Ernest George Meers Explained

Ernest Meers
Fullname:Ernest George Meers
Birth Date:1849[1]
Birth Place:Kingsnorth, Kent, England[2]
Death Date:20 August 1928 (aged 79)[3]
Death Place:York, Yorkshire, England
Plays:Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Turnedpro:1885 (amateur tour)
Retired:1895
Singlesrecord:95-57, (62.5%) [4]
Singlestitles:8 [5]
Wimbledonresult:SF (1895)
Usopenresult:SF (1889)
Wimbledondoublesresult:F (1888)

Ernest George Meers (1849 – 20 August 1928) was an English tennis player, organist and gum merchant.

Biography

Meers was born in Kingsnorth, near Ashford, Kent. He earned a Bachelor of Music from Queen's College, Oxford and was later chairman and managing director of Watts Ltd, gummakers.[6] He married Eliza Rose, daughter of Captain Henry Douglas-Hart of the Madras Army, who was assassinated while serving in India in 1858. They had three sons and two daughters who survived him.[7]

Tennis career

His played first tournament at the North of England Championships in Scarborough in 1884 going out in the round of 16.[8] He reached his first final at Sittingbourne in 1885 losing to Ernest Wool Lewis.[9] Meers played at the Wimbledon Championships between 1890 and 1895, reaching the quarterfinals of the all-comers competition in 1894 and the semifinals in 1895.[10] He reached the semifinals of the U.S. National Championships in 1889 and won the British Covered Court Championships in 1892.[11] His other singles successes included winning the British Covered Court Championships indoors on hard wood courts in 1891.[12] He won the Kent Championships on grass three times (1888, 1890–91).[13] In addition he also won three titles at the Essex Championships (1887–88, 1890) and the Chingford Open (1888), the Middlesex Championships onetime in 1891.[14] He played his last tournament at the British Covered Court Championships in 1896 going out in the quarter-finals.[15]

Notes and References

  1. England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915
  2. 1911 England Census
  3. Surrey, England, Church of England Burials, 1813-1987
  4. Web site: Player – Ernest George Meers . www.tennisarchives.com . Tennis Archives . 3 August 2018 . 2017.
  5. Web site: Player – Ernest George Meers . www.tennisarchives.com . Tennis Archives . 3 August 2018 . 2017.
  6. News: Mr. E. G. Meers . . 14 . 23 August 1928 .
  7. News: The Late Mr. E. G. Meers . . 14 . 31 August 1928 .
  8. Garcia, Gabriel, the "Tennisbase", 2018
  9. Nieuwland, Tennis Archives
  10. Collins, B. (2010): History of Tennis. 2nd edition. New Chapter Press, New York., p. 414.
  11. Myers, A.W. (1903): Lawn Tennis at Home and Abroad. Scribner's sons, New York, p. 77. (online)
  12. Nieuwland, Tennis Archives
  13. Nieuwland, Tennis Archives
  14. Nieuwland, Tennis Archives
  15. Nieuwland, Tennis Archives