Spencer Gore (sportsman)

Spencer Gore

Full name	Spencer William Gore
Country (sports)	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Born	(1850-03-10)10 March 1850 Wimbledon
Died	19 April 1906(1906-04-19) (aged 56) Ramsgate
Singles
Grand Slam singles results
Wimbledon	W (1877)

Spencer William Gore (March 10, 1850 – April 19, 1906) was an English cricketer who played for Surrey County Cricket Club in 1874 and 1875 and a tennis player who won the first Wimbledon Championships in 1877.

Early years

Spencer William Gore was the son of Charles Alexander Gore and Augusta Lavinia Priscilla (née Ponsonby). His brother was Charles Gore the theologian. He was born and raised within a mile of the All England Croquet Club in Wimbledon Common, Surrey. He was educated at Harrow school, where he excelled at all games, especially football and cricket, and was the captain of the school cricket team in 1869.

Sporting career

Gore made his first class cricket debut for Surrey against Middlesex in 1874 hitting 17 runs off the first four balls he received in his first match. He played again for Surrey against Middlesex in 1875 when Surrey won by 10 wickets and he did not have a chance to play a second innings. He played cricket mainly for I Zingari at club level, playing his last match for them in 1893. He played two first class matches for I Zingari which were against Yorkshire in 1878 and 1879 and one match for Gentlemen of the South in 1879.

In 1877 the first Wimbledon lawn tennis championship was held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club which had been renamed from the All England Croquet Club since tennis had been established there two years earlier. Gore won the Gentleman's Singles beating William Marshall 6–1, 6–2, 6–4 on 19 July 1877.

Gore was among the twenty-two men who paid a guinea to enter the inaugural 1877 championship (women did not have a competition until 1884). The 21 matches were spread over five days. The championship was suspended for the weekend so as not to clash with the annual Eton v Harrow cricket match at Lord's Cricket Ground. The scheduled final on Monday was postponed for four days because of rain.

Dropping only two sets in four rounds, the 27-year-old Gore reached the final after beating CG Heathcote in the semifinal. Against Marshall, he won in straight sets, 6–1, 6–2, 6–4, in forty eight minutes. Gore collected the first prize of 12 guineas and a silver cup presented by The Field, a sporting magazine.

Gore lost in the following year's Gentleman's Singles final to Frank Hadow 7–5, 6–1, 9–7.

Business career

Gore joined Pickering and Smith, the property advisory firm of his father-in-law Edmund James Smith who became President of the Surveyors' Institute. Gore was promoted to partnership and the firm was renamed Smiths and Gore.

Personal life

Gore married Amy Margaret Smith, with whom he had four children—Kathleen Amy, Florence Emily Frances, George Pym (1875–1959) and Spencer Frederick (1878–1914). The last became well known as the artist Spencer Gore while George was a boxing champion and played cricket for Durham.

Gore died at the age of 56 in Ramsgate, Kent.

Major finals

Grand Slam tournaments

Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1877	Wimbledon	Grass	William Marshall	6–1, 6–2, 6–4
Runner-up	1878	Wimbledon	Grass	Frank Hadow	5–7, 1–6, 7–9