Mary Ewing Outerbridge (February 16, 1852 – May 3, 1886) was an American woman who imported the lawn game
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 ...
to the United States from
Bermuda
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Biography
Mary was born in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
to Bermudians Alexander Ewing Outerbridge (1816–1900) and Laura Catherine Harvey (1818–1867), who had married in
Paget Paget is a surname of Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman origin which may refer to:
* Lord Alfred Paget (1816–1888), British soldier, courtier and politician
* Almeric Paget, 1st Baron Queenborough (1861–1949), British cowboy, industrialist, yachtsman ...
, Bermuda, in 1840, and had moved their growing family to the United States from Pembroke, Bermuda, before her birth. Four of her siblings had been born in Bermuda: Albert Albouy Outerbridge (1841-); Sir Joseph Outerbridge (1843-1933); August Emelius Outerbridge (1846–January 14, 1921); Catherine Tucker Outerbridge (1846-). Her other siblings were Harriett Harvey Outerbridge; Alexander Ewing Outerbridge II; Laura Catharine Outerbridge; Adolph John Harvey Outerbridge (1858–May 29, 1928) and
Eugenius Harvey Outerbridge
Eugenius Harvey Outerbridge (March 8, 1860 – November 10, 1932) was a businessman and promoter of patent fiberboard, and the first chairman of the interstate agency known then as the Port of New York Authority. The Outerbridge Crossing, a Por ...
, who was the first president of the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorize ...
.
The modern game of lawn tennis was first commercialized in 1874 in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
by Major
Walter Clopton Wingfield
Major Walter Clopton Wingfield (16 October 1833 – 18 April 1912) was a Welsh inventor and a British Army officer who was one of the pioneers of lawn tennis.Tyzack, AnnThe True Home of Tennis''Country Life'', 22 June 2005J. Perris
(2000Grass ...
of the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
. One of the Major's men brought the rules for the game and the equipment with him when he was posted to the
Bermuda Garrison
The Bermuda Garrison was the military establishment maintained on the British Overseas Territory and Imperial fortress of Bermuda by the regular British Army and its local militia and voluntary reserves from 1701 to 1957. The garrison evolved f ...
in 1874. Mary played the game at "Clermont", her family's house with a large flat lawn in Paget parish in Bermuda. In 1874 Mary returned from Bermuda aboard the ship "S.S. Canima." The sporting equipment was originally confiscated by customs officials, but then her brother managed to have the supplies released. She introduced lawn tennis to the United States. She set up the first tennis court in the United States on the grounds of the Staten Island Cricket and Baseball Club, which was near where the Staten Island Ferry Terminal is today. The club was founded on or about March 22, 1872. She played the first tennis game in the US against her sister Laura in Staten Island, New York, on an hourglass-shaped court.
In September 1880 the Staten Island Cricket and Baseball Club held " the tournament for the championship of America". The match was won by O. E. Woodhouse of England who was in New York at the time. Woodhouse defeated I. F. Hellmuth in the championship finals.
Several other clubs held similar tournaments in the same year. In the same year tennis was also introduced in
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
and her father was working as a clerk, as was her brother, Adolph. The family had two servants.Outerbridges in the
International Tennis Hall of Fame
The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indo ...
in 1981. She was inducted into the
Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame
The Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame mission is "to recognize those individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to Staten Island sports history, and by virtue of their accomplishments, service, or force of character, have enriched tha ...
in 1999.
In 2018, the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' published a belated obituary for her as part of the Overlooked history project.
History of tennis
The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Birmingham, England now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sp ...