Blanche Bingley

Blanche Bingley

Blanche Bingley Hillyard (3 November 1863 – 6 August 1946) was an English tennis player.

Born in Greenford in the London Borough of Ealing, Blanche Bingley was a member of the "Ealing Lawn Tennis & Archery Club." In 1884, she competed in the first ever Wimbledon championships for women and two years later captured the first of her six singles titles. A seven time runner-up, Bingley's thirteen finals remain a Wimbledon record as is the fourteen year time span between her first and last title.

Bingley's Wimbledon record suggests that she was the second strongest female player of her day, being inferior only to Lottie Dod, who defeated her in no fewer than five finals.

Once married Bingley was recorded with her husband's name and is usually listed in various records as Blanche Bingley Hillyard. At age thirty-seven, she made it to the Wimbledon finals and continued to compete until age forty-eight, playing in her last Wimbledon tourney in 1912.

During her career, she also won the Irish championships on three occasions (1888, 1894, 1897) and the German championship, 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.

Blanche Bingley Hillyard died in London in 1946.

Her husband Commander George Whiteside Hillyard 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.