Sports, Social and Survival: How Lawn Tennis Brought Crouch End Together with Walter Merricks

Full title: Sports, Social and Survival: How lawn tennis brought Crouch End together at the turn of the 19th Century – and how one club outlasted all others

Drawing on local tennis club records, HHS Chair Walter Merricks recounts how the popularity of tennis among young people boomed in the late Victorian and Edwardian period until the first World War cast its shadow.

Walter has been a member of the Coolhurst Club for over 25 years and was also its committee secretary. Having come across an untouched boxful of minute books dating back to 1895, he saw that these apparently dry records could be brought to life, revealing how involvement in the club will have impacted not just the sporting, but also the social lives of its members and how young clubs were managed.

Details

HHS Talks are free for members of the Society. The talk is also available on Zoom for members who will receive the link by email.

Non-members are welcome to attend in person (subject to there being enough space available) and are encouraged to make a donation (suggested minimum £5.00) or sign up for membership on the night.

Image credits

Sir John Lavery, The Tennis Party (detail), c.1885. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons