{"id":37278,"date":"2024-10-03T12:44:22","date_gmt":"2024-10-03T10:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/88b9a61b-2d76-4500-a1a3-f6351716dc30"},"modified":"2024-10-03T13:53:12","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T11:53:12","slug":"we-knew-nothing-about-this-man-i-discovered-that-im-related-to-the-first-black-tennis-player-to-play-at-wimbledon","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/rss_feed\/we-knew-nothing-about-this-man-i-discovered-that-im-related-to-the-first-black-tennis-player-to-play-at-wimbledon\/","title":{"rendered":"“We knew nothing about this man” – I discovered that I’m related to the first black tennis player to play at Wimbledon"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By <\/p>

Published: Thursday, 03 October 2024 at 10:44 AM<\/p>

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Ask anyone who the first black player at Wimbledon was, and chances are they\u2019ll say \u201cArthur Ashe\u201d without skipping a beat. But as we dish out the strawberries and cream and blow the dust off our rackets, Anne Clark has more reason than most to feel a surge of excitement at this time of year.<\/p>

While Ashe was the first black man to win the singles title at Wimbledon, in 1975, Anne\u2019s husband\u2019s ancestor Bertrand Milbourne Clark (1894\u20131958) was the first black tennis player to ever compete at the famous tournament \u2013 beating Ashe by more than half a century.<\/p>

Bertrand was descended from a branch of Anne\u2019s husband\u2019s family who went to Jamaica<\/a> at the end of the 18th century<\/a> and became involved in the coffee industry. His great grandfather Thomas Milbourne Clark married Eleanor Fitzgerald in 1824, described in their son\u2019s christening record as \u201ca free person of colour\u201d.<\/p>

Bertrand\u2019s father, Enos Edgar Clark, was a prominent dentist on the island and the family appears to have had a comfortable life. According to Bertrand\u2019s obituary in the Sunday Gleaner<\/em>, which Anne discovered in the Jamaican newspaper\u2019s online archive<\/a>, he showed sporting promise from an early age. \u201cThe article contained a huge amount of information; he\u2019d travelled the world, and done all sorts of things,\u201d says Anne. \u201cAnd when I saw his picture, I thought \u2018Wow!\u2019 We knew nothing about this man and his achievements, and here he is in the newspaper.\u201d<\/p>

In 1910 Bertrand represented his school at the high jump, and over the following decade made his mark as the finest golfer in Jamaica. An accomplished cricketer, too, he went on to play for Melbourne Cricket Club with his brother Robert, and the pair wrote several books on the sport. He was also the All Jamaica tennis champion for seven consecutive years, and unseated the black American national champion Tally Holmes for the American Tennis Association title in 1920. He really was at the top of his game. \u201cHe was also quoted in Time Magazine<\/em> as being the first black player at Wimbledon,\u201d Anne reveals.<\/p>

In 1924 he was invited to SW19 to take part in the then amateur tournament \u2013 and again in 1930. He also represented his country in other competitions around the world. Despite this, the archives at Wimbledon drew a blank. \u201cThey didn\u2019t know anything about him, but they very helpfully had a look and found records of his matches. They had no idea there was a black player that early at Wimbledon.\u201d<\/p>

They had no idea there was a black player that early at Wimbledon<\/p><\/blockquote>

Bertrand\u2019s obituary also reveals that in 1927, when Prince Albert (later George VI), a keen tennis player, visited Jamaica, he played tennis with some players at King\u2019s House. \u201cAs the Jamaican champion, Bertrand Clark was naturally invited. Prince Albert partnered with Clark, playing a doubles match.\u201d<\/p>

Married twice but with no children, Bertrand worked as a civil servant, playing sport at an amateur level. Anne could see from passenger lists that he had travelled extensively. \u201cSomewhere along the line, he or his family managed to make enough money for him to travel the world, very often first class, and latterly flying. That doesn\u2019t come cheap. Where did he get the money from, and how did he get the time off?\u201d<\/p>

Clearly much respected in his home country, Bertrand\u2019s name appears in the 1946 edition of the Jamaican Who\u2019s Who. He broke down the barriers for black sportsmen and women to come, and his obituary describes him as \u201cperhaps the greatest all-round Jamaican sportsman of our time\u201d. \u201cHe\u2019s a hero for me because of his achievements, and the fact he\u2019s not been recognised outside Jamaica,\u201d says Anne.<\/p>

So how did Bertrand do at Wimbledon? \u201cWell he didn\u2019t win anything,\u201d says Anne. \u201cIt\u2019s just great to know he played there!\u201d<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n

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By Published: Thursday, 03 October 2024 at 10:44 AM Ask anyone who the first black player at Wimbledon was, and chances are they\u2019ll say \u201cArthur Ashe\u201d without skipping a beat. But as we dish out the strawberries and cream and blow the dust off our rackets, Anne Clark has more reason than most to feel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":37279,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2024\/10\/we-knew-nothing-about-this-man-i-discovered-that-im-related-to-the-first-black-tennis-player-to-play-at-wimbledon.jpg",514,269,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2024\/10\/we-knew-nothing-about-this-man-i-discovered-that-im-related-to-the-first-black-tennis-player-to-play-at-wimbledon-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2024\/10\/we-knew-nothing-about-this-man-i-discovered-that-im-related-to-the-first-black-tennis-player-to-play-at-wimbledon-300x157.jpg",300,157,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2024\/10\/we-knew-nothing-about-this-man-i-discovered-that-im-related-to-the-first-black-tennis-player-to-play-at-wimbledon.jpg",514,269,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2024\/10\/we-knew-nothing-about-this-man-i-discovered-that-im-related-to-the-first-black-tennis-player-to-play-at-wimbledon.jpg",514,269,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2024\/10\/we-knew-nothing-about-this-man-i-discovered-that-im-related-to-the-first-black-tennis-player-to-play-at-wimbledon.jpg",514,269,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2024\/10\/we-knew-nothing-about-this-man-i-discovered-that-im-related-to-the-first-black-tennis-player-to-play-at-wimbledon.jpg",514,269,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Published: Thursday, 03 October 2024 at 10:44 AM Ask anyone who the first black player at Wimbledon was, and chances are they\u2019ll say \u201cArthur Ashe\u201d without skipping a beat. But as we dish out the strawberries and cream and blow the dust off our rackets, Anne Clark has more reason than most to feel…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/37278"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}