Blanche Bingley Hillyard (née Bingley; 3 November 1863 – 6 August 1946) was an English
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player. She won six singles
Wimbledon championships
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...
(1886, 1889, 1894, 1897, 1898, 1900) and was runner up seven times, having also competed in the first ever Wimbledon championships for women in 1884.
She also won the
Irish Championships three times (1888, 1894, 1897); the
German International Championships twice (1897, 1900); and the
South of England Championships at
Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...
, 11 times between 1885 and 1905.
Early life
Bingley was born in
Greenford,
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
, the daughter of a wealthy tailoring business proprietor. She was a member of the
Ealing
Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...
Lawn Tennis & Archery Club.
Biography
Wimbledon
Her career at Wimbledon spanned almost 30 years, longer than any other woman to date. In 1884, she competed in the first ever
Wimbledon championships
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...
for women, and two years later, she captured the first of her six singles titles. Also a seven-time losing finalist, Bingley's 13 finals remain a Wimbledon record, as is the 14-year time span between her first and last titles.
Bingley's Wimbledon record suggests that she was the second strongest female player of her day, only behind
Lottie Dod
Charlotte Dod (24 September 1871 – 27 June 1960) was an English multi-sport athlete, best known as a tennis player. She won the Wimbledon Ladies' Singles Championship five times, the first one when she was only 15 in the summer of 1887. She ...
, who defeated her in five finals.
After marriage to
Commander George Whiteside Hillyard, she was usually listed in various records as Blanche Bingley Hillyard. At age 36, she again won the Wimbledon final and continued to compete until age 49, playing her last Wimbledon in 1913.
Other championships

Bingley's first success came at the
Middlesex Championships, held in Chiswick Park (west London) in 1884. She won the
Irish Championships on three occasions (1888, 1894, 1897) and the
German International Championships, played in Hamburg twice; in 1897, defeating
Charlotte Cooper Sterry in the final in three sets, and in 1900 against
Muriel Robb, also in three sets. Additionally, she won the
South of England Championships at Eastbourne, then a major event, eleven times between 1885 and 1905.
She also won the
Sussex Championships at
Brighton
Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
five times (1893–1896, 1900). She won the
London Championships at
Stamford Bridge three times (1886–1888), the
Derbyshire Championships at
Buxton
Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Alston, Cumbria also claims this, but lacks a regu ...
six times (1888, 1893–1894, 1896, 1901, 1906), the
Exmouth LTC Tournament two times (1887–1888) at
Exmouth
Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort situated on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe, southeast of Exeter.
In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of settl ...
, the
British Covered Court Championships (1901), the
Bournemouth Open Tournament at
Bournemouth
Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...
(1901),
Private life
She married
Commander George Whiteside Hillyard in Greenford on 13 July 1887) one week after the Wimbledon final.
Her husband was one of the foremost men's players on the international tennis circuit between 1886 and 1914. He also played first class cricket for Middlesex and Leicestershire. From 1907 to 1925, he was secretary of the All England Lawn Tennis Club and director of The Championships at Wimbledon between 1907 and 1925. He died in Bramfold, Pulborough, on 24 March 1943.
Death and legacy
Blanche Bingley Hillyard died at her home in Pulborough, West Sussex, in 1946.
She was inducted into 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, 13 grass tennis courts, an ...
in 2013.
Grand Slam finals
Singles: 13 (6 titles, 7 runner-ups)
1This was the all-comers final as Lottie Dod
Charlotte Dod (24 September 1871 – 27 June 1960) was an English multi-sport athlete, best known as a tennis player. She won the Wimbledon Ladies' Singles Championship five times, the first one when she was only 15 in the summer of 1887. She ...
did not defend her 1888 Wimbledon title, which resulted in the winner of the all-comers final winning the challenge round and, thus, Wimbledon in 1889 by walkover.
2This was the all-comers final as Lottie Dod did not defend her 1893 Wimbledon title, which resulted in the winner of the all-comers final winning the challenge round and, thus, Wimbledon in 1894 by walkover.
3This was the all-comers final as Helena Rice did not defend her 1890 Wimbledon title, which resulted in the winner of the all-comers final winning the challenge round and, thus, Wimbledon in 1891 by walkover.
Grand Slam performance timeline
See also
*
Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final
References
External links
*Obituary in the New York Times: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1946/08/08/93144141.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=true&pageNumber=18
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bingley, Blanche
1863 births
1946 deaths
19th-century female tennis players
19th-century English sportswomen
English female tennis players
British female tennis players
People from Ealing
Tennis players from the London Borough of Ealing
Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era)
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's singles
International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees
Tennis players at the 1908 Summer Olympics
20th-century English sportswomen