| Winifred Longhurst | |
| Fullname: | Winifred Mary Arden Longhurst |
| Birth Date: | 1873 |
| Birth Place: | Worcester, Worcestershire, England |
| Death Date: | 24 November 1958 (age 85) |
| Death Place: | Budleigh Salterton Devon, England |
| Turnedpro: | 1892 (amateur tour) |
| Retired: | 1921 |
| Singlestitles: | 29 |
| Wimbledonresult: | QF (1902, 1904, 1906, 1912) |
Winifred Mary Arden Longhurst (1873 – 24 November 1958) was a British tennis player. She was a four time quarter finalist in singles in the Wimbledon Championships in 1902, 1904, 1906 and 1912.[1] She was active from 1892 until 1921 and won 29 career singles titles.
Longhurst was born in 1878 in Worcester, Worcestershire, England. She began her amateur tennis career in 1892. In major tournaments she competed at Wimbledon seven times in the women's all-comers singles event where she was 4 time Wimbledon quarter finalist (1902, 1904, 1906, 1912).[2]
Her major career singles titles include winning national and international level events including the Irish Championships three times from 1904 to 1906, the Welsh Championships two times from 1901 to 1902,[3] the Austrian Championships in 1903 and the Scottish Championships in 1904.
Her other singles titles at regional level tournaments include winning the Midland Counties Championships in 1895 and 1902. At county level events she won the Suffolk County Championships which she won twice in 1901 and 1902. She won the Essex Championships in 1902. She won one time titles at the Sussex Championships in 1905.
She was also a finalist at the East of England Championships in 1902, the West Sussex Championships in 1903, the Kent Coast Championships in 1904 and 1905, the Cinque Ports Championships in 1905, the Worcestershire Championships in 1908, the Warwickshire Championships in 1909, the Shropshire Championships in 1911, the Carlisle Open and Derbyshire Championships in 1913. Winifred was actively playing tennis until as late as 1921 when she was a ladies doubles finalist at the Worcestershire Championships partnering with Gladys Foster.[4]
The former tennis player turned The Daily Telegraph sports journalist Arthur Wallis Myers gives an account of her playing style in his book.[5]
| Category + (Titles) | |
|---|---|
| National (7) | |
| Regular (22) |
| width=40 | Result | width=20 | No. | width=50 | Date | width=310 | Tournament | width=120 | Location | width=50 | Surface | width=180 | Opponent | width=135 class="unsortable" | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1. | 1892 | Midland Counties Championships | Edgbaston | Grass |  Edith Longhurst | divided prizes | ||||||||
| Win | 2. | 1895 | Midland Counties Championships (2) | Edgbaston | Grass | C. Jones | 4-6, 6–4, 7-5 | ||||||||
| Win | 3.[6] | 1896 | Llandudno Open | Craigside | Grass | Emma Ridding | 6-0, 6-2 | ||||||||
| Win | 4. | 1899 | Torquay Lawn Tennis Tournmament | Torquay | Grass | K. Hughes | 6-2, 6-1 | ||||||||
| Win | 5. | 1900 | Torquay Lawn Tennis Tournmament (2) | Torquay | Grass | Miss Smythe | 6-2, 6-2 | ||||||||
| Win | 6.[7] | 1900 | Suffolk County Championships | Saxmundham | Grass | Beryl Tulloch | 2-6, 6–3, 6-3 | ||||||||
| Win | 7. | 1901 | Torquay Lawn Tennis Tournmament (3) | Torquay | Grass | Miss Collett | 6-1, 6-1 | ||||||||
| Win | 8.[8] | 1901 | Welsh Championships | Penarth | Grass | M. Golding | 6–1, 4–6, 7–5 | ||||||||
| Win | 9.[9] | 1901 | Suffolk County Championships (2) | Saxmundham | Grass | 6-3, 3–6, 7-5 | |||||||||
| Win | 10.[10] | 1901 | Welsh Championships (2) | Penarth | Grass | Constance Hill | 8–6, 4–6, 6–4 | ||||||||
| Win | 11. | 1902 | Cinque Ports Championships | Folkestone | Grass | Edith Greville | 6-3, 6-1 | ||||||||
| Win | 12.[11] | 1902 | Midland Counties Championships (3) | Edgbaston | Grass | Muriel Robb | 7-5, 7-5 | ||||||||
| Win | 13. | 1902 | Boulogne International Championship | Boulogne-sur-Mer | Clay | Edith Longhurst | w.o. | ||||||||
| Win | 14.[12] | 1902 | Essex Championships | Grass | Dorothea Douglass | 1-6, 6–3, 6-4 | |||||||||
| Win | 15. | 1903 | Austrian Championships | Prague | Clay | Frida Pietrzikowski | 6-0, 6-0 | ||||||||
| Win | 16.[13] | 1903 | Shropshire Championships | Shrewsbury | Grass | Eva Steedman | w.o. | ||||||||
| Win | 17. | 1903 | Cinque Ports Championships (2) | Folkestone | Grass | E. Rapson | 6-1, 6-4 | ||||||||
| Win | 18. | 1903 | Berkshire Championships | Reading | Grass | Alice Greene | 7-5, 6-3 | ||||||||
| Win | 19.[14] | 1904 | Scottish Championships | Moffat | Grass | Alice Ferguson | 7-5, 7-5 | ||||||||
| Win | 20.[15] | 1904 | Highland Championships | Pitlochry | Grass | Alice Ferguson | 6-3, 6-2 | ||||||||
| Win | 21.[16] | 1904 | Cinque Ports Championships (3) | Folkestone | Grass | "Miss Britain" | 6-4, 3–6, 10-8 | ||||||||
| Win | 22.[17] | 1904 | Dublin | Grass | Ellen Stawell-Brown | 6–3, 6–3 | |||||||||
| Win | 23. | 1905 | Sussex Championships | Grass | Connie Wilson | divided prizes | |||||||||
| Win | 24. | 1905 | Irish Championships (2) | Dublin | Grass | Mrs. A.H.C. Barker | 6–1, 6–0 | ||||||||
| Win | 25. | 1906 | Ashby-de-la-Zouch Open Championships | Ashby-de-la-Zouch | Grass | Elsie Lane | 6-3, 6-4 | ||||||||
| Win | 26. | 1906 | Irish Championships (3) | Dublin | Grass | Mabel Parton | 6–1, 6–1 | ||||||||
| Win | 27. | 1909 | Leicestershire Championships | Ashby-de-la-Zouch | Grass | Kathleen Clements | 6-2, 6-2 | ||||||||
| Win | 28.[18] | 1911 | Grass | Phyllis Carr | 6–3, 6–3 | ||||||||||
| Win | 29. | 1914 | Grass | Phyllis Dransfield | 6-4, 7-5 | ||||||||||
Winfred never married, her younger sister was Edith Longhurst who was also a tennis player.