Isidore Frederick (I.F.) Hellmuth (1854–1944) was the first champion of what became the Canadian National Tennis Championship, now known as the Canadian Open or the Rogers Cup. He was also a three-time runner-up as well as one-time doubles champion.

Life and career

Born in

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

in 1854, he was the son of Isaac Hellmuth, who became Bishop of Huron. After an early education at

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

, he studied at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

and trained for the English bar at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

. Returning to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, he became a barrister at

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. He was a Life Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada. In 1880, he married Harriet Emily Gamble (b. 1847), granddaughter of Henry John Boulton. One of his junior partners, John Meredith (who was to die in WWI), son of Sir

William Ralph Meredith Sir William Ralph Meredith, (March 31, 1840 – August 21, 1923) was a Canadian lawyer, politician and judge. He served as Leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, Ontario Conservatives from 1878 to 1894, Chancellor of the Univers ...

, married his daughter, Miriam (b:16 Feb 1881). Their daughter Diana (b. Feb 1910) was married to Marcel Provost (who was also killed in WWII in France in 1945http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=sharonmh&id=I18314 ) then Edward Curtis. In 1874, Hellmuth may have built a court at 148 Front Street, which was the future site of the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club that was founded in 1876. Though not an original member, Hellmuth joined the club soon after returning to Canada around 1879. He was runner-up at an unofficial United States national tennis championship in 1880, before winning the inaugural tournament played in 1881 at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club, by defeating W.H. Young, also of Canada, 6–2, 6–2. The following year, Hellmuth lost the final to compatriot Harry D. Gamble, 2–6, 3–6, 2–6. After a two-year hiatus, Hellmuth lost in consecutive finals in 1885 and 1886, the first to American J.S. Clark 3–6, 6–3, 1–6, 2–6 and the second to his compatriot and childhood friend, C.S. Hyman, in the first of his four consecutive championships, 4–6, 4–6, 6–1, 6–4, 4–6. That year Hellmuth and Hyman also teamed to capture the doubles title. Hellmuth also founded the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Lawn Tennis Club in 1881. He was an inaugural inductee into the Tennis Canada Hall of Fame, in 1991. He died in 1944, at his home, Allandale House, Toronto.

Sources

Tennis Canada Hall of Fame inductee profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hellmuth, Isidore Frederick 1854 births 1944 deaths 19th-century Canadian sportspeople 19th-century male tennis players Canadian male tennis players Tennis players from Toronto Sportspeople from Sherbrooke Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Canadian people of Polish-Jewish descent