The club hosts the annual Queen's Club Championships men's grass court lawn tennis tournament (currently known as the "cinch Championships" for sponsorship reas ...

in London three consecutive times from 1897 until 1899. He won against seven-time tournament champion Ernest Lewis and Wimbledon champions

Laurence Doherty Hugh Laurence "Laurie" Doherty (8 October 1875 – 21 August 1919) was a British tennis player and the younger brother of tennis player Reginald Doherty. He was a six-time Grand Slam champion and a double Olympic Gold medalist at the 1900 Sum ...

and

Harold Mahony Harold Segerson Mahony (13 February 1867 – 27 June 1905) was a Scottish-born Irish tennis player who is best known for winning the singles title at the Wimbledon Championships in 1896. His career lasted from 1888 until his death in 1905. Maho ...

in the respective finals. Qualified as a doctor of medicine, he served as a civil surgeon 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 ...

, and took a temporary commission in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

in the first week 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 ...

, on 10 August 1914, being promoted to Captain after a year's service. He was later awarded a

for his services and died in London, where he is buried in

Greenwich Cemetery Greenwich Cemetery (also known as Shooters Hill Cemetery) is a cemetery in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in southeast London. It is situated on the southwestern slopes of Shooter's Hill, on the western side of the A205 South Circular, Well Ha ...

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 runner-up)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eaves, Wilberforce 1867 births 1920 deaths 19th-century British people 19th-century male tennis players British Army personnel of World War I British male tennis players British people of Australian descent Members of the Order of the British Empire Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in tennis Olympic tennis players of Great Britain Royal Army Medical Corps officers Tennis players from Melbourne Tennis players at the 1908 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics

Biography

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 runner-up)

See also

References

External links