Tennis
- Photographic evidence
- Rapid growth
- Tournaments
Photographic Evidence
Tennis became the second competitive sport to be played regularly by female students at Mount Allison during the spring and autumn months. Although never a varsity sport, by 1911, eight tennis courts were spread across the campus, illustrating the popularity of the sport.
Attempts to move the court game ‘real tennis’ outdoors were not successful until Europeans were able manipulate rubber in the mid-1800s, and create a ball that could bounce on a grass surface. Major Walter Wingfield, of North Wales, is credited for the invention of lawn tennis following the publication of his rules for the game in 1873
The earliest indications of tennis at Mount Allison are in pictures held by the Mount Allison University Archives. Ladies' College students are seen holding tennis rackets between 1886 and 1890. Male students and faculty of the University and Academy are pictured with tennis rackets in 1891, and Ladies’ College students are again seen holding tennis rackets between 1892 and 1893. In the case of the latter, tennis balls are also attached to each student's waist with a rope. Documentation to support this early activity is lacking; there is no evidence to suggest that tennis was played at all on campus for at least another five years.
In 1897, tennis was played by male students, but did not receive much attention until May 1902 when students of the Ladies' College staged a lawn tennis tournament as part of the school’s closing week ceremonies. In November 1902, Josiah Wood (class of 1863, merchant, Senator, and mayor of Sackville) funded the construction of two new tennis courts in the Ladies’ College Park next to the recently excavated pond. Josiah Wood’s own son, Herbert Mariner Wood, was the president of the Sackville Tennis Club when it held its first annual meeting in May 1904.
Detail of Mount Allison Ladies' College students, between 1886 and 1890
Mount Allison University and Academy faculty and students, 1891
Mount Allison Ladies' College students, 1892-93
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© 2008 Mount Allison University Archives
Sackville, New Brunswick
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Maintained by the Mount Allison University Archives
This project was funded by the Marjorie Young Bell Endowment Fund