Charles Walder Grinstead (1 December 1860 – 16 March 1930) was an English champion

tennis player 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 ...

. He reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon 1883. Grinstead reached the Wimbledon All Comers Final in 1884, where he beat

Ernest Renshaw Ernest James Renshaw (3 January 1861 – 2 September 1899) was a British tennis player who was active in the late 19th century. Together with his twin brother William Renshaw, Ernest won the men's doubles at Wimbledon five times. He also won t ...

before losing to

Herbert Lawford Herbert Fortescue Lawford (15 May 1851 – 20 April 1925) was a former World number 1 male tennis player rankings, world No. 1 tennis player from Scotland who won the Men's Singles championship at The Championships, Wimbledon, Wimbledon in 1887 ...

. Together with C. E. Weldon, Grinstead won the Oxford Men's Doubles in 1883. In 1884, the Oxford Men's Doubles event and its trophy were handed over to the

All England Club The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC), also known as the All England Club, based at Church Road, Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members' club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Gr ...

to be known as the All England Men's Doubles as part of the

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 ...

; consequently winners of the Oxford events are included as Wimbledon champions.

Early life

Charles Walder Grinstead was born on 1 December 1860 in

Teignmouth Teignmouth ( ) is a seaside town, fishing port and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign, about south of Exeter. The town had a population of 14 ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England, the son of Charles Grinstead (a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

) and his wife Sarah A. (née Stanley). He was educated at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

matriculating Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used no ...

in 1879 as a member of

Keble College Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to ...

and graduating in 1874 as a member of

Charsley's Hall Charsley's Hall was a private hall of the University of Oxford. After 1891 it was renamed as Marcon's Hall. The hall was established in 1862 by William Henry Charsley, formerly of Christ Church, under the university statute ''De Aulis Priva ...

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 runner-up)

Career finals

Singles:19 (13 titles, 6 runners-up)

Later life

Having completed his B.A. at Oxford, Grinstead was intended to become a Church of England cleric like his father. While Grinstead had enjoyed his academic studies and his sport at university, he did not wish to become a cleric. Instead in the spring of 1885, he immigrated to

Ontario, Canada Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

where he spent nine months, and then relocated to the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

. Charles Walder Grinstead died in Nikenbah,

Hervey Bay Hervey Bay () is a city on the coast of the Fraser Coast Region of Queensland, Australia. The city is situated approximately or 3½ hours' highway drive north of the state capital, Brisbane. It is located on the bay of the same name open to ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

on 16 March 1930. He was buried in Polson Cemetery, Hervey Bay, Queensland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grinstead, Charles Walder 1860 births 1930 deaths 19th-century English sportsmen 19th-century male tennis players Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Alumni of Charsley's Hall, Oxford English male tennis players British male tennis players Tennis players from Devon People from Teignmouth