Tag: Tennis

Victorian, 19th Century history, Benjamin Disraeli, Social history

Sir William Hart Dyke: Conservative MP, Disraeli’s chief whip – and the ‘inventor of lawn tennis’?

Who created the modern game of lawn tennis? As Dr Naomi Lloyd-Jones discusses, one possibly surprising 19th-century pioneer could have been Sir William Hart Dyke, a champion sportsman best known as Disraeli’s chief whip, who claimed to have played the first game and drawn up the rules. Sir William Hart Dyke (1837-1931), a Conservative MP in Kent for four decades, is perhaps best known for … Continue reading Sir William Hart Dyke: Conservative MP, Disraeli’s chief whip – and the ‘inventor of lawn tennis’?

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Stuart, 17th Century history, Social history

Tennis fever at the Restoration Court

As normal during Wimbledon, the country has been tennis mad for the past ten days, and with Murray in today’s semi-finals this will only get worse! Dr Stuart Handley takes a look back at another time when tennis fever hit: at the Court of Charles II… As all eyes are on SW19, one should perhaps reflect upon the popularity of the game of tennis among … Continue reading Tennis fever at the Restoration Court

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